http://english.kyodonews.jp/photos/2014/01/264344.html
We had to change our plans & decided instead of going to Kyoto, to go to Atami on the 4th of December. Here is our Shinkansen day......
J has been excitedly planning for us to go on the Shinkansen ever since we first started talking about taking a trip to Japan. Here she is getting ready to board the Shinkansen
We were AMAZED at how much room you have in the seats. We had enough leg room to fully stretch out (First class is in the green car, and there is even more leg room there).
The seats are very comfy - although we didn't really get to enjoy them for long - the trip from Tokyo to Atami takes 45 mins, covering the 100km distance, with the train getting up to 270km an hour.
Even though our trip was only 45 mins we wanted to have the whole Shinkansen experience, so before we boarded, we bought an "ekiben" for each of us. It literally translates as train lunch box. They were delicious!!! This is J's ekiben
Nikki's crab meat ekiben
S's ekiben - delicious. Each ekiben came in a wooden box, with a plastic lid, chopsticks and a disposable washer to wash your hands before you start eating.
The conductor was very friendly, and even posed for this photo :-)
All too quickly the trip was over, so we stayed on the platform for about 40 mins watching the Shinkansen speed by. Atami only has Shinkansen stop 4 times an hour (twice in each direction), but has Shinkansen going north and south every 3 or 4 minutes. It was soooooo much fun watching the trains speed past, and a few times we had trains going in both directions speed past us on the platform (the whole building shakes a little when this happens). Here are some of our many photos of the shinkansen we saw - these are especially for our friend Martin :-)
As the train goes past at 200km an hour, the wind really picks up. The station has barriers and gates that keep you (and your camera) a good distance from the train, so it is perfectly safe.
It was very geeky, but we had a great time watching the trains go by - we look forward to the day that high speed trains are in Australia and they aren't a novelty. If you want to know more about high speed trains in Australia, you can check out the Bullet Train for Australia Party (J is a member)
Here is one of the shinkansen drivers
We went on the shinkansen to Atami for J, but all had a great time. Our return trip to Tokyo on the Shinkansen was a VERY different story.......
This time of the year is VERY busy in Japan, with everyone travelling to see their family or have a holiday. Around the 3rd, 4th & 5th of January is the busiest time for plane and train travel, as everyone is trying to get home (a bit like the crush to head north out of Sydney on boxing day). Because of the fire on the 3rd of January, there were even more people travelling on the 4th, meaning that the system was working at capacity - or even greater according to this news report on the Japan Times website.
We were unable to get reserved seats for the return trip to Tokyo, so bought unreserved seats - normally not a problem, as cars 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,13,14,15,16,17 are for unreserved seats. We waited for about half an hour for our train (enjoying watching all the express shinkansen speed through the station at 200km an hour), however, we were unable to get on the train, even though we were at the front of the queue (apparently we aren't pushy enough - the people behind us managed to shove their way onto the train).
This is a stock photo (thank you google images) as we didn't get any photos, as we were running up and down the platform trying to get on the train, however it shows what it was like. The conductor was pushing people onto the train, then prying their arms and legs into the door so that the door could close, and the train could leave. The white gloves were a nice touch.
We missed this train, but got on the next one, thanks to the station manager, who arranged for us to get on a reserved carriage through the wheelchair access door (J was on crutches) - we were lucky enough that we were able to get her a seat (every other carriage was standing room only). Apparently the trains were running at 160% capacity, which meant that for every 10 people sitting there were 6 people standing - which made it VERY crowded. Nikki and S stood all the way to Tokyo, but we were just happy we were lucky to get on a train - many people missed out (the night before they had people sleeping in empty trains as hotels were full and trains were unable to take any more passengers).
By the time we got to Tokyo (Shinagawa station) our train was 7 mins late (it was 9 minutes late leaving Atami). There were bullet trains up to 10 mins late - this is quite common in Australia, but is virtually unheard of in Japan.
We loved our trip to Atami on the Shinkansen - if you get the chance, I'd recommend you go - just avoid early January, and days when the train system has been shut down due to fire :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment