Back in April, my bf and I packed our bags and jetted off to the "land of soy sauce" as quoted by the song in Book of Mormon. We've been planning for so long, and the excitement didn't hit me until we literally landed in Tokyo. Prior to landing, it had been an intensely long day of jumping on and off flights and enduring the long wait at Taiwan airport.... but once we finally arrived in Tokyo Narita Airport our journey finally began. From the window of my seat, I could tell it was going to be a cold, wet evening. But despite arriving during my usual dinner time and the many food delights that were awaiting me, the only thing I had in my mind was the hotel shower and bed to end the very short first day in Tokyo. Once we passed through security, we headed down to Level B1 towards the Skyliner Keisei Information Center where the train ticket I purchased online weeks ago had to be exchanged. It was next to the JR East Travel Service Center where JR passes can be exchanged as well, and the lines were immensely long on both sides. Not a great time to arrive if you're strict for time or horribly jet lagged...
Luckily there are a number of JR offices around Tokyo, so it was decided that we exchange our JR passes tomorrow when we're in Ueno Station. Once we received our Keisei tickets, we headed down to our platform as directed by the clerk. Very important to get the right info, because once passing the gates the signs can become quite confusing if Japanese is foreign to you. The Skyliner will take us directly to Ueno where we can change to the local subway lines that links to our destination.
As for the type of Keisei ticket I purchased, it included a return ticket and an additional 72 hour subway pass...meaning on the last day we can head back to the Keisei Ticket Counter at Ueno Station and exchange for a real ticket to take us back to Narita Airport. No need to tell them about the return date. You can also purchase a one-way ticket as well.
So the ticket below summarizes the times and type of train that I would be boarding: Date, Departure Time 20:41, Arrival Time 21.22, Train number 52 and Car 03. Seat 3D.
Below is the return 'voucher'. I call it voucher because it can't actually be used as a ticket until it's exchanged at the ticket counter.
As for the subway ticket, it doesn't get activated until we put it through the entry gates. So we can keep the un-used ticket until the end of the month, as stated below the ticket. Pretty handy.
Judging from the signs below there were 2 types of trains on this platform - Skyliner (the one we were going on) and the Access Express. They are pinned on the train tracks across from us, and gives us the indication of where to line up when our train arrives. So since I'm in Car number 3, I lined up in front of the Car number 3 sign.
The other ticket that we had to exchange was the JR Pass. This we dealt with the next day back at Ueno Station. Thinking that the lines would be shorter compared to the one at Narita, I was proved wrong. After spending a couple of minutes lost in the underground subway section, we found the main upper level where crowds of locals and tourists mingled.
The JR Pass Office was actually a tiny office next to the larger main ticket and travel service center. Once we got to the front section of the line, they gave us forms to fill - personal information and date of JR pass activation - before the clerks on the desk processed our tickets.
And voila - our JR passes (below) plus a bullet train reserved seat ticket to Kyoto. The reserved ticket was booked in the Ticket Center next door, where luckily there was a friendly clerk who spotted us in line and booked us the ticket from the machines inside. Not having a reserved ticket doesn't mean you can't go on the bullet train since there are cars that don't require a reserved ticket, but not having to worry about a seat and being free of charge to reserve, why not!
The last transport ticket we had to purchase was more of those subway tickets. They come in either 24/48/72 hour types, and can be purchased in a couple of areas (see previous post). The Tourist Information Center is one of them, and the Ueno one is located back down the subway level.
So that's the boring transport stuff organized. Now onto the tourist sites!
No comments:
Post a Comment