We were very excited this morning as we were going to Kyoto on our first Shinkansen (bullet) train passed Mount Fuji and to the old capital of Kyoto. Having come from India where travelling by rail is famous and relatively easy and efficient (for India standards) we weren't quite sure what to expect with Japan's rail lines. We got to the station about 15 minutes early and the train wasn't even there. Around 10 minutes later the train pulled into Tokyo station ...

Our flight from KL was delayed by a few hours, something wrong with the engine-brilliant! Consequently we landed at 11:55; by the time we got through customs etc. the last monorail and metro had stopped. We had a choice, either take a taxi for around $100 to our prepaid hostel room or sleep in the airport until 5:30am when the first metro would start and we could get into our dorm within 45 minutes. It was a no brainer, we are on a travel budget and have come ...