Japanese adventure day one: Getting there!

Read ahead to hear about our stopover in Moscow on the way to Japan, the capsule hotel we stayed in and the yummy food!

I recently went on a one in a lifetime holiday to Japan. It had never been my dream to visit the Land of the Rising Sun but after visiting Italy for a month last year I said my partner Adam could choose our next major holiday. He suggested Japan and I was hesitant but the more research I did the more my interest grew. It turned out to be one of the best holidays of my entire life and I am already hoping we can visit again soon! We visited during March/ April and travelled with his brother, Dudley.

We flew from Heathrow to Japan (Narita) using Aeroflot. They were very competitively priced however I had read some bad reviews leading up to the holiday that had made me nervous. Actually when it come to it Aeroflot were perfectly fine. The plane left on time, the staff were all friendly, the plane seemed modern and had everything you needed and the food and drink were plentiful and tasty.

Our flight included a 15 hour stopover in Moscow. Due to the expense of the visa we had decided to spend our stopover within the airport. I was a bit nervous at check in because I had been warned that people had trouble flying to Russia when they had no visa arranged but the check in crew instantly understood the situation and there was no problem at all.

We landed in Terminal D and were able to make it through to Terminal E of the Moscow airport with no problems. Within Terminal E was located the airport capsule hotel, which was well signposted. By the time we arrived in Moscow it was about 2am our time so we were quite tired. I was able to choose a triple room with no window to ensure we got some good sleep. The room was a decent size, as was the bathroom. We were able to pay by the hour for the hotel and had prebooked 10 hours before we left England, which was done by sending a simple email. The 10 hour slot cost approx £65.

We managed about 7 hours of sleep and was then able to get showered and refreshed and relax before going to get a bite to eat before we got back on the plane. We ate at a restaurant we found by the hotel and we couldn't believe how cheap it was. Main meals cost the equivalent of about £4 but were so delicious. I had some sausages and mash potato.

Then it was time to board our plane again. The flight from Moscow to Japan was 8 hours. The in flight entertainment was good and I watched a movie and once again the food was decent but I did get quite antsy before the end of the flight. Probably because I couldn't wait to reach Japan!!