9 May 2015
About 7 years ago, Dan got an American visa stapled into his passport. When leaving, the American customs guy ripped it out, and tore a tiny piece off the page corner. Usually this...
8 May 2015
The people are extremely polite and have been trained in queue etiquette. A lot of people approached us offering help when we stood confused and upset in many a train station. The ...
7 May 2015
The Bullet Train isnt as exciting as Id hoped. Its comfy and fast, but I had rollercoaster fast in mind. Truth be told, it didnt seem any faster than a normal train. It looks reall...
6 May 2015
Tiredness, public transport, aeroplanes and awful food are all legitimate reasons to get a bit grumpy when travelling, so this is what I put it down to. About 4 days into Japan I realised I was completely wrong. We went into the first cafe...
5 May 2015
All the advice on the Internet said to visit Kyoto when in Japan as it is full of beautiful temples and scenery. What we didnt know when we booked, was that it was cherry blossom s...
21 Apr 2015
As with much of our Japan journey, Koyasan featured a generous amount of public transport and confusion. Koyasan is a mountain-top Buddhist temple village, which is every bit as ep...
14 Apr 2015
We got off the plane to Osaka at about midnight and joined an hour-long queue of absolute mayhem for passport control. We realised there were going to be no more trains and were fi...
12 Apr 2015
The train and metro system is easy to navigate. There is some really beautiful scenery, especially the Great Wall. You can get cheap electronics, but only if you know what youre do...
11 Apr 2015
Shanghai is big, shiny and modern and its very easy to eat Western food. Its almost TOO easy to eat Western food. Impossible, you might think. But what if I told you Shanghai has a...
9 Apr 2015
Chengdu is the place to go for pandas in China, according to Google (and hopefully Bing, otherwise no one in China will know). We booked three nights there with our only aim being ...
9 Apr 2015
Communal toast making areas are an etiquette nightmare. One fine morning in Beijing really took the biscuit. Breakfast buffet had 2 toasters. I put my bread in and waited alongside...
6 Apr 2015
Beijing isnt a particularly pretty city but it has character. Initially I was rather overwhelmed with its bad points and oppressive smog. After four days it grew on me a bit and th...