June 23

Travel day!  We had an early flight so we were up, packed, and out the door by a little after 4.  We checked in at the desk (They have to physically check your room before you leave.), picked up our boxed breakfasts, and sat down to wait for Roland and our driver.  Roland is with the actual travel agency and he picked us up at the airport, took us to the airport for our Tacloban agenda, took us to the ferry terminal for the island tour, and then picked us up for the airport today.  Carlos is an independent guide who hires himself out so we didn’t see him after last night! We did have the same driver though!  Yesterday he had to maneuver around lots of closed roads due to a marathon and today, the same!! 

While we were waiting we snacked on the various breads/pastries they packed and drank our juices.  Roland was late which is unusual but it turned out the van they were going to use had a flat tire! 

It was dark.  There is still so much trash even visible in the dark, and we could see those less fortunate than us, sleeping here and there along the streets. 

The line outside the airport was LONG, but the airport has several layers of security.  Round 1 went quickly enough as the line moved reasonably—we had to send our bags through an x-ray.  That was to just enter the building.  

Then we had to find a Delta counter as you can’t check in and get a mobile ticket for an international flight.  Roland could not go with his any further so we said our good-byes.  That was painless as well—since Andrew is a “Sky Priority” member they ushered us to a “shorter” line but it really wasn’t busy at their counter.  Tickets printed and Round 2 complete.  

Since we were departing a country we had to be given permission to leave, so we picked a line to be processed by a real person.  Actually we each picked one and my line was just moving a bit faster so we stood in that one.  Well, the lines on either side of us proceeded to really book it from that point! This was our longest wait of the day! 

We were stamped and our pictures taken, Round 3, check. ✔️

Next, security scanning again.  Ironically, my bag was stopped as I had a “scissors”?  I racked my brain and then realized that the tiny cuticle scissors that I’ve carried with me for years and years was the culprit.  Good-bye, cuticle scissors. 

We found our gate and a good cup of coffee  nearby.  When it was time, we had to go through another scan at the Delta gate itself.  My bag was again stopped as there was a bottle in there.  They pulled the deodorant and scanned again and it still didn’t pass.  We dug deeper. Unfortunately I had just thrown everything back in while searching for the elusive scissors so had all kinds of things on top, like dirty clothes and other unmentionables (okay, yes, underwear!).  :)  I guess they’ve seen it all!  We then discovered a bottle of bug repellent lotion that was a little “over the limit” so I forfeited it and we moved on.  These above-mentioned things have traveled thousands of miles and over a dozen flights thus far.  We are leaving heavy-insect zones so it was okay.  

This Delta part of the airport was really organized down to the special seating for how you board.  Lovely! 

The flight itself was uneventful; we ate omelets, and watched “Ocean’s Eight,” and I took a short nap.  In the grand scheme of things it was only 4 hours in the air.

When we landed it was like landing in a completely different world—amazing signage so we knew exactly where to go, super polite people in uniforms that answered questions as worked out way through, passing through immigration and customs was so painless!! 

Andrew has ordered our train passes early on so we just had to get them activated.  Everyone was calm and awesome.  A train clerk helped us get the tickets we needed to get to Hiroshima yet this evening and pointed us to the right track.  We had three trains to ride this afternoon and evening.  We had one “layover” so to speak as our 2nd train only had one seat available so we had to take a later one!  We grabbed a snack/sandwich from a kiosk, found our train.  IT WAS A BULLET TRAIN!!!—-holy cow, they go fast!! It’s really creepy when another zips by at what seems like only inches away!

Our first train ride was an hour, the 2nd, 3 hours.  We had our layover and found an authentic Japanese restaurant in the train station and Andre had soy ramen and I had the miso ramen—TASTY!!  We had plenty of time to get to our last train so we bought a few snacks and drinks for the train as we wanted to break our yens up into smaller denominations. When we got some to have, the ATM literally gave us one bill—the yen is a little over 100:1.  We knew were were going to need smaller amounts to take a bus to the hotel.  Our last train ride was about 2 hours.  They really ride well—we are going to have to get our train vacation worked up sooner than later. 

After the trains, we exited and found the bus stop and took a streetcar/trolley instead as it stopped a couple of blocks from our hotel. The trolley ride cost us 180 yen each—about $1.80 !! Our hotel is literally located by the Hiroshima Memorial Park. The room is small and dated but very clean and the view is great!

First impressions of Japan:

1) They are neat—we didn’t see trash anywhere, even on the rail tracks or streets that were visible from the train! No trash!!

2) Everyone was polite and those we encountered spoke enough English to understand us. And if they didn’t speak English, we hand gestured until we got it, or showed google translate or a map!  

3) The temperature is about 20-25 degrees. Older than we’ve have this far!!  LOVELY! 

4) We saw efficient use of everything, rice fields tucked in where they could, solar panels everywhere, greenhouses, etc. 

More observations tomorrow—we’ve had a long day!