Happy to be joining land once again i was excited to get off the boat. We were on a tight timescale as we were under the impression that we needed to pick up our rail tickets from Osaka and we were in Kobe. The ticket office closed at 5 and it was after 3. Soon after breezing through an initial customs check i was showing a friendly Japanese man my bags while a dog sniffed me up and don. This was evidently not enough as i was quickly escorted to a private room for a full inspection of my dodgy round eye ways. 30 minutes of every belonging being checked and re-checked, including my feet, i was ready to roll. A guy i had met on the boat Eda was helping us get to the train station where he then took us to the train station ticket office to find out we can pick up our rail passes direct from Kobe. He helped us get our tickets sorted for the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo so we said our goodbyes and hopped on the fastest train in the world.
We arrived in Tokyo about 10 and struggled initially to work out the subway system mainly because each subway station is like a gigantic underground layer with offshoots that go all over. It really has a city underneath its city. We were still pressed for time as we were staying in a capsule hotel that exercised an 11pm curfew. We made it there alive, enjoyed the quick novelty of a small box for a room and collapsed. Tokyo was not nearly as busy as i had initially thought as it spans a large distance the 18 million population is fairly spread out so apart from the main downtown shopping and business areas it maintains quiet streets.
On our first day in Tokyo after having wanted to travel here for roughly 8 years it was great news that i started getting a terrible cold. Nevertheless i persevered and started off by heading to the Tokyo Dome to buy some tickets for the basoball that evening. After getting our tickets we went for a walk and had some lunch in a pretty authentic soba noodle bar. After lunch we walked all around Akihabara, an electronics area. Again after walking by about 30 electronic shops in a row you wonder why some of the best business minds on earth haven't taken on the concept of competition. That night we thoroughly enjoyed our first Japanese baseball game with constant cheers, chants and beer served by entirely too eager teenagers who run around for 5 hours with a sizable keg on their back.
The next day we went to the Imperial Palace which is none too exciting as they only open their doors to the public on 2 days a year so if outside of those 2 days you only really get to see the outer wall which i presume is the least spectacular part. That night we had a starbucks over Shibuya Crossing and people watched. We then met a friend of mine and had a couple of drinks to start off the weekend. Over the weekend we visited a couple of Tokyo museums, went to a couple of temples and tried out some sushimi...mm mmm. On our last night after seeing the Tsukiji fish market first thing in the morning, we got to watch a large scale fireworks show in Asakusa by the river for the River festival they were having.
The next morning we got a Shinkansen to Osaka and went to the 'poor' area Dobutsuenmae o try and get some accommodation. We ended up in the second closest place to the subway station. Osaka was great, we really enjoyed it and preferred it to Tokyo. Among spending nights at Dotombori, a walkway of restaurants, bars and shops all reminiscent of a scene from Blade Runner, we used Osaka as a base for 1 week. Among this time we took day trips all over, we went to a national park in Nara and interacted with wild deer, went to Kyoto twice, Matsumoto, Fuji to see the mountain and a few others. In Osaka itself we went all over also including its massive aquarium which boasts 2 whale sharks among countless other creatures.
After our week in Osaka it was time to move onto Hiroshima for 2 nights before our ferry to Busan in South Korea. We were staying in a traditional Ryokan which was a little pricey and had another 11pm curfew but was well worth it. Hiroshima was a very nice change of pace, it is not as busy but has everything a city should have including a laid back atmosphere. On our first day we decided to go to another baseball game before we left Japan, Hiroshima Toyo Carp number 1! After the game back in our traditional Ryokan...with wifi we found out that our ferry to Busan had been cancelled due to a Typhoon. The only way to progress was still to head to Fukuoka when we had planned so we didn't worry about the cancellation. On our second say we did the usual sights including the A-Bomb Dome, the peace park and various monuments dedicated to children.
The next morning we got a train to Fukuoka as planned and instead of heading to the port we went to a travel agency inside the train station. This proved immensely helpful as after a computer translated back and forth we arranged a refund of the ferry charge and were on our way to the airport to buy a flight. It turns out that because of the weather they did not know when the next ferry would run so the only alternative was to show up at the port every morning and hope. Once at the airport we decided to fly straight to Seoul so as no other weather upsets would prevent us from flying back home. We bought tickets for the next available flight at 9 that night with only 'normal' seats left. After spending all day in the airport we were happy to board our plane, we were even happier to find out that by 'normal' she actually meant first class. After an enjoyable hour and a half flight we touched down in Seoul and welcomed our final destination with open arms...
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Friday, 6 August 2010
China
I woke early on the sleeper train from Hanoi to Nanning, not due to excitement of any sort but because nobody knows how to be quiet on a sleeper train in Asia. By the time we were in Nanning you could already see the over population as between 20 train station ticket lines there were around 1700-2000 people. After waiting for what seemed like most of our time in China we found out that the sleeper train to Ghaunzhao was sold out so we had to settle for a morning train the next day. We booked a night in the nearest train station hotel and tried to settle in. Nanning on the whole was pretty poor. They along with many cities in China want to advance very quickly like the big names of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing but the people don't advance as quickly as the buildings and banks so it looks modern but is in fact filled almost to the brim with homeless and phlegm filled Chinamen.
The next morning we were up and out by 5am for our 14 hour journey. Delayed. We left at 7am and of course everyone was making noise, largely unnecessarily. I've never really experienced such boredom where you are so bored you don't want to read, listen to music or talk you just stare out the window absolutely aimlessly with less and less thoughts. Finally at night we arrived and ran through the train station to get tickets for the last train to Hong Kong. Shortly before the train arrived in Hong Kong i felt fairly lost in translation with the massive and impressive, overpowering lights and buildings that had the most complicated language in the history of all things written on them. For the end of my long and boring day after checking in to our room that was the size of the bathroom in my house i finally got to sleep on the hardest and lumpiest bed in China.
Our first Hong Kong tasks were to change money and buy train tickets to Shanghai. The first was draining as many places make up the exchange rates per customer. The second was a set back as they initially said the next train to Shanghai was on the 12th of August, 10 days before we would be leaving South Korea. After trying a few ticket desks we established that we could get a train a few days later than expected from Shenzen. 5 days seemed too much time to spend in Hong Kong if you are on a budget but it gave us a chance to relax and move a bit slower. Hong Kong is great for its activities, sights and shopping in a small space. Anything you could ever want isn't far away and the cheap metro system can get you there. Along with going to the history, art and space museums we took a tram to Victoria Peak and walked to the top which had a park walk that went around the tip of the mountain giving great views of all of Hong Kong. We also took the metro to Lantau island and took a cable car to one of Hong Kongs highest peaks to see the biggest seated Buddha in the world. As impressive as this was, after being in Asia for over a month there are only so many Buddhas that you can take. After saving money with a few dinners from a local bakery, it was time to leave Hong Kong for Shanghai.
Our train journey tickets were last minute so we were in different cabins on the train. This was great for me as i had a woman who owned her own business in Shanghai to talk to about things to do there and a father, grandfather and young daughter family to play cards with and break down any language barriers.
By morning we were in Shanghai and the first thing visible (other than even more Chinese people) was the expo advertisements. After walking around the outside of the train station and trying to get our bearings, we realised we were at the wrong station. We soon figured out the subway lines and jumped to our destination. After getting checked in we walked around our area and to the Bund riverside area. After dinner most nights while we were in Shanghai was spent playing card and utilising the hostels ping pong table because we did so much during the day we were compeltely exhausted at night and just needed to relax. The hostels rooftop bar helped as well.
Our time in Shanghai was great as i enjoyed the city and the people. We went to the Shanghai museum and art gallery and walked around Renmin park and the Bund. We also one evening went over to the Pu'dong area. This is mainly a business district and features Shanghai's 2 tallest buildings. The woman i spoke to on the train suggested that instead of paying for the observation deck on one of the buildings that we go to the hotel bar on the 55th floor. It turned out to be only slightly cheaper than the observation deck for the drinks but it was very fancy with obvious great city night time views.
On our last night in Shanghai as we were heading for the train station i was already starting to miss our area Ji'ang to which i had quickly accustomed because we are now spending more than a few days in each place you start to get attahced and comfortable and enjoy not having to move around all the time.
Our last sleeper train to Beijing again had us in separate cabins. My company started well with 2 guys who spoke absolutely no english but kept continually buying me beer. This was clearly to make up for the fact that the older of the 2 men became possessed by the devil during the night judging by the sounds he was making. His snoring and breathing was so loud i occasionally just stared at him in the middle of the night in utter disbelief that someone could make these noises.
Once in Beijing we hit the subway in rush hour to meet my friend that we were staying with. Although slightly out of the city the apartment was great, it was spacious and homely and gave a good feel of living in the city as opposed to a brief stop over.
Beijing was not that great, it was so polluted that we didn't see the sky the entire time we were there because there is a constant haze and smog above you. We did the usual visits to Tianemen Square and the other tourist spots but as we met lots of other foreigners that lived there i went out one night with them to a club. This was the worst place in China yet. There was so much smoke that my eyes were burning, really bad music was playing loudly and it was packed with super sluts rubbing up and down each other and occassionally trying it on with yours truly. I lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes then high tailed it for my makeshift home.
For our last afternoon we went to a restaurant for some rabbit heads. This process was tasty and involved eating the tongue, cheeks, eyeballs and sucking out the brain from the back of the skull. Although interesting i couldn't help but think what was wrong with a lovely tender chicken breast.
That night we went down to Tianjin and tried to book 1 night in a hostel. This would prove extremely difficult as the guy behind the counter spoke no english and insisted on speaking lots of very fast chinese at us. After a while we ascertained that he wanted us to fill out the check in forms in chinese...he filled them in himself after we were done with him.
The next morning we got a taxi down to the port in Tanguu. The taxi driver must have been the worst in Tianjin as about 2 miles from the port he asked 8 other drivers and people for directions and missed all the roadsigns that we read as they had english as well as chinese. It was frustrasting knowing where to go but not being able to communicate it with the moronic driver. We made it to the port just in time to check in and made it through customs safe and sound and finally got ourselves onto the boat. The boat would be my home for 2 days and offer much needed relaxtion and reading time.
Nippon here i come!
The next morning we were up and out by 5am for our 14 hour journey. Delayed. We left at 7am and of course everyone was making noise, largely unnecessarily. I've never really experienced such boredom where you are so bored you don't want to read, listen to music or talk you just stare out the window absolutely aimlessly with less and less thoughts. Finally at night we arrived and ran through the train station to get tickets for the last train to Hong Kong. Shortly before the train arrived in Hong Kong i felt fairly lost in translation with the massive and impressive, overpowering lights and buildings that had the most complicated language in the history of all things written on them. For the end of my long and boring day after checking in to our room that was the size of the bathroom in my house i finally got to sleep on the hardest and lumpiest bed in China.
Our first Hong Kong tasks were to change money and buy train tickets to Shanghai. The first was draining as many places make up the exchange rates per customer. The second was a set back as they initially said the next train to Shanghai was on the 12th of August, 10 days before we would be leaving South Korea. After trying a few ticket desks we established that we could get a train a few days later than expected from Shenzen. 5 days seemed too much time to spend in Hong Kong if you are on a budget but it gave us a chance to relax and move a bit slower. Hong Kong is great for its activities, sights and shopping in a small space. Anything you could ever want isn't far away and the cheap metro system can get you there. Along with going to the history, art and space museums we took a tram to Victoria Peak and walked to the top which had a park walk that went around the tip of the mountain giving great views of all of Hong Kong. We also took the metro to Lantau island and took a cable car to one of Hong Kongs highest peaks to see the biggest seated Buddha in the world. As impressive as this was, after being in Asia for over a month there are only so many Buddhas that you can take. After saving money with a few dinners from a local bakery, it was time to leave Hong Kong for Shanghai.
Our train journey tickets were last minute so we were in different cabins on the train. This was great for me as i had a woman who owned her own business in Shanghai to talk to about things to do there and a father, grandfather and young daughter family to play cards with and break down any language barriers.
By morning we were in Shanghai and the first thing visible (other than even more Chinese people) was the expo advertisements. After walking around the outside of the train station and trying to get our bearings, we realised we were at the wrong station. We soon figured out the subway lines and jumped to our destination. After getting checked in we walked around our area and to the Bund riverside area. After dinner most nights while we were in Shanghai was spent playing card and utilising the hostels ping pong table because we did so much during the day we were compeltely exhausted at night and just needed to relax. The hostels rooftop bar helped as well.
Our time in Shanghai was great as i enjoyed the city and the people. We went to the Shanghai museum and art gallery and walked around Renmin park and the Bund. We also one evening went over to the Pu'dong area. This is mainly a business district and features Shanghai's 2 tallest buildings. The woman i spoke to on the train suggested that instead of paying for the observation deck on one of the buildings that we go to the hotel bar on the 55th floor. It turned out to be only slightly cheaper than the observation deck for the drinks but it was very fancy with obvious great city night time views.
On our last night in Shanghai as we were heading for the train station i was already starting to miss our area Ji'ang to which i had quickly accustomed because we are now spending more than a few days in each place you start to get attahced and comfortable and enjoy not having to move around all the time.
Our last sleeper train to Beijing again had us in separate cabins. My company started well with 2 guys who spoke absolutely no english but kept continually buying me beer. This was clearly to make up for the fact that the older of the 2 men became possessed by the devil during the night judging by the sounds he was making. His snoring and breathing was so loud i occasionally just stared at him in the middle of the night in utter disbelief that someone could make these noises.
Once in Beijing we hit the subway in rush hour to meet my friend that we were staying with. Although slightly out of the city the apartment was great, it was spacious and homely and gave a good feel of living in the city as opposed to a brief stop over.
Beijing was not that great, it was so polluted that we didn't see the sky the entire time we were there because there is a constant haze and smog above you. We did the usual visits to Tianemen Square and the other tourist spots but as we met lots of other foreigners that lived there i went out one night with them to a club. This was the worst place in China yet. There was so much smoke that my eyes were burning, really bad music was playing loudly and it was packed with super sluts rubbing up and down each other and occassionally trying it on with yours truly. I lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes then high tailed it for my makeshift home.
For our last afternoon we went to a restaurant for some rabbit heads. This process was tasty and involved eating the tongue, cheeks, eyeballs and sucking out the brain from the back of the skull. Although interesting i couldn't help but think what was wrong with a lovely tender chicken breast.
That night we went down to Tianjin and tried to book 1 night in a hostel. This would prove extremely difficult as the guy behind the counter spoke no english and insisted on speaking lots of very fast chinese at us. After a while we ascertained that he wanted us to fill out the check in forms in chinese...he filled them in himself after we were done with him.
The next morning we got a taxi down to the port in Tanguu. The taxi driver must have been the worst in Tianjin as about 2 miles from the port he asked 8 other drivers and people for directions and missed all the roadsigns that we read as they had english as well as chinese. It was frustrasting knowing where to go but not being able to communicate it with the moronic driver. We made it to the port just in time to check in and made it through customs safe and sound and finally got ourselves onto the boat. The boat would be my home for 2 days and offer much needed relaxtion and reading time.
Nippon here i come!
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