The land of uncooked fish

According to my last update I was to run the Tokyo marathon in 2026. Towards the end of September last year I received a mail from the marathon travel company letting me know that they had extra spots for the 2024 run. So my schedule got bumped up 2 years. The horror!

For obvious reasons I’m not traveling across the world for just a weekend to run a marathon so I’ll have a few other things planned for the trip.

27th of February – 3rd of March
Flying out to Tokyo on a direct flight; leaving around 1100 and arriving the following morning less than 14 hours later. I’ll have a few days to catch my breath and have a look around, including running a 5km run Saturday morning (“Friendship Run”) before running the marathon on Sunday the 3rd.

The course starts near Shinjuku at the Metropolitan Government office, going east and reaching north of Imperial Palace and Chiyoda City. From there we have a short detour north towards Ueno before returning to Chiyoda City, going further south before turning east and north to Taito City, returning the same way for a bit before going further east and south past the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine before once again returning the way we came. Reaching the east side of Chiyoda City again and Tokyo station we continue further south all the way to Tamachi and passing Tokyo Tower and once again turning around, the same way back, finishing the run at Tokyo station.

Quite a bit of repetition on the course with running on roads in both directions which I’m not a big fan of, but it’s a completely new city for me so that’s a big plus.

4th – 8th of March
The day after the run, hopefully not too sore, I’ll be checking out from the hotel and taking the shinkansen to Osaka where I’ll spend the following four nights. Not many plans other than hanging out and seeing the city. I do have plans on the Wednesday to grab the train to Himeji to see the castle there – dated from 1333 and the largest in Japan – and on the way back stop by Kobe where I have a reservation for a hopefully delicious dinner centered around kobe beef.

8th – 21st of March
I’m doing a 2-week group tour starting in Tokyo so I’ll take the shinkansen back to Tokyo to meet with the group. From there we’ll start off going west to Kanazawa, continuing to Takayama, then going south all the way down to Hiroshima, and returning passing through Kyoto and Fujikawaguchiko (near Fuji) before returning to Tokyo. We’ll be spending 1-2 days at all the locations giving us time to see the city/area before shinkansen’ing on to the next location.

One could argue that a day (or the two in Kyoto) isn’t enough to see it everything a city has to offer, but if you were to stay long enough to be fully satiated these two weeks could have been more than double the time. I suspect it will likely at times feel a bit rushed but also a good balance between getting to see a large part of the country and still at least having some time at each stop.

22nd – 30th of March
Returning to Tokyo I’ll spend the rest of my trip there, having time to have a good look around and get to see the different parts of the city. I am looking into doing day trips out of the city, maybe north as that is a part that hasn’t been covered by the previous days. I have already booked a tour in Nagano on the 25th – not because it was the site for the winter Olympics in 1998, but you can see the
Japanese macaques (snow monkeys); those known for sitting in the hot pools surrounded by snow. Being relatively late in the winter there may not be much snow left when I get there, but I guess I’ll see when I get there. The cherry trees are forecast to start blossoming around the 22nd in Tokyo and being fully blossomed a week later, so I will just have time to see that (hopefully – depending on weather and such) before flying home Saturday morning.

As far as I can see this will be the longest trip I’ve been on yet, but considering how interesting the country (and food!) seems I felt it would be waste not spending some extra time now that I was there for the run. There will likely be a certain level of cultural shock when getting there but that’s all part of the fun, right?

10th – 13th of November – Agra, Delhi and home

After the last morning drive and breakfast back at the resort, we packed our bags, piled into 4 cars and drove to Katni and the train station there to take a sleeper train to Agra. The drive there we not much different that the other drives between national parks; plenty of open space and nature, and a couple of bird sightings if you paid attention. We also got to stop at a place where there were a row of large trees where we could get a clear view of a large group of bats sleeping.

Katni turned out to be a busy city but narrow roads. It wouldn’t have been too bad had it not been due to holidays which resulted in clogged roads and difficulties moving through traffic. We got to the station first, and despite the 4 cars were like stuck together for the entire drive, due to the traffic in Katni it took more than 10 minutes before the next showed up.

We had maybe 1½ hours at the station before our train would arrive. We had already been warned that trains in India can be notoriously late – several hours wasn’t unheard of. And even if it was on time departing lots of things could happen along the way so you would never really know until you arrived at your destination. It turned out that our train was delayed – but only by 10-15 minutes. The trains here are long, so getting ourselves positioned on the platform to be able to enter our carriage we had to go quite far – but as soon as we left the main building things were much less crowded so the situation improved. The general chaos on the platform was not nearly as bad as I had feared. The train rolled into the station. And rolled. And rolled. We were towards the rear of the train so we got to see all the cheap cabins/carriages pass by us (some of them were horribly crowded and made you feel claustrophobic just looking at them) before ours stopped almost right where we were standing. With a good amount of slightly chaotic rushing and piling our bags and ourselves into the train, we were ready to head north towards Agra.

We were placed in a sleeper carriage – a luxurious one, even, as it had AC and you were able to have a bit of privacy behind your curtain and it didn’t feel crowded. I ended up in a bed along one side (opposite a group of 4 beds in a cabin like you’d normally see in a sleeper train) which was definitely made for Indians. It was short enough that I had my feet out the side of the bed but just wide enough that I could be there while also having my camera bag there (it had been recommended to keep all valuables with us in the bed). Despite the not quite comfortable conditions I ended up getting a good night’s sleep on the ride, as opposed to others in the group who apparently struggled to get any sleep at all.

 

 Detailing at the Red Fort.

 

 

Arriving in Agra – on time, even – we left for the hotel where we had breakfast and deposited our bags before spending the day touring the Red Fort and Taj Mahal. Not much had changed since my last visit there but it was nice getting a refresher. Having left most of my camera equipment back at the hotel and only bringing my wide lens (recommended doing this due to security at the locations) I realized, standing at Taj Mahal, that the river passing by had amazing bird life going on, and plenty of birds that we hadn’t seen yet on the trip. Had to remind myself we were there for the buildings, not the wildlife.

 

 

We spent the night in Agra before getting on a private bus that took us back to Delhi and our hotel. Getting back I was reminded of how far away from cities we had been in the past days and weeks as the traffic chaos that met us reaching Delhi was nothing like what we had seen at all since we left almost 2 weeks ago. Goodbye quiet – hello millions of people trying to get where they need to be, dust and pollution. Returning to the hotel we had a few hours before going out for dinner and some of us ended up on the roof where we had a spectacular view of the thousands of kites in Delhi flying around and coming in to roost for the night. It was crazy seeing so many of this beautiful bird at the same time and a great end to the trip. That night I had a pickup for the airport and with an on-time departure I was homebound, giving enough time to watch Bullet Train and Nope, and still have time for a needed nap. I even had significantly more time during the layover than on the trip out resulting in far less stress.

 

Black kite.

 

And with that another amazing trip was concluded. A not so small part of the amazingness was due to the great people I traveled with. Big thanks to our guide Krishna Kumar who at all times did his utmost to get us to see as much as possible, without losing his constant high spirits. Big thanks to Phill, Kristi, Derek, Tim & Tracy, Sharon & Ian, Annette & Alan, Bev & Rod, Pam & Margaret and David & Heather for being a great group of people to travel with. I hope you had just as much fun as I did and that we may one day meet again.

Full album can be seen here.

7th – 10th of November – Bandhavgarh

The drive from Kanha to Bandhavgarh was not much longer than from Pench to Kanha, but due to the constant zigging and zagging as we were navigating some steep ups and downs in hilly terrain instead of 4 hours it took closer to 6 to reach our new destination.

 

 

Gaur.

 

The place worked the exact same way as the previous; on arrival we received a small drink (juice or similar), dinner at 1930, wake up at 0515 and leaving before 0600, back before noon having had breakfast on the morning drive and getting a wet face towel and drink on arrival, leaving again at 1430 and returning after dark around 1800, towel & juice and then waiting for dinner time. The biggest difference here was that the towels were thick and warm!

 

 

 

 

Included in the tour when in Bandhavgarh was 6 drives; 4 morning and 2 afternoon drives. Most in the group decided to go on an optional tour on the second afternoon where nothing was otherwise planned.

 

 Indian vulture.

 

The resort had a sizable lawn with contact to a field-y area which meant plenty of chances to see birds that you wouldn’t necessarily see on the game drives. Hooking onto the group’s very competent birder it was amazing how many birds you got to see and pointed out by him because he had an amazing eye for birds in general. And some of them were as beautifully colorful as they were small and hard to see.

 

 

We were separated in new groups from Kanha, and every drive put us with a new driver and guide. Our tour guide swapped through the vehicles so everyone got to drive at least once with him. He was an excellent wildlife guide and his intuition with regards to where to see a tiger was often spot on.

Lesser adjutant (equivalent to the African marabou stork).

 

Being in separate vehicles we were as usual at the risk that a vehicle missed something the others got to see. Here a couple of vehicles got to see a leopard which we didn’t, but we were all lucky to have two major tiger sightings. We were driving along when suddenly the driver took off at a back-breaking pace for what felt like 10-15 minutes. On those roads that experience was varying between fun and horrifying. Apparently the driver had received a phone call about a tiger being spotted (dear Indian government: drivers didn’t have their phones on them and they definitely didn’t hand them over to the tourists when nearing the sighting area in case there was a government vehicle present – they are very aware of the rules and would never break them, and you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet). When arriving there were already quite a few cars there, but we got to see and spend some time with a very pregnant female (less than a month from giving birth) who had just eaten a kill so she was not doing much other than resting, occasionally lifting her head to make sure no one were messing with her kill. At one point an elephant patrol came by to document the kill (forest rangers use elephants as they can go everywhere as opposed to vehicles that need to stay on the roads) which woke her up and had her leave and cross the road. Because she wouldn’t have done this if the patrol hadn’t come through and she was near another tiger’s territory they managed to nudge her back to her original position again before she disappeared into the thicket. Getting to touch the elephant as it passed close by I realized that despite it looking – and is – very durable the skin is surprisingly soft. 

 

Verditer flycatcher.

 

Our second sighting was two-fold. On the last afternoon drive towards the end of the visit and it had started getting dark we heard two tigers growling at each other; they were very close but neither of them came out where we could see them (though one other vehicle managed to briefly spot a sloth bear that usually doesn’t come out until it gets dark. The following morning going out on our last drive of the tour, we returned to the place we had heard the growling and here – only a few minutes’ drive from the park entrance – we saw a male and female, socializing and mating. Our tour guide was over the moon about this, mating is usually not done in the open and as he hadn’t seen for 2-3 years made this a very special situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A large group of vehicles had gathered on the road looking at the two tigers and suddenly without warning everyone scattered in all directions. It turned out a government vehicle had arrived and as you are officially only allowed 5-ish minutes with the tigers before you have to leave them alone all drivers & guides suddenly had other places to be. We ended up circling a nearby lake before coming back where only the government vehicle and a single other safari vehicle was parked. We parked 10 meters further down the road, and within moments we heard more growling in the bushes before both of them crossed the road right in front of us and disappeared. We left once again, and despite not seeing anything special after this for the remainder of the drive we weren’t particularly disappointed about that.

 Indian white-eye.

 

 

On the last night at the resort we watched a documentary of the park outside on the roof of one the buildings. A funny occurrence happened when the tigers and their growling in the film resulted in the monkeys in the trees around the result started giving out warning calls.

 

Purple sunbird.

2nd – 6th of November – Kanha

After a 4-hour drive from Pench we arrived at our camp at Kanha NP where we would be staying for 4 nights, going on 3 morning and 2 afternoon drives.

 

Routine here was more or less the same as in Pench; wakeup call at around 0515, leaving between 0545 and 0600 to line up at the entrance to the park which opened at 0615, stop for breakfast at some point, leave at 1130 at the latest, return at 1445 and leave again at 1730. Return to the resort for snacks, meet for a short briefing at 1930 followed by dinner.

Indian roller.

 

The process of entering the park was much stricter than in Pench – we had to show our passports which got cross-referenced with the reported lists of vehicles/passengers. We had the same driver & car on all drives, but the guide would be new every time. The guide was technically not a guide but a park ranger there to make sure the driver stayed in the designated sector of the park (among just generally making sure rules were followed).

 

Being higher than Pench mornings were significantly cooler and it took longer for the sun to burn through the morning mists. But when that did finally happen we were back to being nice and toasty again.

  

Siberian stonechat.

 

 

The park was huge – only app. 20% could be visited – which meant that we drove a lot, both to get from the gate to our sector but also to find anything watchable. There was plenty of birds around, the same with deer of various kinds – even the rare blackbuck made an appearance not far from the road. Tigers and leopards were significantly rarer, though. Our vehicle ended up spotting 2 tigers at two different times (during the two first morning drives); both were spotted crossing the road so the sightings were brief. One disappeared into the undergrowth, the other went to sleep in the bushes and was almost out of sight.

  

Blackbuck.

 

On the last afternoon drive we were heading out and near the exit another car had stopped; one of the passengers said there was a tiger but neither their driver nor guide seemed invested. Probably because of the latter and the fact we were getting close to the deadline for when we had to leave the park I couldn’t convince the driver to wait a few minutes so we could have an extra look. Returning to the resort we were the first ones there, the rest arrived 10 minutes later. It turned out that they had spotted a leopard– according to their description – exactly at the location where the passenger in the other vehicle claimed he had spotted a tiger. That bothered me quite a bit – not because they had spotted something I hadn’t – but because the driver & guide hadn’t wanted to give just a moment to a tourist’s curious suspicion.

 

 

Dragonflies at the hotel. 

 

The afternoon we didn’t go for a drive we visited a house in the village to see how they lived. It was very simple (compared to a western residence) but very nice according to their means. To be honest these kinds of visits feel a bit colonistic to me and therefore a bit weird, even if it is the family that invites us to see and not just us walking in. A bit snobbish “Oh look darling – they have locks on doors! How quaint!”. But we did get to see a few birds along the way, so that was nice.

 

Moth at the hotel.

 

When arriving in India a husband in the group was denied entry at the border at the airport due to an anal power-hungry immigration officer: he got turned around due to a too old photo on the visa. After a bit (a lot) of confusion, chaos and getting her bag with her and his bag with him, he got a return flight to England while trying sorting out a new visa with a newer photo. In the end he was successful and retuned to Delhi, got through immigration, and when we arrived in Kanha he arrived a few hours later. There was applause and big smiles all around. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple.

 

Fruit bat.

30th of October – 2nd of November – Pench

Shortly after arriving, at around 1630, we went out on a short walk where we were mostly introduced to the local flora, but we also managed to see a few birds and in particular quite a few fairly large and beautifully yellow spiders sitting and waiting in the nets often spanning a meter (or more), often crossing the path above us. A couple of owls flew past us and returning to camp we saw fruit bats flying above. Huge mammals that first looked like birds until you got a second look and recognized the profile of Batman.

The following three days were scheduled with three morning drives and one afternoon drive. The second afternoon was originally free but 12 of us opted for an optional drive giving us 5 drives in total here. The afternoon drive that day wasn’t included as “our” part of the national park was closed that afternoon, so we went to a different part of the park which was still open. This part was mainly bamboo forest and the road was mostly narrow two wheel tracks, sharp turns and steep ups and downs. The morning drives started at sunrise around 0600 and we returned to the camp just before noon, and included in that drive was a break where we got to have a breakfast that had been brought with us from camp. For the afternoon drives we left around 1430 and returned after dark at around 1800.

 

Leopard.

 

The group was separated in 4 different vehicles and with no phone reception in the park and no radios the guides and drivers relied on word of mouth when we passed another vehicle on the roads. This meant that unless you were present where the action happened to be you would very likely not get to experience an encounter. It was therefore all about timing and luck. And due to the forest you couldn’t see far so it was impossible to see a gathering a vehicles (implying an encounter) as a pointer to where to go unless they were further down the road in front or behind you.

 

Asian green bee-eater.

 

Groups were set for the stay but driver and guide was randomized every drive so we never got the same driver and/or guide twice. Not knowing exactly why I’m assuming it was to avoid favoritism among the staff and not getting aggressively competitive at a wildlife encounter as you could risk getting in front of/pushing someone away that you’d be driving/guiding with the following day. The interactions between the cars seemed very cordial and helpful with regards to where the last sighting had been. And if you felt you got a bad driver or guide you would be left assured it was a one-off. Also the cars were given a random road to start off on so the driver wouldn’t know where he would be going until start. I’m assuming it’s in part to force to spread the load of the traffic to all the roads instead everybody taking the same path because the drivers have found out that’s the best odds to see wildlife. 

 

White-throated kingfisher.

 

The wildlife was quite diverse and tons of different birds, some of them being very colorful. Everything from small bee-eaters to large eagles and carrion birds. We saw a few turtles in the distance, insects and spiders. And the most interesting part: mammals. Mongoose, jackals, wild boar, deer of various kinds and guar (basically a very muscular-looking buffalo), and the most interesting in my eyes: leopards and tigers.

 

Mongoose.

 

We were lucky; on the first drive we saw a leopard frolicking in the bush in the distance for a while. It turned out it apparently was two not quite adults playing. After that, though, our luck plummeted off a cliff. 

 

Painted spurfowl.

 

I know safari drives. I have experienced done them numerous times. Hope for everything, expect nothing. So not finding tigers wasn’t too bad – after staying here we would still have 11 drives at the two next places we were visiting. What DID frustrate me immensely was that by the end of the second day the group’s 3 other vehicles had had amazing encounters with tigers. When leaving the park on the first afternoon drive our driver/guide were in a hurry (our worst paring during this stay by far) and we left the park a few minutes earlier than the rest. Had they taken it easy like the others we would have seen the two cubs at the side of the road we had been on only minutes earlier.

 

Plumheaded parakeets.

 

On the third day’s afternoon drive in the bamboo forest our chances would be high to see tigers as they love navigating in bamboo. We were the only ones in this part of the park and the guides we able to communicate by phone. There were birds but due to the higher denseness of trees here they were almost impossible to see. We saw nothing but a few deer and guar. We did have an encounter with a large mail guar; we were driving behind it as it was lumbering along the road at a comfortable distance. Apparently not comfortable enough – at one point it looked over its shoulder and gained eye contact with us for only a split second, and it was the briefest and most intense “I will fuck you up” I have ever felt. Apparently the driver agreed because he instantly decided it would be a good idea to turn around and find somewhere else to drive.

 

 

 Eurasian hoopoe.

 

 At this point our tour guide was getting frustrated on our behalf for not seeing a single tiger yet.

On our last morning drive we told our guide and driver (who turned out to be an absolute excellent pairing) that our focus was tigers. An hour later at around 7 we bumped into 3-4 cars that had stopped due to… tigers. Two 9-12 months old cubs sitting on the road ahead, and soon after the mother showed up from the bushes. As more cars showed up as they incidentally came this way there was at times frantic but surprisingly polite navigating back and forth to either follow them, getting better angles for the passengers (but without being too much of a bother to the others) or giving them room when they came closer. 10-15 cars on a barely 2 car wide gravel road trying to give each other space was quite the puzzle.

 

Tiger!

 

  

 

When the tigers starting disappearing into the forest one of the group’s other cars arrived to spend a few minutes with the last tiger before that also went away. Even their comment about spending time with a leopard and its three cubs couldn’t wipe the smile off our faces. Our tour guide was with them in the car and he was obviously very relived and happy, too. When leaving the area I thought we had maybe spent 20 minutes with the tigers but it turned out we had been there for a full hour.

 

 

 

 

We went hunting for the leopard with no luck, and hearing a rumor about another tiger also didn’t pan out, but at this point it didn’t really feel like it mattered.

We returned early to the camp around 1030-ish where we had breakfast instead of in the park before we packed, checked out at noon and left for our second stay, at Kanha National Park.

28th – 30th of October – Getting to nature

Flying to Delhi I had a layover in Zurich of a bit more than an hour. Everywhere I read said that would be enough time to change flights and not knowing the airport I decided to trust that. I did get a bit less not worried when my first flight ended up being 20 minutes late.

Reaching Zurich I was obviously not the only one with a tight connection, but I got to my connecting flight without issue and in good time – despite having to get a connecting train between terminals. The 7-ish hour flight went without a hitch and we arrived in Delhi on time at 2330. The length of the flight was perfect to get to watch Antman: Quantumania, 65, Knock at the Cabin and Renfield.

Getting through the airport was surprisingly smooth – after locating the immigration booths for the e-visa arrivals – and my pickup was waiting for me outside. While waiting for a second passenger I got some money from the ATM; success in the 3rd attempt.

We arrived at the hotel around 0200 where I got some much needed sleep and after a slow morning I had a few hours’ walk in the neighborhood. Those who did not go for a walk did not miss much other than it was very dusty. It seems pretty clear that they have chosen this hotel as it is relatively close to the airport while not at the airport and not in the industrial space between the airport and the city.

The group met with out guide in the afternoon – it feels like I am in a group with mostly English retirees. We went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant which was a great start to eating Indian food for two weeks. Returning to the hotels we went our separate ways getting ready for the early departure to catch our early flight out to Nagpur.

The plan was to drive to the airport in 30-40 minutes which would give us close to 2 hours at the airport, as in plenty of time to check in and reach our gate. Half way to the airport, at a fork in the road, for some reason the police diverted us off the main road and straight route to the airport so it ended up taking us almost an hour getting there. There was a bit of confusion with where we were supposed to check in so that took longer than expected, and security was slow and chaotic. We were at one moment together and in the next 5 of us were through while the rest were stuck behind a large group having problems getting their boarding passes approved by the scanner. For someone who appreciates orderly queueing, this was a stressful event. Those of us who had gotten through were told by our guide to get to the gate and he would have the rest catch up with us as they got through. When we got there boarding had just commenced.

Getting seated and comfortable we saw passengers pouring on but it wasn’t until towards the end we saw the rest of the group boarding. It seemed like it was just in a nick of time that everybody made it. Arriving after an uneventful flight everybody actually got to reunite with their luggage.

Leaving Nagpur we drove for 2-3 hours before reaching Pench Jungle Camp, our home the next three nights, at around mid-afternoon.

1st – 2nd – Post race and return home

I had eyed a steak restaurant close to the hotel for dinner, and it was only possible to get a table for 1730 unless I wanted to wait until 2100 so obviously I went for an early dinner. It has positive reviews so I had high hopes, though I ended up disappointed. Bland risotto, tasty but not particularly tender steak, a pepper sauce that barely tasted of anything, so-so fries but a delicious dessert. The bread & butter and wine was good, though. So that was a great finish to an otherwise excellent day.

Relaxing the rest of the night followed by a good night’s sleep I grabbed myself a full breakfast before checking out and spent some time walking around before heading towards the airport. On the way to the train station I managed to grab some fish & chips before getting on the train and getting to the airport where checking in went smooth. I sat down in probably the smallest lounge ever at tarmac level (though I ended up seeing more rainbows than planes) before boarding on my flight to Amsterdam. Getting through the large airport in an hour was a bit stressful, having to go through security didn’t make it faster, but I finally made it to my next gate – and in time. And then it turned out my connecting flight was almost half an hour delayed. Oh, well.

How I feel about marathons.

Last leg went without a hitch and I was soon back in Denmark. Unfortunately due to the delay I missed my train connection so instead of getting home around midnight I was home around 0115. Bummer.

The view from the lounge at Inverness airport.

Saw more rainbows than planes.

Despite Inverness not being that interesting and getting home later than expected, I really enjoyed this trip. Might have something to do with me having a very good marathon. But that’s just guesswork.

Full album can be seen here.