14 May 2024. The day finally came.
This morning, from excitement or nerves, I woke before the sun was up.

I am leaving Japan for the greatest adventure of my life. First stop: the start line in Peking.
And four days after that, the final destination is Paris. A journey of 14,500 km over 37 days begins.

People ask how much luggage you take for 37 days.
The answer is: extremely little. Really? That is all?

Yes. One is a complete tent. The other is a kimono.
I will explain the kimono another time.
Which means the luggage is cut to the absolute minimum.

Because seventy per cent of what the car carries is spare parts.
Even a T-shirt counts as weight, so the clothing is home-made, quick-drying
and light — three sets each, top and bottom, per person.

There is a video of the preparation; do have a look.

A slightly funny video of getting ready for 37 days

And so — out of Kansai Airport and into Peking in no time.
The momiji manjū in the in-flight meal made me laugh. So far, so good.

On arriving in Peking I went straight to arrange a taxi at the airport.
Rather than catching one at a rank as you would in Japan, I booked it
at a taxi counter. The fare was clearly displayed, and the driver and I both signed for it.

And then —
about an hour later, the moment we reached the hotel, he started saying something about a service charge of an extra 100 yuan because there was so much luggage.
(Told to me through a translation app.)

In other words, the classic aimed-at-tourists
rip-off.

 

But I am not the sort to back down at that point.
I protested through the app too — and took a great many photographs.
Making it clear I would report him. (I would not have, of course; too much trouble.)
Taken that far, the driver evidently decided it was not worth it,
backed off, and the 100 yuan was successfully defended.

Getting out of the taxi thinking “what a start”, I carried the bags into the hotel — and
hmm? Something about the lobby was wrong.
It looked like a hotel that had closed down, with interior work going on.
The name was similar, but something was off.

I found a workman standing about and, through the app again, gave him the name of the hotel I had booked.“It isn’t here.”
What?

The evening had drawn in and outside it was completely dark.
A search showed that the hotel I had booked was another thirty minutes away.

Nothing for it but to find a taxi — and after thirty minutes, then an hour,
not one stopped.

It turns out that in China you can only get a taxi through an app.
Two hours of this and that. Two odd Japanese people at their wits’ end.

And then — a god appears, as they do for me 😛❤️

“What’s the matter?” asked a Chinese man. Someone connected with the hotel?
With gestures and everything else, I got across that we were in trouble,

and he booked a taxi on his own phone.
He had the driver make the price clear, and we reached the hotel safely — in the middle of the night,
far past the time we had planned.

Honestly, what would have become of us without him?

At this rate we will never get through the 37 days that start here.
You cannot fight on an empty stomach.
So, pulling myself together, we went to a málà tàng place to fill a very empty one.

A place with nothing but locals in it.
There is a video of this place too.

A report from a Chinese málà tàng at the end of a strange journey

I had been complacent because China is close — and how many hours has it been since we left Japan?
Does it begin here?

What are the gods trying to give me?

Yes — back at the hotel, and this is the state of things on day one.

Next: the report from 15 May, three days to the start.