Trains

Train trip to Hakone

Posted on by helenhmk

Saturday morning we met up with longtime Tokyo friends and headed to Hakone, which is just over 1.5 hours by train outside of Tokyo.

First challenge – getting from one side of Shinjuku train station to another… not the easiest station to navigate to get to the meeting spot. Unlike previous times it didn’t take too long and we were able to met up buy bento for the train and get to the platform to take photos of the Romancecar train.

The name comes from the arms rests being omitted in between the seats… which was radical at the time of creation back in 1957. The cars also have large windows enabling passengers great views of the scenery. The train offers a fabulous opportunity to sit back enjoy passing of greater Tokyo as you head to Hakone and eat bento!

Luck…

Posted on by helenhmk

Sometimes you can be completely lucky…

Seeing Mt Fuji is not always guaranteed when you come to Japan.

Even if you plan it… first trip we saw it for 3 seconds and had to wait another 3-4 trips before we saw it longer than a blink.

This time it was nice to be rewarded again seeing Mt Fuji while on the Shinkansen travelling on our way back to Tokyo from Kobe. When booking we ensured we sat on the correct side… and the weather was kind. Yeah! 🗻 🙌 🍁. Added bonus there was also a lot of autumn colour. Ah…

Local trains…

Posted on by helenhmk

Morning..! Today we are taking a ride in a third sector railway – a very local train with one carriage…. getting off at Kobe (different to what you are thinking).

Once we get to Kobe we will be cycling to Shimabara.

Bus stops…

Posted on by helenhmk

On my list this trip was visiting the fruit bus stops in Nagasaki prefecture.

To get there we caught a local train from Isahaya. It was very much a local train. There were two carriages and the driver was also the person who took the fares – so when you got off you had to ensure you were in the front carriage to give him the fare – 380 yen (3.80 approx).

Unsurprisingly we were the only ones that got off at Nagasato. As you can see by the photo of the station – there is not much around. From here we got on our bikes to find the first bus stop which was about 2 minutes down the road – which was a watermelon.

The bus stops are made from concrete in the shape of fruit. Originally they were made for a travel expo in 1990… and then moved to their current locations. They are well maintained both inside and out. They certainly are a feature of the area – as there are a few tourists who seek them out.

The downside of these bus-stops is they are on the main road – which is one lane in each direction. Cycling on the road is a little unpleasant- so it’s really best to use the footpath given the large number of trucks and other vehicles. For this reason we used the footpath.

While we were enjoying it given the road conditions we decided to go back to Nagasaki early from Konagai station.

The best way to see these bus-stops is probably by car – but I’m still pleased we took the time and visited.

You can read more about visiting them here

Melbourne Brompton Pastry Tour – Getting There by the Overland.

Posted on by kymdt

I travelled to Melbourne with my Brompton Bike to investigate the pastry scene in Melbourne. This was no ordinary trip. The pastry tour was to be conducted by Brompton and I would get to Melbourne by train.

The Overland train service between Adelaide and Melbourne leaves twice a week and travels during the day. It has a history of more than 130 years and its current name was given to it 98 years ago. While it stopped being hauled by a steam locomotive in 1950, it is still an enjoyable step back in time. The train I travelled on was a special “mongrel” as it also had a couple of carriages from the Ghan that had been used on the previous trip for Tasting Australia. It was very pleasant to access the Ghan lounge car in addition to the premium carriage.

I rode my bike to the Adelaide Parklands Terminal with all of my luggage in my bag on the front of the Brompton Bike. While there are generous checked luggage limits, any Brompton rider would prefer to keep their bike with them. Fortunately, there is plenty of space onboard the Red Premium carriage to take the bike on board with you. Indeed, the check-in staff seemed reluctant to check in items other than standard luggage.

The price of my trip was about the same as it would cost to fly (at that particular point in time) and enabled me to enjoy the premium service, which included cooked breakfast, fantastic curry of the day and morning and afternoon tea. While Melbourne is around 650 kilometres away from Adelaide the rail route is 828 kilometres and takes about 10 and half hours.

Seen while cycling

Posted on by helenhmk

While cycling alongside the Tama river there were a couple of times where we came across groups of men with many cameras.

Here was the first

… we guessed based on their position they were waiting for the cloud to clear and take photos of Mt Fugi. It was behind those clouds.

Here is an earlier picture:

… later along the path there was another group positioned towards a bridge….

… we only had around 10 minutes so we did t stick around after the freight train came through to know if they left – but we suspect they stayed… hope it was good what they were waiting for!