Thailand for Xmas?? -

After the baltic conditions in Japan, Bankok's climate was bliss. We decided to settle here for a couple of days before deciding on where to head for Xmas. We knew we wanted it hot, relaxing and in a bit of comfort as well. We decided on a small island called Koh Chang off the south east coast of Thailand and booked a resort (and SPA) called VJ hotel and health spa.

However, before we left we visited a couple of Bangkok markets to stock up on seaside clothes for the trip. The markets were great fun and very big. They had literally anything you could need from bootleg DVD's and CD's to rip off designer tshirts, jeans and all the food you can dream of. Ok, some of the food might have been a bit dodgy but we found a place on the street which was kinda like a restaurant and decided to risk it and the food was very good indeed (minced pork, tofu and noodle soup). We visited two markets, one at night and one during the daytime...but still buying real Teva sandals from the posh shopping centre! Well, you get what you pay for ;-)

Well, after watching Everton drop to a miserable 4-0 defeat against Bolton in a bar near Kao San Road my despair forced us into a decision and a change of scenery and it was then we booked our trip to Koh Chang. The ride down on the bus was good and very cheap and we then caught a ferry from Trat on the mainland to the island itself. When we arrived at VJ Hotel and health spa we were pretty happy with the look of the hotel, the new clean rooms, the cable TV, the pool and the beach...but it was strangely a little empty. Anyway, turns out the Spa hadn't finished being built yet and there wasn't really anything going on this far down the island. There was however, a really nice small beach bar a 5 min walk along the bach where we enjoyed two sunsets and a couple of beers and cocktails. But, after 2 nights we decided enough was enough and that we needed to be closer to the action.

So we moved down to a beach hut place right on White Sands Beach looking out onto the ocean. Unfortunately, this was where our trip started to take a turn for the worse. Firstly, it started to rain (turns out all of south thailand and the islands of Ko Samui and Phuket were getting constantly drenched and we'd been lucky until now) and then the Internet access (the usual during rain activity) ceased to the entire island. So, we hung around in our room playing scrabble and reading books. On the 22nd December we ate Tom Yam soup and then later took a pizza back to our room (I can hear you saying thanks for the details - but I'll explain why). The Pizza was a bit slimy.....but that night resulted us in literally taking turns to use the bathroom as a violent attack of Vomitting and Dhiarrhoea hit us both. By morning we were still ill and so I asked the hotel to take us to the Docs. Of course we ended up being taken to the very posh, 5 star, private clinic on the island where our comprehensive travel insurance policy was like booking into the Ritz with a Platinum or Black Amex card. The doctor diagnosed us with food poisoning and with a fever and some poor blood test results I was stuck on a drip and we were both taken over by ambulance to the main hospital on the mainland diagnosed with an infection from food poisoning. We spent the next 2 nights here well cared for and with a TV but only with 2 English channels - Nickelodeon and Real Madrid TV! Luckily the insurance policy came good and they agreed to pay the bill - a whacking 1750 US$ definitely our most expensive stay yet!

We got out on the afternoon of Xmas day and still feeling pretty fragile (and runny - sorry for the detail) booked into a hotel in Trat for a couple of nights. Trat was pretty uneventful apart from a nice and very cheap restaurant that was recommended to us where we ended up eating all our meals (it was recommended by the hospital staff so we were ok to trust it).

So, that was our Xmas pretty much ruined and we decided to make up for it with a good new year and head off to Sihanoukville and the best beach in Cambodia!

Kyoto…the cultural bit –

Of course...the culture and history was the real reason we made the trip to Kyoto. There are hundreds of shrines and temples to be found here with many being accompanied by fantastically cultivated, detailed Japanese gardens.

Our first ‘tour’ was a mapped out walking tour which took us first to Ginkaku-ji temple. This was reputedly one of the more popular places to visit with all tourists and was quite busy. Still, we were treated to a lake and some stunning surroundings as well as a perfectly kept temple. One of the slightly disappointing things about Kyoto’s history is the fact that it’s been marred by many battles / wars resulting in many fires. These fires have led to the destruction – many times over – of a lot of the temples. So, the structures you actually end up seeing are replicas (although, perfect replicas) and look brand new in some cases. This just made it slightly more difficult to get a sense of the history that we had done in India or Sri Lanka. However, on the plus side these sites are 100% better kept and in such perfect and ornate condition that you do feel privileged to be walking round… We also walked down the ‘path of philosophy’on the walking tour. So called because of the Japanese philosophers used to spend their prime thinking time walking down here along the narrow path next to the stream. It was very pleasant and picturesque.

We also visited the Nyakuoji Shrine and finished up at the Nanzen-Ji temple. Nanzen-ji was very beautiful. A viaduct was in the grounds and accompanied by a number of separate and detailed little gardens. Here, we saw a good example of the extremely well kept and designed small stone gardens that are raked everyday into simple patterns.

Another day we had our very own guide…a student that the tourist office had put us in touch with called Norie. In an effort to improve their English students offer to take you around sites for free - you just have to pay their admission and feed them ;-) Norie was very sweet and an excellent guide…she seemed to work very hard! Holding down two jobs and going to uni…and we felt very sorry for dragging her around Kyoto on an absolutely freezing day. It was here thought that we saw one of the most impressive temples, Kinkakuji…aptly nicknamed the ‘Golden Temple’as the top two levels were covered in gold leaf paint and lacquer. It’s reflection in the lake made the picture even more impressive. We also visited another temple before we gave into the cold and asked Norie to recommend somewhere for lunch. She took us to the tofu restaurant which most importantly was lovely and warm, where we decided to bung the site seeing for the rest of the day and do something a bit warmer. So, off we went shopping (Vanessa trying to find a kimono that we could use to decorate and hang on our wall when we finally get a pad in Oz- unfortunately, they were all around at least 70 quid which didn’t seem justifiable) and then onto, yes, karaoke. Norie treated us to our first live Japanese performance of karaoke and was pretty good as well! We were very grateful to Norie and it was nice to spend some time with a ‘local’.

Other places of note we visited were the Nishi-Honganji and Higashi-Honganji temples. These two were built by rival Buddhist schools virtually alongside each other. Higashi-Honganji included a display of the rope of human hair that had been used to pull some of the pillars up and transport them from the mountains when it had originally been built. To be honest, it looked a bit minging – but still quite amazing when you think about it.

We hired some bikes one day to visit another and probably the most impressive temple of Kiyomizu. Unlike many of the other sites this one had been maintained with much of it's original structure and materials hadn't been too effected by war. Up on the hillside it had spectacular views of the city and was actually mostly the original building. Also, up here was the magical love rocks. The story goes that if you could walk the 18 feet between them with your eyes closed and reach the other rock (in a straight line) your love would be guaranteed. Vanessa just hit it…I missed by a mile! Blaming some people that got in the way ;-)

It was as we were cycling around the Gion district of Kyoto that we saw our first Geishas! They almost walked past us unnoticed. We followed them though and managed to sneak a couple of pictures as they went off to whichever appointment they had booked. In quite a modern Japan it was great to see such traditional and authentic dress and wooden shoes as they walked shyly down the street.

As I'd raved about Japanese art previously and the block printing of Hokasai and the incredible detail that the artists achieved...it was also around the Gion area that we came upon the piece of work below. An extremely odd sculpture and the only one of it's kind that we'd seen on our trip. It only really reminded me of ET! (with boobs!)

Although our time in Japan was short (and expensive) it was definitely worth it and we had an amazing time. The country was a real contrast to the other destinations on our trip and a real eye-opener into actually how far the rest of us are behind – in some ways, but not all... Sayonara and arigato gazaimas Japan.

Kyoto food, accommodation and Karaoke -

We arrived in Kyoto on the bullet train which took just over 2 hours. The journey was very pleasant and we also managed to get the good view of Mount Fuji that we’d missed the day before. We arrived at the new, impressive Kyoto station building and once again the tourist office helped us book accommodation straight away! We’d already booked 2 nights in a nice hotel as part of the train package…and the room was just like a nice western hotel. It was close to here that Vanessa (on her usual quest for ensuring that we had the complete lowdown on fine dining in the area) found a restaurant with a great all you can eat…and wait for it, all you can drink buffet! It was all self-service and included pulling your own pints and making your own cocktails which we rightfully abused.



In fact Kyoto continued the high quality of cuisine, if not bettering Tokyo. One of our best meals of our trip so far was served in a small and authentic back street restaurant specializing in traditional Kyoto cuisine. The plate was a picture and the food exquisite!

Other great food we tried included small octopus tentacles cooked in egg and served in a small ball with a sweet sauce on top, different types of tofu (which Kyoto is also famous for), and the cheapest and best variety sushi train that we’d found in Japan. So cheap that we ate tons! Including as a dare to ourselves these little raw and slimy creatures you can see in the picture.











This was usually followed by an hour (always extended to an hour and a half’s) karaoke. A new venue opened up as we were there and on our last day, we checked it out…it beamed pictures onto the wall and everything and we had a great time…including an awesome rendition by Vanessa of, “I like big butts – Sir Mixalot” you’ve never seen anything like it!












Kyoto like Tokyo was also full of vending machines on the street where you could get anything form cola to green tea and coffee – yes, amazingly hot tea and coffee in a can. You’ll never see anything like it in the UK...they’d be vandalized in seconds.

Following our 2 night treat in a hotel we moved over to another traditional Ryokan booked for us by the tourist office. Now, the weather in Kyoto was certainly colder than Tokyo, but the heat in our new Ryokan was non-existent. We managed to bear it for two nights before explaining to the old lady that ran the place that it was just too cold. She struggled to understand as she came upto our room wearing furry slippers and a huge head to toe puffer jacket! Anyway, we managed to get some of our money back – feeling a little guilty as she’d changed her mood and policy the next day by putting a few heaters on – and moved to a new place called the Tourist Inn. This was much better and also had more atmosphere and more people staying there. It was really cosy and had a nice Japanese bath also. Now, Japanese baths are actually very small in length, but they’re much deeper which means you can easily sit down and I think maybe I prefer them to just normal western baths.

Hakone and the (almost) view of Mount Fuji -

Our sightseeing in Tokyo was limited to more modern attractions. This included a tour upto the 42nd floor of the government building that gave us an excellent view of Tokyo and the breathtaking sunset behind Mount Fuji. It was on this day that we decided we had to take a trip out to near there (ok we weren’t going to climb it) and visit a place called Hakone.




We arrived on the Shinkansen (bullet train) which like all the other transport was superior to anything else we’d been on. The Japanese don’t feel the need to cram in as many people as possible to make as much money per sq ft as possible, as the rest of the world. In Hakone we had our first Japanese hot spring (Onsen). The Onsens were split male and female and everyone entered the baths naked. There was an inside Jacuzzi style bath and outside a very pleasant and tranquil hot spring underneath the forest of trees on the hill side. It was very relaxing and a lovely setting. The afternoon took us around the lakes of Hakone (supposedly for views of Mount Fuji), but unfortunately the mountain was covered by cloud.

Still, this didn’t stop us having a great time as we took a cable car up another mountain which was still volcanically active. As we approached we could see the steam bursting out of crevices of the snow topped peaks and surrounding slopes. It was freezing up there...but then we were treated to....boiled eggs! Yes, not the most traditional Japanese delicacy (in fact through most of our trip so far we’d ended up adding raw egg to most of our food), but these eggs took on a unique appearance. The outer shells were black as they’d been boiled in the pools of the mountain – gives you an idea of how hot the steam and water was! They were pretty tasty too...although along with the sulphur smell and the eggs it did get a bit stinky up there.

So, we’d had a great time in Tokyo, even had a few drinks one night! and having spent just under a week, decided to make the trip down to see a bit more historical culture in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto – not just a coincidence that this is an anagram of Tokyo methinks! We went in style and took the Shinkansen again!

Japan – Land of the Rising Sun (more importantly, Sushi!) -

Our long awaited flight to Japan came quicker than expected. After flying to Bangkok from Colombo we made our way down to Kao San road and managed to find a return flight to Tokyo the next day. So we ate some noodles, had a big sleep and then made our way back to the airport...to take our flight with...wait for it....Bangladeshi Airlines! It was about as good as the name suggests. I think it’s the oldest plane either of us have ever been on...it rattled and jolted as we could actually see the interior falling to bits...think it had been in service since the second world war judging on the decoration and textiles! Anyway, we arrived safe enough and were soon introduced to a completely different climate. I thought I’d heard the temperature was going to be like 10-15c before we set off...turns out it was much colder. Luckily we’d picked up some warmer clothes from a big and amazingly cheap shopping centre in Bangkok..but as we realised later...wasn’t really enough.

Tokyo was such a welcoming luxury compared to the rest of our trip so far. From developing / third world countries we’d stepped into an airport with a shuttle train across to the main terminal...an amazingly helpful tourist information service that booked us accommodation immediately and a train / subway service that eclipsed the London tube.

We stayed in an area in north west Tokyo called Minowa. There wasn’t much there but it had the cheapest accommodation (still over 30 quid a night) and was well connected with the rest of Tokyo. The rooms were tiny, but it was a traditional Japanese (Ryokan) style guest house where we rolled out a mat and slept on the floor…sounds uncomfortable but was actually quite cosy.

So what did we do in Tokyo? Well, to be honest we mostly ate! (of course). Japan has the most amazing cuisine!!! We feasted on Yakitori, Sukiyaki, Tempura, Sushi, Sashimi, Sushi trains...We had the best sushi train at a restaurant next to the Tsukiji fish markets.

We walked around and saw literally tons of fresh fish from huge squid, octopus, lobster to shark and snapper and mullet and a load of others that I couldn’t even begin to name. The restaurant next to the market of course took all of the fresh produce and the food was delicious. It was here as it was characteristically present in the rest of Japan that we were greeted by the entire restaurant staff as we walked in and as we paid and walked out. This happened in every single restaurant, shop and cafe we entered...the Japanese people were tremendously hospitable and at the same time extremely professional. It didn’t matter what job they were doing...whether it was serving tea, sweeping streets, manning the underground stations...it was a refreshing change to see people enjoying their jobs compared to anywhere else in the world I’ve been.

After the fish markets we managed to catch a popular Kabuki performance in a large Japanese theatre. The actors were all male and accompanied on stage by a seated line of men playing instruments and making strange harmonic (sometimes screaming) noises. To be honest, the whole performance wasn’t really my cup of tea…we stayed for an hour – the actual performance (although split into 3 parts) lasts all day! The two acts we saw were quite slow but as with anything Japanese (from what we could see) the parts were perfectly played and flawless.

Near our Ryokan we enjoyed a great set meal of sushi in a very small restaurant next to Minowa subway station. The guy who ran the place (which was probably as big as the hallway in our flat) was hilarious and very animated. And, although we could hardly understand a word he said, he was made up when we’d made the effort to say that his food was very tasty (Oyshikatta). Another example of the helpful nature of the Japanese people was the business man that sat next to us and helped to translate our conversation. The sushi chef soon became “The Sushi Man” as we referred to him thereafter.

Tokyo of course was the most technically advanced place we’d seen. From heated toilet seats with sprays, to the most efficient tube system ever, to the Sony centre where we met the latest Aibo dog, MP3 players and Home Entertainment systems. We used awesome (ok sounds a bit geeky) Internet cafe’s where you had your own separate booth with full-on leather reclining chair, PS2, DVD’s and PC with the fastest internet connection (of course!). We also visited the Karaoke rooms where again you’d get your own little booth, telly, microphones, english song book. (In fact, Karaoke was even better when we got to Kyoto- but you can read and see about that later). The other incredible thing was the use of space. In the main districts of Ueno, Shibuya, Shigiyama, Ginza (and I’m sure all over Tokyo) each floor of a 7 storey building would have a Karaoke place, Internet Cafe, restaurant etc. So when you were looking around for somewhere to eat etc. you weren’t just walking from building to building and along the street, you were having to look and go vertically as well. Whilst I remember as well, Vanessa and I were completely gazumped by the quality of the cakes and sweets here. We ate the very best chocolate éclair of our lives and subsequently probably ate some sort of cake everyday!

We did visit some cultural bits in Tokyo too…the national museum was a great place and we were lucky to catch a special exhibition on Hokasai famous for painting numerous views of Mount Fuji through block printing. Japanese art really is fantastic and I found it fascinating in every way. Especially when it was painted on the screen doors in temples.