Immigration Staff Booked Hostels N Wonderful Kyoto
Trip Start
Dec 01, 1999
1
46
103
Trip End
Aug 31, 2000
Kyoto,
Japan
Tuesday, February 15, 2000
Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,
Where am I now
Go on, ask me!
I'm in Japan, Japan, Japan....JAAAAPAN!
In fact I'm in Kyoto in Japan!
This cit is so beautiful. Japan is so beautiful. After being in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and China for several months and then coming to a country like Japan, it kind of makes you walk around in a total dream like state for awhile. It is so clean, it is so colourful, it is so friendly and the girls are just as beautiful as the Chinese girls!
WOW, I'm in Kyoto, Kyoto Japan!
I can't say that my journey from Beijing to Tokyo was fun, in fact it was bloody horrible! As I didn't have a ticket 'out of Japan' China wasn't going to let me leave China and enter Japan. I tried to explain that I was traveling in an Australian passport not a farking Chinese one and didn't need a ticket out of Japan as I already had a Korean Visa in my Australian passport so I can take a ferry from Japan to Korea.
But no, they weren't having any of it, they wanted my money and they knew I was going to had to buy the ticket or stay in China. But the fact was my Chinese Visa ran out that day so I would of then had to either pay a fine or pay for a new one! Bastards!
They then whilst I was purchasing a new ticket 'out of Japan, in bloody China' they were also ripping my bags apart and trying to take my Japan and Korean lonely planets along with other things by telling me they weren't allowed in China. Luckily the ticket girl rang someone 'above' them who came to my rescue and came down to apologise.
I was bloody fuming and grabbed all my belongings out of their hands with a death stare!
The ticket girl then told me that she would make my journey to Japan more comfortable. I didn't think anything of it and handed her my ticket when she asked for it. She put a sticker on it but I couldn't read it as it was in Chinese so I didn't look at it again. When I finally got my bags back together the 'superior' guy walked me to the gate and I boarded the plane, showed my ticket and walked down to economy class.
The stewardess came running after me and escorted me back to first class.
No, I said and pointed to economy class.
She pointed to the sticker on the ticket and then to a seat and sat me down.
There ya go mate, get into a fight with Chinese immigration and you get a First Class ticket out of the country!
Unfreakinbelievable!
The weather was perfect and the second unbelievable thing happened. Not only did I get first class seating and lunch menu but I got a perfect view of Mt Fuji. From what the stewardess said the conditions hadn't been this perfect for some time so I was a very lucky boy. Yes I was, but not so lucky to have packed my camera back in my day pack in a fit of temper!
It was in my bloody check in pack!
Bugger!
But I can tell you, from the air Mt Fuji is absolutely perfect!
What you see in photos is what it is like in real life.
The worlds most perfect volcano!
My arrival in Tokyo was as my leaving in Beijing...bags searched! Not only once, but three times. Maybe I was the random foreigner/traveller whose turn it was to get harassed and searched. Anyhow, all ended up well and I made my way out of the airport and to the subway where I fist got my JR Pass sorted out and after handing over some $US I received a small amount of Yen.
