Day 1 - Tokyo

We packed our backpacks traditionally to 8 kg and set off for Munich. A flight to Japan awaited us! To Tokyo. The long-awaited destination was now within reach. On Saturday morning, we drove to Munich Airport and suddenly we were on the plane to Tokyo, with 12.5 hours of travel ahead of us. Time passed quite quickly; we set the clock back by 8 hours and here we are! Even upon landing, we were dazzled by the beautiful morning light just before sunrise. From the plane, we saw the peak of the sacred Mt. Fuji, which is not far from Tokyo. We landed and were greeted by a beautiful sunrise. It was 7 AM local time, and the day was just beginning. In Europe, it was 11 PM, so the night somehow had passed. From the airport, we wanted to go to the hotel, drop off our things, and then head into the city. We managed to navigate through, pass through immigration, and buy a metro card that was supposed to make traveling in Tokyo easier. From the airport, we traveled to the center and could hardly believe what we saw. Everything was modern; the trains had heated seats! And the rail network was so dense that there was even an elevated track that sometimes went up and down, making it feel more like a roller coaster! We arrived at the hotel in the center, left our luggage there, and made our way into the city. The first destination was the Senso-ji Temple – the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. At the entrance stood huge lanterns. We walked through the temple and the pagoda and wandered through the maze of streets around it. Everywhere you could hear the clinking of metal – by tradition, after throwing a coin and shaking in a metal box, a box with a message opened. Incense sticks burned everywhere. From the temple, we walked across the river to the observation deck of the Skytree Tower. Once, this was the tallest building in the world. We ascended to a height of 450 m and gazed at the city from the 360-degree glass dome. It was a great experience. From the observation point, you could also see Mt. Fuji.