It really is amazing that we ever went on this holiday at all!!

Two days before we were due to leave Jamnagar for Tokyo we were advised that our flights from Mumbai to Tokyo had been cancelled (and this only because Gavin had been along to the travel agents to make sure all was well!! Not because anyone thought to advise us!!). Then the day before our departure one of the new flights was cancelled and we were simply given a small scrap of paper with a new flight number on it - no new tickets!! And to cap it all my passport was only returned to me twenty hours prior to departure with the new residency permit allowing me to return to India!!

But leave on time we did!! Even then the flight from Jamnagar to Mombai was one hour late. The flight from Mombai to Delhi was over one hour late (which did give us time to run about in the heat and humidity from terminal to terminal looking for an Air India office where someone would help us and issue some new tickets.) The flight from Delhi to Tokyo was also late!!

But we decided it was important to be determined to put all this behind us and enjoy our trip!!

We arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo at eight o'clock in the morning and all was well!! Suddenly we were in a place where everything was neat and tidy, friendly and very organised!!

Gavin had lived in Japan for eight and a half years on engineering contracts from 1996 was keen to show me the places he knew and his favourite haunts. We were lucky enough to be invited to stay with his friend and colleague, Alan, and to meet his girlfriend, Yuri, both of whom made us most welcome and helped to make our trip very special, as you will see.