[2019-09-30]
I reached Tokyo by train and got off at Asakusa Station; an old friend was waiting for me, that had just arrived from Osaka, so we could share some days.
Before getting out of a station, make sure you check which exit you should take; for example, in that one, some exits are almost 500 meters apart. But don’t worry, there are a lot of signs and people willing to help you everywhere.
Tokyo Skytree 
Asakusa is a beautiful area, but also popular, so expect huge crowds around. We had some hours before we could do check-in in the hostel, so, after squeezing our bags in one of the lockers (you could find everywhere near the stations) we went for a long, long walk among thousands of tourists.
(There are also options for shipping your stuff from the airport to your accommodation, but my plan (and this blog) was for travelling on a budget).
Around the area, the most noticeable building was the Tokyo Skytree. It’s so huge that my brain couldn’t comprehend its size until I was closer; from where I was, it didn’t look too far, but after almost a kilometer, I started to realize it was further and way much higher.
This tower has the highest observation deck in Japan; but I decided not to enter, I had read that there were better views of the city, not as expensive, and some free ones too. Now I think it would have been a unique experience, just being so high.
I had never imagined the huge number of travelers who can be seen in that neighborhood; everywhere we checked, there were more foreigners than Japanese. Also, too many people for my like; we couldn’t even fully enjoy the wonderful Sensōji temple; a stunning but way too famous one, hence, excessively frequented. I can’t imagine it on a festival where you won’t even have space to move around.
Something I would learn later in the journey is that you could enjoy the temples and shrines better, early in the morning, so I recommend you adjust your schedule with that in mind.
After hours of walking and eating everything that we came across, even raw horse meat (I don’t really recommend it, it’s soft but served too cold and it almost doesn’t have any flavor), we finally went to the hostel where we would stay the 3 following nights.
One thing you should know about the hostels in Japan is that it’s normal that nobody is there to welcome you. Some of the entrances have some security code that you’ll receive with your booking, so check everything they send you; I learned that the hard way: after nobody was answering the door for several minutes, I found that, at the very end of a long email, were some instructions with the code.
We managed to enter, and found some messages with contact info, so we talked with the administrator, who arrived quickly to give us our room keys.
We went out again after organizing our space; we had to make the most of the day. And with some more hours walking around, my body couldn’t take any longer; although it was expected, being midnight already. I was surprised that I lasted all day with no sleeping after the long flight. I guess it was due to the excitement that did not let me down and gave me energies to go on, but I knew I had to stop and rest, so we could proceed the following days.
Don‘t hesitate to ask any questions in the comments below.
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