My last post was the story of my final night in Kamikochi, some two weeks ago. Since then a lot has happened and a lot of kilometers have passed under my feet. I would love to go into great depth and detail of what happened but unfortunately I’ve fallen way behind on my writing and I’ve realized that the farther I get from the actual experience the harder it is to write with my heart about it. So, for you my readers and the quality of my writing, I will only touch lightly on the events of late and try to keep them in some chronological order.
That next day I traveled to Matsumoto and spent the night in an awesome Japanese inn on the recommendation of my Dutch friends, Johan and Norcha. The fun thing is that they were staying there at the same time so we ended up eating dinner together and enjoying a movie from my collection. They were only mildly surprised when they arrived that night and I came out to greet them.
I do want to highlight the Japanese inn we stayed at in Matsumoto (Seifuso) for a couple of reasons, the main one being the couple that is running the place. The fact that they are actively engaging their customers, asking them what they thought about the experience, and then asking them to tell others is amazing. I don’t mean through one of those lame surveys you see in every hotel room on the desk with numbers from 1 to 5 and a small section to write something in. I mean they did it face to face and they listened. It was the first time I felt like the staff of a short term living establishment (read: hotel) cared about me and what I had to say. Let me tell you, that is a powerful experience and a great way to create loyalty. Of course their rooms were great and the place clean but more then that it felt like a home away from home. Check out Seifuso here.
The next day after some well deserved rest on a soft bed the three of us took a bus to Shinjuku and split up. The weather was horrid and my boots (Merrell Chameleon mids) failed horribly. I paid $150 for a pair of good boots and what I got was crap. Crap customer service, crap product, just crap. To date I have yet to receive a reply from Merrell about the series of ‘manufacturers defects’ I experienced and so as someone with a voice on the internet I will be making my rounds to various review sites… On the flip side because of my terrible experience with Merrell and my good experience with Karrimor (my bag was replaced without hassle once I contacted the Japanese distributor) I actually wrote a more business-like article on the need to revamp customer service in the internet age (see here).
So, my arrival in Tokyo was pretty bad. Wet feet do not make for a happy camper (no pun intended). Luckily a friend of mine who lives in Shinjuku was willing to put me up and so later that night we met up and went to his place. He was pretty shocked by the size of my backpack and had a good laugh at my troubles but it was all in good humor so I couldn’t help but laugh either. Over a couple of beers and some hot dinner the weight of travel slowly slid from my shoulders and I took my first breath of relaxed air in months.
Good friends are hard to find and I cannot say thank you enough to express my appreciation for what they have done for me while in Tokyo, you know who you are. They make you welcome when you are far from home, they help you when you are in need, and they are there when you need them.
Sixty days, thousands of kilometers, and countless cities later I had finally arrived in Tokyo. It was a major waypoint on my constantly changing itinerary and I was actually there. It was also the point where I realized and it began to sink in that I was on my way out. From here on it was a quick slide to Osaka/Kyoto and then…where?
I have to admit those thoughts gave me a bit of the shakes. Up until now I had been in my comfort zone, Japan, but the next stop was an unknown. In Japan I knew the language, the people, the lay of the land, so nothing was really surprising. But the next place…
Then the shakes stopped and the adrenaline began. A smile stretched my face as I realized that I was heading to my next challenge, something truly different. Succeed or fail my mettle would be tested. Would I be up to the task or would I run home crying to momma?
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