third healthy breakfast, first long sleep

Noon, afternoon or evening departure time, I tried them all and the slash of jet lag hits me well into the third night. Early mornings in Japan are fortunately not short of possibilities for the sleepless traveler. Five in the morning the onsen opens for a long morning warming bath and an occasional grooming. A place one can visit in style wearing the hotel emblazoned complimentary pajamas.

At a quarter to seven the Japanese breakfast room is open to a slow moving line of early guests that fill their trays with a healthy, if not conventional to the western eye, assortment of vegetables, cold fish, soup and rice.

Slowly the day grows old and the eyelids heavy in the early afternoon hours. The sugary Japanese coffee, courtesy of a state-of-the-art automatic dispenser won’t help either. My head feels numb, senses dampen. I cannot tell from what direction sounds reach me.

Originally published at hugoormo.blog on January 28, 2018.