Suddenly it got hot! We went from cold and damp to hot and humid in about a day. Arrived in Yokohama on Sunday morning October 7th and did the Tokyo excursion. It was in the high 80s (35 degrees C) and 50% or so humidity where just a few days before it was around 60 F with a cold wind. Amazing weather change.
We arrived at sunrise and I went down to the gathering area for the Best of Tokyo excursion I had signed up for. And, there we sat waiting for the call to go ashore. Our wait was a long time. Immigration authorities ashore were having trouble setting up their computers and we had to wait until they got things working. Bottom line: we left the ship about 10am; were supposed to leave just past 8:30. The tour included a buffet lunch so we did that first instead of last as the original schedule said.
They took us to a Japanese buffet at an upscale hotel instead of the described Western-style buffet. Worked well and there was plenty to eat. Based on how I felt later in the day I think I picked something that had egg in it but the reaction was small so it could not have been much.
After lunch we started our tour at the Sensoji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo. As this was a three-day weekend based on the Be Active Day holiday there were people everywhere. We made our way to the temple and had some time there to explore. All the stalls were selling stuff I had no use for and with the heat and egg reaction I was not feeling my best so after exploring the temple and a small area around it I found a nice shaded spot with an occasional breeze and sat there until the group came back together so we could move on.
The next stop was at the old Imperial Palace grounds and some of the people followed the guide to a famous bridge. I recognized symptoms of the onset of heat exhaustion and so did not follow along. Those of us who stayed behind explored a little park by the bus parking area and found shade to wait.
With one place left to visit (Meiji Shrine) the time was approaching 4pm and the sun was starting to set. (It sets early here.) We got to the parking lot for the shrine and left to see it. It’s in the middle of a dense forested area and with the sun setting I was feeling better and saw the shrine. We were lucky as a marriage ceremony was going on so we got to see the fancy clothes the bride wears to the wedding. Really quite beautiful. After, we rushed back to the parking lot as it was closing at 4:40pm and if we had not left, the bus (and ourselves) would have been stuck there.
The trip back to Yokohama and the ship was uneventful. What happened later was not.
As I write this about 2:30pm on Monday, October 8th we are anchored in Yokohama Harbor. Turns out our fuel barge did not make it to refuel the ship on the 7th as it was supposed to and the dock was needed for another cruise ship so at 11:30pm we moved from the dock to an anchorage where we spent the night and all day today. The plan is we will move back to the dock tonight and be there most of the day tomorrow so we can be refueled. If we want to get off the ship once it docks again we can so we have another night and day at Yokohama. Naturally, this makes us drop another port: Osaka.
If you are following and wonder why the ship hasn’t moved much when it should be approaching Osaka by now you know why.
The trip continues.