The last leg

Days 28 & 29

It seems we are returning to Europe. I must admit I am not very happy about that. Why would you want to leave such an amazing country? It feels like we are returning from a 1st world country (Japan) to a 3rd world country (UK). I know it's hard to believe, but such is the difference between both.

The journey home was absolutely horrible and I would prefer to forget about it.

When I bought the tickets the prices were a bit higher then we had planned and you can't start splashing out at the beginning because the money might not last until the end of the trip. So we agreed to come the long way. After the trip done you don't really need much energy and we had a bit more than a day to recover before going back to work. Doable I though. How wrong I was...

Between leaving the hotel in Sapporo and arriving at home in London we had a very long and painful 37.5h journey. Yes, that's it!, 37.5 hours!!!

Transportation used:

Walk, train, plane 1, plane 2, plane 3, tube (metro), walk.

Airports visited:

• Sapporo (aka market): it looks like a market, with more shops than the markets in London. All shops with japanese and Hokkaido products.

• Tokyo - Narita: I can't believe we found Hello Kittys at half price here! The best place for souvenir shopping in Japan. 
• Abu Dhabi: alleged to be the airport that never sleeps, it is quite boring and it doesn't really have much for you to do at 4am. Luckily we found a CNN cafe with electrical sockets, USB sockets, wifi and tv (logged to CNN channel, of course!). The tv volume button was at the table and the speakers as well so you could hear the tv without disturbing (too much) the other customers.

• London - Heathrow: let's get the hell out of here! I can't cope with more airports!!!

Airlines:

• ANA (All Nippon Airways): as all japanese, extremely polite and helpful. I forgot my grandfather's swiss knife in my handbag and instead of being disposed as it would be in Europe, I was sent back to check-in and the small knife was put into a cardboard box (although small, it is quite big for a small knife) and I was told it would be waiting for me in London. Are you joking?!? Are you really having this much trouble for a small knife? Let's be honest and say that I said goodbye to the knife there and then. I never believed it would actually jump between 3 planes and get to London. More than a d day later and in London, the box did not arrive with our bags. What did I say? Apparently, even small boxes travel as oversize luggage. You can't imagine how surprised I was when it was waiting on the oversize luggage belt! There is nothing like japanese efficiency!!

• Etihad: service ok, food bad, seats horrible. There was no soap in the toilets and they were quite messy! I couldn't sleep at all during the trip. I do not recommend Etihad for long distance flights! The only thing that kept me sane were the films I saw during the flights. In Tokyo airport, the flight was allegedly 10min early but we were told to go to the gate 10min later. That makes no sense at all! The boarding gate also had two boarding rows, the economy (normal) and the 1st class (with a type of red carpet that was actually grey with a yellow line). They do like class distinctions in the United Arab Emirates, hein?

Jet lag: 

Yes, it's bad! 

Although the three of us wore compression socks, we all had swollen feet, me more than the boys (bloody genes!). 

We were all exhausted and made a terrible effort not to go to bed as soon as we arrived home at 3.30pm. Luckily there was unpacking and washing to do. Our beloved cat also needed some attention after not seeing us for a month. There eventually was a Papa John's delivery and an early bed.

The following days:

Tiredness, sleepiness and headaches. Not good! It took us about 3 days to recover from the trip. The flight into Japan had been a more direct one and we did not experience any of this.

We have learned a valuable lesson for the future: do not be stingy, pay the extra money and get a more direct flight!

Otaru

Day 27

Preparing to leave the hotel I realised I had lost my Japan Rail Pass. I remember seeing it on my jacket's pocket after last night's movie but that was it. It must have fallen off. I went to the JR Information desk and tried to get a train ticket for today and tomorrow as they are the last days. I was politely told it can't be reissued nor a replacement be provided. Imagine if I had lost it on the 1st week! These passes are not cheap...

To the Lost & Found I went hoping for a miracle. The employee at Lost & Found did not speak english but I showed him Jorge's card, pointed at me and made a 'Ups!' face. He got the point. All is computerised. He searched on the computer, found a lost Hokkaido Rail Pass but no Japan Rail Pass. Oh well, tickets will have to be... There aren't many more train journeys which is a relief but a return trip to Otaru costs 1070. Expensive!

There were many tourists on the train to Otaru.'Clearly it is as good as we were told', that's what we though until we got there. Otaru is small and doesn't really have many interesting sights. The buildings are quite uninteresting and the canal that is supposed to be beautiful is just ok. There aren't as many shops or restaurants around the canal as I had though. Actually, the restaurants on the canal have their back exits to it and the front entrance to a main busy road. How weird is that?

The coolest building is not old at all, it's a karaoke place:

We were getting bored of Otaru but we had planned to do a rickshaw ride as it seemed to be a small and quiet town and therefore perfect for it. Rickshaws are a 1869 japanese invention, so where better to try them then in Japan?

Manuel wasn't keen but I had wanted to do it and this was our last chance. Jorge accepted and we were comfortably installed in the rickshaw, with a seat belt and a blanket. Our driver was a young (and cute) very tanned japanese man with small lycra shorts and who smiled and laughed at almost everything. His english wasn't brilliant but it was enough, we taught him some portuguese and he taught us some japanese.

Comfortable, yet cosy for two people, it has springs so you don't really feel the holes in the pavement. It's slow speed makes for an enjoyable ride and let's you see a lot more than if you were in a car.

The rickshaw proved to be a good idea. The driver knew where the best photo spots and the few interesting buildings in town were. He was driver and photographer. He called a colleague for help who spent the entire ride running behind the rickshaw. I assume he was there in case he might be needed in more hilly streets but he was not. In the end we got a bunch of postcards of Otaru and a discount coupon for another rickshaw ride, valid for 3 years in several cities in Japan. Not bad!

We asked our driver for a sushi restaurant recommendation. Otaru is known for having Japan's best sushi. We had sushi twice yesterday and again today, Jorge wasn't completely happy about it...

Trying to find the recommended restaurant we asked a woman in the street for help. We showed her the restaurant's name that our driver had written on the city's map and she gesticulated as if we had already passed it. She did not speak english but she understood we wanted sushi. She gesticulated that if it was sushi what we wanted, then another restaurant was better. She said the restaurant's name, we understood, but she did not seem convinced. She pulled out her lipstick from her bag, opened it and took a toothpick out of it. Clearly someone that likes to make the most of her beauty products before throwing the package away! She dipped the toothpick in the lipstick and proceed to write the restaurant's name on her hand. What a helpful lady!

The restaurant was close and easy to find after such good (and colouful) instructions. There was a local couple having lunch and that was it. The chef/owner/waiter/receptionist/attendant quickly sat us down at the counter and brought hot tea. We chose a sushi set which he made one piece at a time in front of us. All was made effortless. It went down rather quickly and we ordered some more individual ones. 

In sushi restaurants the technique is simple: point at what you want to eat (toppings are displayed at the counter), how many you want of each, watch them being done, eat. It couldn't be easier! There were asparagus and we had never seen asparagus sushi so I ordered to try. The asparagus tip is cut in half, placed in top of the rice and held together by a strip of nori (seaweed), just like the omelette sushi. It does however take a small amount of a sauce on top. I must say I like the idea of vegetarian sushi.

We left Otaru a bit disappointed as the expectations were higher and the reality did not deliver. I would advise to come in the afternoon/evening as it could be that Otaru is better when the bars and restaurants are full. The night life might be what it's most interesting. The sushi however was as advertised: delicious!
Back in Sapporo we finally saw Spring in Hokkaido. Cherry blooms are blossoming. We have been so fortunate to be able to see Spring and cherry blossoms in every island we've been.

Afternoon was spent shopping. When you are a backpacker you need to be careful with your shopping. If you start too early it will weigh you down for the rest of the trip. If you do them too late you might miss out on something. Manuel walked miles looking for a Hello Kitty in kimono for his nieces. I walked miles in the shopping mall looking for hair accessories and socks. Japanese do this funky socks!

Some weird stuff we found:

 

  

It was almost 9pm when we sat for dinner. Exhausted! We had a doria meets omelette type of dinner called 'omu' and desert.

Tomorrow is the 'trip back home' day. I really do not want to go back. Japan is amazing, clean, has all you possibly might want and need, people are extremely polite and we need to do a bit more of natural sightseeing. 'Can we stay?' I asked Jorge, he laughed and said 'Good night'.