China had been on our bucket list for some time. The 2013 bus cruise generated Grand Circle credits that needed to be applied to new travel within two years, so we decided to take advantage while we are still physically able to climb some of the Great Wall. As much as we hate long flights, we decided to spend a few days in Japan as well.
Our first shock was to get our preliminary flight schedule. Denver to Atlanta, two hours in the airport followed by 14 hours to Tokyo. The return was slightly better. Tokyo to Seattle to Salt Lake City to Denver. The next iteration of the return trip improved slightly. Tokyo to Seattle to Denver. No improvement on the initial segment. On our flight monitor was a map of the Denver area as we flew non-stop from Atlanta to Tokyo.
We got to Narita airport in Japan at about 5:00 the next afternoon. It was easy to identify other members of our Grand Circle tour group. Just look for elderly white people. People from western countries are known in the east as people with big noses.
The next day it was warm and sunny for our bus tour of Tokyo.