Cycling to Inokashira Park & Zoo: part I

Last weekend we decided to make another cycle tour this time to Inokashira Park and the Inokashira Zoo, located in the West of Tokyo. We had already seen the park when we visited the Ghibli museum (located in the same green area), so we knew it was a great place to spend a warm summer day. This time we also wanted to visit the zoo in the park.

But the day already started with a big adventure, cycling so far out of central Tokyo. Luckily the area was (just barely) covered on the last pages of our Tokyo map book, so we approximately knew where to go. The day started out cloudy, which was fortunate, since we didn't have to sweat in the burning sun and could just calmly find our way through the streets of Tokyo. Still we packed lots of drinks to fight off the intense Tokyo summer heat.
We passed Ikebukuro Station, and travelled west. We saw Tokyo change with every street we passed. The metropolis gradually becomes a quiet residential neighbourhood: less shops, restaurants, people, subway exits and so on. Suddenly green and wide lanes appear with lots of trees and parks. Though the regular big city liveliness is never really far off. Surprisingly impressive if you consider we were 18 kilometres west of the Tokyo centre. Almost an endless city without borders (at least as far as we can cycle, that is)

The Inokashira Park is a beautiful park, with a lovely lake, much greenery and tons of benches to enjoy the nature, take a rest, and eat some icecream (well deserved after such a long bike ride :)
We decided the rent a cute boat, and enjoy Inokashira Park from the water

Of course, one of the main reasons for our trip was to visit the Inokashira Zoo. A visit we enjoyed very much and we will cover in the next update. So, be patient :)