Packing and travelling day Monday and Tuesday. I wake up early on Monday morning and it is obvious that last nights dinner is still lying heavy on my stomach, so I decide to skip breakfast completely. I know there is a lot of preparation for the staff to get my Japanese breakfast laid out so I give them notice of my intention.

I have got to a level with my packing that at capacity, if something new has to be loaded, then something old has to go. Today’s casualty was my pink striped shirt. I did find it a bit heavy in the humid heat, so it didn’t take long to sentence it to its fate. I am also practicing with what packing method works best? fold or roll? Today I tried the ‘roll’ method. There was one other candidate to go on my list, which was a bag of smalls and socks laundry. My better nature held true. “These people have been really pleasant, why should I wish my laundry even if I put it in the waste to these lovely people?” The Ryokan was so simple to pack from. I had a small built-in wardrobe, the rest of the room was empty apart from the low table and the bedding. You always fear that you will leave a shoe of a cable under the bed. With the futon, I just lifted it in the air. Easy.

After check-out, I wandered into the glorious sunshine to catch a cab. It is a really beautiful day. How hard would it be to get a taxi on a side street. I raised my hand and chose one of 3 that were willing to stop immediately. The back door and boot automatically opened and I am in and off. The Taxi drivers take immense pride in their taxi’s. The decorative cotton covers are in mint condition. They want you to have a good experience even for the shortest of journeys.

Up through Kyoto Station a ticket for the Shinkansen and navigation to the platform, car and seat. Perfectly on time.

I get to the edge of Kyoto and the scenes all around showed Mountains in the distance with snow capped peaks. It is a little chilly, so any rain would have topped them up yesterday. I throw on my anthem, ‘The World Ain’t Slowin’ Down’. Movement of the train is at the same pace as the song and it uplifts me immediately. I am travelling on the other side of the train for the way back and the scenary and buildings hold the same appeal. As I write this I am passing fields of Tea, that are organised in neat low curved hedgerows, field after field, hillside after hillside. I can wallow in its beauty, I just have trouble swallowing it.

You get a sense that you are in a beast of a train as it hurtles through tunnels and across its elevated tracks. And inside it’s really comfortable. I did go for First Class again as I wanted to finish off Kyoto as it deserved, relaxed.

Well let me enjoy the final bits of the journey with a bit more Country Music in my headphones.

From the hotel up at Tokyo’s Narita Airport I set out on Tuesday for Beijing and it is another blue skied day. I wasn’t expecting any issues until we got to the airport in Beijing. The flight took me through Shanghai and we were directed through transfers and immigration to catch the same plane that we had just got off. I think this is the fastest immigration check of any airport I have been to ever. There were 10 passengers going to Beijing, the rest moved off into Shanghai. We were directed as a group to a solitary area of the airport with no one but this small crew and passed the paperwork in 5 minutes. We were ushered across another empty area of the airport and then up into the Domestic Terminal. Now the flight was ‘Shanghai to Beijing’ an internal flight.

We headed like sheep as a group to the Gate which was filled with hundreds of Chinese people waiting for two flights, Ours and one other to another City. Nobody’s moving so I suspected something was up. Announcement…phew the other Flight has a delay and they don’t know when it will be taking off. Then, another Announcement…Technical fault on the flight to Beijing. I was thinking, I had guided my Beijing Hotel to arrange a car for me and I hadn’t thought through a ‘plan B’…hmm.

The terminal was floor to ceiling glass fronted so I walked down a little way to see if they had the bonnet up on the plane. No bonnet but 6 guys were standing with wrenches around one of the Wheels. We had come in a bit heavy, but however, we had a delay until it fixed. Use the time wisely I thought and started to wander in search of a Currency Exchange. A shop assistant stopped me and asked what I wanted, then explained that there is no Currency Exchange in the Domestic Terminal. And ATMs?, yes there are, but not on the Gate side. darn it! I always like to have some local cash in my pocket.

About 45 minutes late, the plane was called for boarding. Now reflect back to my Delhi to Hong Kong flight with the large Indian man. I don’t know if I have upset the booking gods?, or maybe I should have bought a good luck token from one of the many temples I have visited, however a Chinese man literally squeezed into his seat and it was the metal sided ones again. “Bing! Fasten Seats please!”.. Not a chance. He stood up again to find the seat belt he was sitting on and I did help him, by holding one side as he levered himself back in. He got the buckles to within a foot from each other. Still holding the one buckle I said, “Not today Sunshine”. He had been here before and asked for the extension belt. It’s the one that the Stewardesses do the demo with.

The change inside 24 hours from Japanese to Chinese was striking. Everyone on the plane was now Chinese and they have a more ‘can’t wait’ approach to things. If they have a window seat, they just step over whoever is there rather than waiting the person to get up. I noticed at the Gate the ‘Flight ready for boarding call’ was more like a Grand National Start and after landing and the usual announcement “We will be taxiing to the gate so remain seated with your seat belts fastened…” All you could hear was “Click, Click, Click, Click, Click” as all the belts unlatched one after another.

The Tokyo travellers were led onto a separate bus and into another quiet part of another quiet airport and straight to the Belt. I was thinking, I am now 90 minutes late for my car, fat chance. I was first of the Tokyo 10 to be out through Customs and I peered down the line of waiting Chinamen…but, there he was! with a board with the correct spelling of my name and he was dressed in his Red Bell Boy outfit. The driver was next to him. I was so pleased to see him that I shook his hand.

Within an hour I was in the Hotel with a Pint in my hand and the iPad open ready to Blog. My little issue is that China doesn’t like western blogging, so I am blog-blocked unless I send it by email to the boys and then get them to post. For an amazing city in a country that holds 19% of the worlds population there are still a lot of issues to resolve before it takes part in the big new world, unless of course it can do without us. I’ll reserve judgement as I the aim is to get to know a bit of China’s real past which should be exciting.

I am supposed to be very central to things here, but when I have risen at a leisurely hour tomorrow I will go exploring.