Quick flight out from Seoul airport - over
Incheon which we recognised from yesterday and the endless tower blocks,
though we hadn't spotted the turtle!
Then farewell Korea and 335 miles/539km later, over the Sea of Japan, it was Konnichiwa Japan! as the coastline of Kyushu county appeared. For an international airport, Fukuoka was very compact - though it didn't undersell itself -
so we were through swiftly, apart from customs... by the time we'd changed from travelling clothes into shorts for the super-warm Japanese weather, everyone else had gone and the customs officer to whom we presented ourselves had nothing better to do than rifle through our bags!
Our teeny rented Subaru Stella has conjoined front seats upholstered like an IKEA sofa
the most immediately noticeable difference between here and Korea is that almost every car is a tiny hatchbacks. On top of this, the hire company warned us very sternly that parking anywhere on a road was likely to get us a ticket so paid car parks are the way to go, 24/7. This satnav is supposed to be very user-friendly - we'll see but hopefully at least we shan't need to try to draw Japanese characters!
We negotiated some very narrow streets to our hotel - this is why the cars all need to be so tiny! Our room has two mattresses on the floor and the dining-table table is low with ground chairs for cross-legged seating. Shoes off on the matted floor and slippers are provided, plus yukata wraps (a little like a kimono but cotton and informal)
and we have entry chits for access tmrw morning to the hotel's spa baths : onsen, all the rage around here.
though we hadn't spotted the turtle!
Then farewell Korea and 335 miles/539km later, over the Sea of Japan, it was Konnichiwa Japan! as the coastline of Kyushu county appeared. For an international airport, Fukuoka was very compact - though it didn't undersell itself -
so we were through swiftly, apart from customs... by the time we'd changed from travelling clothes into shorts for the super-warm Japanese weather, everyone else had gone and the customs officer to whom we presented ourselves had nothing better to do than rifle through our bags!
Our teeny rented Subaru Stella has conjoined front seats upholstered like an IKEA sofa
the most immediately noticeable difference between here and Korea is that almost every car is a tiny hatchbacks. On top of this, the hire company warned us very sternly that parking anywhere on a road was likely to get us a ticket so paid car parks are the way to go, 24/7. This satnav is supposed to be very user-friendly - we'll see but hopefully at least we shan't need to try to draw Japanese characters!
We negotiated some very narrow streets to our hotel - this is why the cars all need to be so tiny! Our room has two mattresses on the floor and the dining-table table is low with ground chairs for cross-legged seating. Shoes off on the matted floor and slippers are provided, plus yukata wraps (a little like a kimono but cotton and informal)
and we have entry chits for access tmrw morning to the hotel's spa baths : onsen, all the rage around here.
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