Hong Kong - ending our trip in style!

Having traveled for 187 days and through 10 countries we had finally reached the last destination of our trip...Hong Kong!

HK!

China - cycling the karst scenery of Yangshuo

Our bus from Ping'an dropped us back near the Hong Kong Hotel in Guilin and not far from our hostel, allowing us to quickly head back and grab our bags from Wada hostel who had been kindly storing them for us for free.

We grabbed a few steamed pork buns (yummy!) and a pastry for lunch before heading back into yet another rain shower to catch a bus to the Guilin bus station, just south of the Guilin South Railway Station.

Beautiful limestone karst scenery

China - Guilin and the Longji rice terraces

Guilin is a city surrounded by beautiful karst scenery. There are a couple of major things to do within a few hours of the city and a relatively easy distance given China - the Longji rice terraces a good 2 and a half hours north of Guilin and Yanghsuo a couple of hours to the south. But first we stopped off in Guilin for a night.

The journey there was fine, if a little long at 26 hours on a sleeper train. We decided to book lower hard sleeper bunks as we would be on the train during the day and wanted to be able to sit comfortably and have a table to sit at. The journey was really interesting. Looking out the window at the towns, cities and countryside (consisting mainly of rice terraces) to the random Chinese who would come and sit, say hello and some stuff in Chinese, ask if we could connect with them on WeChat and then wander off again.

Cheers!

China - Pandamonium

China - The Pandas of Chengdu

Having arrived on another overnight train from Xi'an, we pulled into Chengdu station at around 3pm and jumped on the Metro to the centre of the city and our next hostel - Mrs Panda's Hostel - quite appropriate given we were here to see PANDAS!

The hostel location was great, right by the bus station and a 10 minute walk from the metro and really close to the main areas to explore within Chengdu itself.

Panda time

China - the magnificent sights of Xi'an

Xi'an is where China began. It is an ancient city, with huge city walls, numerous tombs and atmospheric streets. Sitting at the end of the Silk road and in the centre of modern China, it is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country, typified by the wonderful sights and smells of the muslim quarter.

Even though this was Chris' third visit, it was probably, outside of Beijing, our favourite city in China, and should be on everyone's agenda... if only to see its most famous sight - the Terrcotta Warriors... but more on that later.

Getting up close and personal with a warrior

China - The Quaint Town of Pingyao

After our second back to back night train in a row we pulled into the ancient town of Pingyao at 06:06am. 

Yawning and bleary-eyed we were met by the driver from our great little courtyard guesthouse, which offered a free pick up from the station (located just outside the north gate of the old city). We checked in and took the opportunity to have a few more hours kip so we'd be ready for touring the sights of Pingyao on foot.

Pingyao

China - Datong and the Yungang Grottos

On our way to Pingyao from Beijing, we decided to make a stop at Datong to go and see the Yungang Grottoes and hopefully the hanging monastery.  Sadly, we discovered the monastery is being repainted, sorry I mean restored, so we could only really go to the grottos. But in any case it we would have been pushing it for time and the monastery is a good couple of hours out of town.

The Yungang Grottos

China - The Great Wall

The great wall - probably at the top of the list for most people when visiting China - and deservedly so. It was up there on Julia's hit list too, and so we actually ended up walking the wall twice! Well...when in China!

A never ending view

China - Exploring the city of Beijing

Beijing is a must see place in China and on anyone's list of must sees around the world. The city is packed with amazing sights, and we felt gave us the chance to see the real China (whatever real China is nowadays). We both really enjoyed Beijing, and given it was Chris' third visit in 10 years, that's saying something.

Beijing

China - Shanghai - The modern China

Shanghai is the modern China... or more to the point, how China wants to be known. With over 24 million people and an endless sprawl of concrete and glass, this is the city that most typifies how China has developed in the last few decades and is the most westernised. So does Shanghai really represent the real China?

Shanghai... welcome to China... or is it?

Japan - Mt Yoshino - a mountain of blossom

Mt Yoshino is known for Sakura - and so as we were in the area (about 2 hours away) and it was peak blooms, we thought it would be a super idea to see it for ourselves.

Surrounded my sakura on Mt Yoshino

Japan - A week in Kyoto

Kyoto is one of those destinations that has so many great sight you need some serious time there so we decided to make sure we gave it the justice it deserved, planning a full week's stay. This was the first time since Australia we had stopped in one place for more than three days, so we were looking forward to staying put and really having the time to get under the skin of the place.

Julia, Julia and Chris under the cherry blossom

Japan - a great day in Kanazawa

Kanazawa is a bit off the normal tourist trail, but we would highly recommend giving this place at least 2 days if you can especially in spring with the sakura as there is a surprising amount to see. There is a spectacular station, geisha and samari districts with old photogenic streets, a Ninja house (recommended by Chris' sister, but a little expensive so we didn't go) and one of the best gardens in Japan.

Kanazawa castle in full bloom

Japan - Sake time

Japan - Takayama

Back to the mountains and old, rural Japan. Takayama is located a couple of hours north of Nagoya by train, but the best bit, is the journey there.

Whatever they are... they are everywhere

Japan - the island of Miyajima

Just a short journey on the train and boat from Hiroshima is Miyajima - you know the one with the red Torii gate in the sea.

That Torri gate

Japan - the lighter side to Hiroshima

Hiroshima is more than just a bomb and the city has done well to get back on its feet. So there is a lot more to see and do around the city and surroundings.

After a morning in the peace park, we headed with Kieran, to seek out cherry blossom and the castle. It is only a short walk from the park, and took no time at all as we chatted away sharing travelling stories.

Kieran, Julia and Chris with the castle

Japan - Hiroshima's horrific history

Hiroshima is really known for one thing - the A-bomb. However, we were pleasantly surprised that there was much more to the city and we could have easily spent a extra few days there. But as we were on a tight schedule (as with most places) we had only one full day in the city and then one day at the nearby island of Miyajima. We have split this blog into two - one for the bomb and one for the city of today, as Hiroshima is much more than just the bomb.

The A-Bomb dome

Japan - Tokyo part 2

Having enjoyed a good few days exploring the countryside areas surrounding Tokyo we returned in time to collect our China visas (luckily all had gone smoothly and they were ready and waiting for us!) and to spend some real time getting under the skin of all the different areas of this unique city. 

Where where where where's Julia?

We returned to Tokyo by bus thanks to our friendly hostel who had booked it for us (Japanese websites are not made for foreigners!) and pulled into Shinjuku bus station. We found some coin lockers to store our bags until we could get into our next Air BnB apartment, this time located in Akasaka, and headed off to explore some of the key areas of the west of Tokyo.

Our AirBnB

Now 4 months into our trip, our feet were well accustomed to a full day of walking, so we headed off on foot towards the Metropolitan Government Building to go up to the free observation area for some views. On a clear day you can see as far as Mt Fuji - sadly we didn't have that luck, but it gave us a fabulous view of the city.

Great view

The Metropolitan Government Building

We headed south to the Meji-jingu shrine hidden within a forested parkland. A shinto shrine based on Japan's ancient and original religion. The shrine is dedicated to the divine souls of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, after their demise, people wished to commemorate them so they donated 100,000 trees from all over Japan and overseas and worked voluntarily to create this green lung in the middle of the bustling city. 

Meji-jingu Shine

We continued our walk over to another well known area of the city; Harajuku. If you know Camden Town in London, well this is the Camden of Tokyo. Trendy shopping streets lined with second hand designer boutiques, record/music shops and sweet treats to lure in those teenagers with pocket money to spend, and two tourists with a sweet tooth - chocolate brownie and strawberry crepe's NEED to be brought to the UK! 

Crepe anyone?

It opened our eyes to the younger, vibrant and kitch Japanese fashion trends that this country is known for. With more and more western high-street brands taking over, we didn't experience much of it outside of this area. But it was great to really get a feel for the quirky side of this country. 

This continued as we headed further south to the area of Shibuya - made famous by its 'busiest crossing in the world'. We took our seats with a cup of tea/coffee at the best place to experience this phenomena, on the second floor of Starbucks, and sat watching in awe at the somehow organised chaos of the crossing. It was totally mesmerising. 

Ready... set

Go!

Watch out!

After a quick Udon Noodle broth for dinner we headed back to our bags and onto Akasaka and our Air BnB to rest our weary feet. Akasaka had a great buzz about it and our apartment which was newly renovated - we were the first to stay - was really great. Split over two levels it was probably one of the most spacious apartments we'd experienced in Japan and we had soon made ourselves at home. 

Our next two days were spent exploring two areas on the outskirts of Tokyo - these were great day trips and easily done in a day there and back, on the trains from the main stations in the city. 

The first of these was out to the famous temple and shrine town of Kamakura. We headed by train from Shibuya station out to Kamakura-kita station (less than one hour), where we planned to walk via some of the outer-lying temples before heading to the famous big Buddha. 

Very zen...

Our walk took us firstly to the zen-temple of Engaku-ji, one of the leading zen temples in Eastern Japan. Built into the forested hillside, the setting was very peaceful and calm, you couldn't help but feel relaxed wandering through its grounds. 

Stopping at a Seven-eleven (convenience store) we sat and had a quick pot noodle lunch. Pot noodles in Japan are much better than in the UK, plus the convenience stores are set up for people to sit down and eat or have a cup of coffee. It was just what we needed!

A temple 

Refuelled we headed on down to the main town centre, where the large temple of Tsurugoaka Hachimangu sits high on a hill at the top of the main street. Much busier that our earlier temple, we walked straight through and headed onwards to the 'postcard picture' sight of the Great Buddha of Kamakura known as Daibutsu, found in the grounds of the Kotokuin temple.

Another temple

With a height of 13.35m, it is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan, surpassed only by the statue in Nara's Todaiji temple. Cast in 1252 it had originally stood inside a large temple hall, but the building was destroyed by the typhoons and tidal waves in the 14th and 15th centuries and since 1495 the Buddha has been standing in the open air. 

Buddha

That's one big Buddha

It was a popular sight and very busy, but quite beautiful to look at, taking in all the details of the cast design. Weathered by the outdoors it's greeny blue colour definitely gives it a look that attracts the camera - it was no wonder that it had become THE postcard of Kamakura. 

Our next mini adventure was to spend a day in the Shinto and Buddhist centre of Nikko. Located in the mountains to the north of Tokyo, it is another picturesque visit and famed for the Toshogu shrine.

We were up early to reach Tokyo main station where we thought the trains to Nikko would leave from, only to find after straining our eyes to find the departure on the screens, that the train did not go from this station, but would be leaving from Ueno station. 

We jumped quickly aboard another train and rushed over to Ueno station on a hunt for the right platform. In Japan the platforms are grouped by train company so we had to work out fast which was the right one for our train to be departing from. Having made it to what we thought was the right platform, we discovered our train was delayed - well I say we discovered - it took a lot of asking people to find this out as Japan is so unaccustomed to experiencing train delays (everything runs on time!) it didn't seem that they were set up to make any kind of announcement or update to the information boards. 

Eventually we were on our way (1 hour later than planned), and on arrival got the local tourist bus pass to make sure we could fit as many of the shrines into what was left of our day. 

Now that's a restoration project!

Heading straight to the famous Toshogu Shrine, which was beautifully set up the mountain sides. The shrine is the final resting place of Tokugawa leyasu, effectively a mausoleum complex made up of a range of stunningly calved buildings, 5 storey pagoda, famous Crying Dragon painted ceiling, grand Yomeimon Gate (under renovation) and the mausoleum itself. 

Beautiful

The calving was so delicate, the most famous elements of this included the Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil monkey's, and an elephant calved by a man that had never seen an elephant...he did quite a good job!

Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil

There were quite a few renovations underway in the area - and the Japanese don't do this by half! They'd literally built whole warehouse sized building over the top of the temple/shrine building in which to undertake the renovations. So despite not being able to actually see these ancient structures, the buildings around them were quite a sight! 

Amazing carvings

Spectacular painted calvings

We walked onwards to Futarasan temple and Taiyuin shrine, before heading to the Kanmangafuchi abyss walk. A riverside stroll with some wrapped up Buddha's in little woolen hats. 

Stay warm Buddha

Having felt like we had seen enough of what Nikko had to offer, we headed back to the train and back to Shinjuku, where we had our first taste of the cheap Katsu Curry chain CoCo Curry House, a great cheap, quick eat... some might say Japan's answer to cheesy chips!

After two days outside the centre of Tokyo we were keen to get back into the hustle and bustle of this diverse city, and for our next day we had a third adventurer with us - Ann - our wonderful host from Bangkok. 

Hello Ann!

Having arisen early to move on to our next Air BnB in Asakusa - we were really trying out all the areas of the city (not out of choice I might add, but down to availability of accommodation within our budget!) we headed off to meet Ann at Ueno park - well known as a top cherry blossom spot and for hanami (cherry blossom viewing) picnics. 

Hanami time

Its all about the blossom

Blossom!

Hanami

This is some serious picnicking

This was our first experience of the Japanese craze for Sakura (cherry blossom) and wow was it a sight! Tarpaulins covered the walkways and grass under the blossom, and makeshift picnic tables were made from cardboard boxes. 

Keeps Jules quiet

These had been put down by serious Sakura goers to reserve their picnic areas - it was a free for all - but people were organised. Getting there early or the night before to put down their tarp and mark the outline boundaries of their areas with masking tape - a space which no-one would encroach on once laid out - an unwritten rule of ownership.

Blossom Beer!

We joined in the festivities by having our lunch from the small food stalls set up to feed those without their own picnic. Drinking from special Sakura branded beer cans and trying out all the interesting foods on offer... including a savoury grilled pancake called Okonomiyaki (which became a favourite of ours). 

Okonomiyaki

After soaking up the atmosphere a while we walked onwards to an area called Yanaka. Known for its small quaint shopping streets and cats...Julia was keen to explore! Sadly there were only two cats (but she did manage to get a cuddle!) and after some window shopping we agreed it was time to take Ann back to our favourite sight in Tokyo - the Senjoji temple.

Cat man

Japanese Cat tat

The shopping street

Quite a nice shopping street really

Even better at night!

Having picked up our Sakura themed good luck charms from the temple (good luck charms are the 'thing' in temples ans shrines of Japan) and soaked in the atmosphere of the parade of shops leading up to the gate we headed to the top of the Tourist Information centre for happy hour drinks and sunset over the temple we had just explored. It's a great spot for a view! 

Thanks for dinner Ann!

We finished our day with Ann back in Ueno for a delicious dinner trying out all the local delicacies - thanks again Ann for a great day! 

Our final day in Tokyo had sadly arrived and it was extra special as it was Easter Sunday! 

We woke early to make sure we could fit in all the last few of the sights we wanted to see and headed off to experience a rare opportunity to enter through the Imperial palace walls to view the cherry blossoms. 

The palace gate

The crowds were well controlled, passing through security and into the hidden realm of the walls. With sneaky views up to the palace buildings and tree lined walks we enjoyed being lucky enough to have been around on this rare day. 

Lots and lots of people

Out of the other side of the palace we headed to the edge of the river famous for its blossom viewing, and it was quite spectacular despite still having not reached full bloom!

View from inside the palace

And we enjoyed a peaceful stroll through the Palace gardens which had some stunning blossom trees for some great Sakura selfies as we walked through the parks and around the rivers.

Sakura

Nice boating lake

We were also lucky that on this day Chris' sister Sarah had flown in from England for her Japanese pilgrimage. Sarah having lived and worked in Japan for a good number of years had already given us her top itinerary tips. 

The first of which was a visit to the famous love shrine - packed with women hoping to get lucky in love by visiting the shrine, praying with an offering of incense and of course purchasing one of the many lucky in love charms! 

A wedding at the love shrine

We then headed off to actually meet Sarah, who got us straight into what it was like to really live Japanese style. A great way to end our time in Tokyo and get us ready for what the rest of Japan had in store for us. 

Necklace or sweet?

The first of which was being introduced to Q-pot Cafe. Originally a jewellery store selling jewellery design as cakes and sweet treats, the store then realised it could diversify its offer by flipping this the other way and set up a cafe that sold the cakes and sweet treats of its jewellery designs. We both thought it strange that actually it had been the jewellery that had come first, but both the jewellery and the cakes were certainly a work of art! 

Afternoon tea?

It was also the only place in Japan that seemed to be celebrating Easter - so after sitting down to enjoy our Easter Bunny cake and cup of tea, we then proceeded to the jewellery store across the road for Sarah to purchase the necklace of the cake we had just eaten! 

Snap!

Sarah then took us back to Harajuku, where we had been earlier in the week, but into the shops that lined the streets. We hadn't gone into any when we'd been here before, and discovered that they were all second hand designer stores - buying second hand in seemed is huge in Japan! Sarah had some clothes to get rid of, and here you hand them over in return for cash - no second hand charity shops when Vivienne Westwood's involved! 

Not so sure

We ended our time in Japan trying out Shabu-Shabu - a popular dish to eat. Basically a hot pot in the middle of the table, and for a set price they bring out all you can eat vegetables and meats to drop into the boiling broth, cook and then eat - it was addictive and very easy to keep eating and eating and eating! 

Shabu-shabu - so good they named it twice

Feeling very full we headed on for cocktails at the Lock Up bar - a previous favourite of Sarah and Chris. Located in the basement, the waitress greeted us with a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Julia before being taken to our very own cell. We ordered a range of the aptly designed cocktails...not having much idea what was in them as it was all in Japanese, and we ordered those that looked the most fun to try... 

Which one to have???

It was a great end to an awesome few days in and around the quirky capital of Tokyo, we finally felt we had got under the skin of the centre of Japanese modern culture. Now we were ready to experience the historical side of this intriguing country and it was time to get on the Shinkansen to Hiroshima.

Time to go! Why doesn't the 08:05 from Reading look like this?