February 28th, 2023
Much too early our departure day had come. We enjoyed a last view of Fuji-San from the hotel window.
But first Luise used the hotel’s onsen again in the morning. After breakfast and check-out, Luise picked up our car and we started the trip back to Tsukuba, where we had to return the car. We also had to pick up a suitcase from Luise’s dorm room and take it back to Germany. Our return flight was scheduled in the evening around 10:45 p.m. from Tokyo-Haneda.
On our last day at Mount Fuji, the weather was again very nice. We were exceptionally lucky here in this regard. Even on the trip, the sacred mountain continued to present itself in the best light.
The trip to Tsukuba was without any problems. Because of the general speed limit (70-100 km/h even on the highways), we still needed almost 3 hours for the distance of about 180km. Luise, however, drove very well. We then picked up the extra suitcase from her dorm, refueled the car and dropped it off at Toyota in Tsukuba.
From Tsukuba we then headed to the airport. The direct bus to Haneda Airport would not have arrived until an hour and a half later, so we took the Tsukuba Express again. We had to change trains twice until we arrived at the airport. This way we got the chance to see the Rainbow Bridge of Odaiba once again.
Shortly after 4:00 p.m. we reached the airport. It was surprisingly not very busy there, so we were able to check in right away. We first dropped off our travel bags and Louise’s additional suitcase. Two employees at the ANA counter helped us very kindly and also checked in the additional piece of luggage free of charge without any problems. In general, it is very comfortable that in Japan there is always helpful staff if you have any question. This is no comparison with the service desert in Germany - when I only think of our chaotic initial flight again!
Since we still had a few hours to kill before our departure scheduled for 10:45 p.m., we first enjoyed a coffee with pastries at Café Cardinal.
After that, we explored the international Terminal 3 a bit. The building is very modern, but on the upper floors there are some stores and restaurants in traditional Japanese style, of which surprisingly many had already closed.
There is an observation deck at the top, from which we watched the hustle and bustle of the large airport in front of the Tokyo skyline with the Skytree in the background until sunset. In the distance, we could even see Mount Fuji one last time.
For our last dinner together with Luise in Japan, we chose a yakiniku restaurant on the top floor of the airport, where you prepare your own meat on a gas grill. It was again very tasty.
For dessert, we had a last latte macchiato in another café and a donut for Luise and me. Then it was time to say goodbye to Luise.
It was a great trip together. Luise always organized and arranged everything perfectly. In contrast to our first visit in 2014, we were able to immerse ourselves so much more in the “real” Japan and felt much less like foreign bodies. The farewell after this great time together was very hard for all of us.
Now we made our way to the gate. Even the check of carry-on luggage went completely without problems, we could go straight through to the gate where we waited for our boarding. The plane was already there and we were able to board our ANA Dreamliner on time.
The flight itself went off without a hitch. This time the route led north via Alaska, the ice-covered Arctic Ocean and Greenland because of the necessary bypass of Russia. Suddenly, in the middle of the night far to the north, the sun rose again, we had obviously crossed the Arctic Circle. At the northernmost point of the route, we reached the 80th degree of latitude north according to the display on the monitor and were thus only about 3000 km away from the North Pole.
Later I could also briefly see an aurora out of the window, but unfortunately I did not manage to take a presentable photo of it.