 |
| The bus ride back to Tokyo from Narita airport |
We passed a few very chill days in Tokyo while waiting for our flight to Almaty on May 21, hanging with the family and relaxing before our final journey through the rest of Central Asia. We left at 9:30 am for our 1:30 pm flight to give us a couple hours to chill in the lounge before leaving. We were annoyed when the first airport express train failed to show up, but the Japanese with luggage waiting for the same train didn't seem too stressed. It was odd, though. You can set your watch by the trains in Japan. We watched local after local train arrive and depart, but when the second express failed to show up a half hour later we started getting concerned. We asked the info booth attendant and he said not to worry and told us to get on the next local at 11:10 am. So much for our time buffer! We were supposed to transfer at a station outside the city for another airport express to get us to the airport at 12:30 pm, tight but feasible, but then that train was also canceled and we ended up sprinting to a closed check-in counter 15 minutes before the flight took off. Nuts! I called United and they helpfully rebooked us for free on the next flight to Almaty (in two days). Laurel later told me that was only possible because it was an award ticket and I have 1K status and I called before the flight actually took off...by 11 minutes. Serendipity!
We ended up spending about $50 and 8 hours on trains and buses to end up right back where we started. Pretty disappointing. But, the the kids were excited to see us and we had margaritas and a fun dinner at a tempura bar followed by grocery store sushi to finish off the day. If you have to be stuck in a city it is definitely nice to have family to spend it with! Thanks Laurel!
 |
| Tempura chef in action |
The next day we gave ourselves an obscene five hours to make it to the airport (not missing this one, goddamnit) and used a bus we had found the day before. We arrived with plenty of time to relax and eat dinner in the lounge. Our new itinerary put us in Seoul at midnight where we slept for a few uncomfortable hours on a bench before the lounge opened at 5:00 am and we slept a couple more slightly less uncomfortable hours. The flight to Almaty wasn't until 6:30pm, so we headed into the city to explore a bit. We went to Gangnam, a thriving business district filled with highrises. We spent thirty minutes wandering through a Samsung exhibit and then had a delicious shabu shabu buffet at a large, crowded restaurant. Thoroughly stufffed and still tired from the previous night we made our way back to the airport before our last flight, again with plenty of time. Kazakhstan, here we come!
 |
| Park in Tokyo |
Gangnam skyline in Seoul
No comments:
Post a Comment