Wednesday - turned out to be quite an eventful day!

Well, by the end of the day, I must first say that all is well, if not perfect at least livable with!
 So the day unfolded first like all the others with an early start. By hte skin f my teeth, I managed to be on hte 8.39 shuttle to the station with all I should have with me.  There was plenty of time as the first train wasn't until after 9, so no panics necessary. I battled with my reluctant wheelie case up and down all the necessary escalators (called elevators here incidentally....still haven't worked out what they call a  lift!). .The journey I was starting was going to take over 5 hours but I was travelling a distance of 862.5 kilometers. Well over 500 miles! I had two changes to mak but enough time not to be too stressed by changing platforms etc.  All was going well until I arrived at Kokura, the second change. I showed my rail pass (cost me £432! for 21 days us of JR system) and went through the 'arrival' gate. Took the opportunity to 'powder my nose' so to speak, then headed for the departure platform. At the top of the escalator was a cake and sandwich outlet and I thought I would buy something to pass the journey. All the conveying of luggge is physically draining so I could justify a small sandwich. Nothing comes in big proportions here so wasn't going to worried about overeating! So got the necessary sandwich after having a bit of a fumble and dropped som smalll change in the process. had a jok with the two women at the shop, in no language other than my much used sign language/head and other body part gesticulations!  Of I went and got onto the next train....next stop Beppu - 72 minutes away.  After only a few minutes of dashing along the track, the ever smiling conductor came along to check our tickets and  collect fares from those who need to pay......You must have guessed by now that I had a problem....no pass.....no matter how many times I checked bags and pockets, it still was nowhere in site. The conductor shrugged and had gone off to others without much of a reaction.  Mine was the problem and for the remainder of th 72 minutes, I fretted, schemed, worried, sought internet help, emailed JR pass people (the wrong ones as it turned out!) but also came to terms with the fact that this was a bit of a disaster but at the end of the day, have credit card can travel. I decided I needed to calm down and tried to concentrate of my book, all the while expecting the conductor to come back. He had given me up as a bad job as he knew I couldn't escape through the gate without dealing with the payment of due fares. I had checked Hyperdia, the travel logistics website and knew the fare from Kokura to Beppu wasn't huge - about £20 or a bit less, not the end of the world! More worrying was the fact that without the pass, I would have to pay again to travel - and I was just heading to the furthest away destination!

Deep breathes were employed as I headed or the gate - there was nothing else I could do but pray that the person on duty would speak English.  Now, this is really the good bit, I went up to the concierge and said Konichiwa, hello to you and I, and I said in my carefully practised speech, i am terribly sorry but I have a problem. I seemed to have lost my pass at Kokura............would you believe it - her (nice young thing of about 12 - well perhaps a bit older, but certinly didn't look it).......reaction was to ask me my name....I gave it and her response was ah! and with this she showed me a teenie bit of paper with heiroglyphics on it and I could see my name......things were looking up!  I didn't understand at first, but it has become clear that someone handed my pass in to the station folk and some bright person had informed Beppu - and perhaps the next place (which was th end of the line) that a pass had been found. All that remainded was a couple of phone calls to somewhere and a fax of my pass arrived. I had to identify it as being mine, no problem as my name and passport number were on it, and before I knew it I had a piece of paper attached to the fax of my pass in my sticky little mitt. I (mis)understood that I could collect my actual pass on my return journey in a few days. The paper was to allow me to use a temporary pass to get from Beppu back to Kokura.  I am now not totally sure if it is a tempory pass or a replacement...I will find out on Sunday as I return northwards. Watch this space!!

If I was to say I walked away to the tourist information place feeling relieved, it would be the understatemnt of the holiday (so far! as I cross my fingers!!).

Drama over, I get the proverbial map and instructions, together with info about the places of interest and how to get to them all....my head was spinning - which might be why I went out of the east gate and started to follow the instructions to my hotel......Given the conversation I have just had with Paul about how people loose there navigational abilities when they are starting to get Altzheimers, according to research, it is worrying to admit that I was, once again going in the wrong direction.  Luckily my little map had symbols for traffic lights and shops etc on and nothing matched. I am getting much better at realising when I am going the wrong way....just haven't stopped doing it for some reason!!

Anyway, I retraced my steps, lugging the case behind me, and through the station and out the correct - west door...I think all the instructions about east gate for this and west gate for that had gotten mixed in my brainbox!  So off I trudge to the nearby hotel...well it is near .....but not if you go the way I did....as with no sense of scale, I had thought the roads marked would look like roads, but no, many are just like wide passageways by our standards. You need to realise that Beppu is a smallish place by Japan's standards, and the centre is an overgrown old village, with the addition of modern block building anywhere they can fit them in. Old and new are intermingled but the back streets still remain as suitable for walking but barely suitable for motor driven vehicles!

 When I was walking past a Starbucks the penny dropped, I had gone about twice as far as necessary already and I still had to get to my destination.


 If I was to say that my temper was not at its best, I think you would undrstand, so imagine how I felt a few seconds later when, to put it mildly, I went 'arse over tip' and ended up banging my head and falling over my suitacase, not helped by the weight of the backpack! I don't suppose I looked my most elegant!!

Two workmen were very quick to assist - more than likely used to stupid female tourists throwing themselves at the pavement!! Luck definitely must be with me as although I was a bit battered and my head took quite a blow, my glasses were soon restored to their rightful place, in tact, and I was back on my feet with no broken bones. Phew, phew and triple phew!!


Thank goodness nobody knows me as they would despair!

Eventually, after asking once or twice as I covered the few hundred yards to my place, I was here at last.





It didn't look like I expected- and it wasn't! That made the third 'thing' of the day! Again luckily the man on duty spoke English and I soon established that I was where I was meant to be, but that I had booked a place (expensive is not the word) at a hostel and not a hotel!  As I had paid in full, there was nothing for it but to make the best of it. As I am booking every place on the internet and sometimes, late into the night, it isn't surprising that I would make a mistake somewhere along the line. I had booked a room for 5 as that was all that I could find, and it was supposd to be a Japanese style room. After staying in a place that resembled a cupboard earlier on the trip, I was trying to get a room big enough to put my case flat on the floor.

 By the time all this had been discussed, the chap could see I was, I suppose, showing signs of the rigour of the day and he took pity on me. I had said that I had booked a big room so I had space, not that there were going to be another load of people coming too! He asked if i would prefer a western style family room with beds not futons. I said yes - and to cut a long story short, he changed the room I was to have for what is more of an appartment than a room. There is a large sitting room - big table and 6 chairs with tv (small) in the corner and a single bed at one side. To the left off this room is a big bedroom with two very large double beds side by side - almost touching. There is also a massive bathroom with walk-in shower with side jets and 2 overhead bits, the sink is in another area like a lobby area between the sitting room and the bathroom. The toilet  is of to one side.  I have a balcony which I have stood on - once, and have aview of Beppu Tower and i can see the sea on a clear day - through the wires and poles and buildings!!

The poor man might have regretted the 'upgrade' as he had called it when I went back later and asked where was the kettle!  He was only to happy to give me the one from behind the desk and also to hire me towels - cannot complain about the cost of these as they were only Y100 each, so just about £1.50 in total, not per day.  I also asked about the location of the kitchen as all hostels enable you to self-cater.  That was in another building a bit down the road. My key had the code for that building and he suggested I go and have a look before I go and buy food - good plan!  As it turned out the kitchen is fine, people of all nationalities pssing through, but a helpful resident who originates from Swansea helped me understand the cooker etc. He is teaching English at the University here and is living in the hostel - not my bit as he said that is for famiies (and little old ladies making a last bid for female immancipation or whatever you label women who go off galavanting leaving their poor husbands slaving away at all manner of tasks that should have been shared!!)


So as the day ended, I had shopped and cooked, blogged a previous days exploits and finally got to bed thankful for all the good things that had happened and thinking how fortunate I am to be in Japan, a country where people bend over backwards to be helpful and where they have been conditioned to be honest and trustworthy. Yes there will be a few rogues, but it would be unlikely to ever come across them as a tourist. the country are desperate to make us welcome.

Tomorrow is another day, but first a good night's sleep is necessary!