Waking up to a slight snowfall in Nikko, I was happy to move on to Hakone, hoping it would be slightly warmer there. From Nikko we took a taxi, a local train, two bullet trains, a local bus, a pirate ship and finally another local bus to get to our destination of Hakone. We were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji both on the train and on the Pirate ship. It was an almost clear day so most of Mt Fuji was in view. Due to the cold weather she looked stunning with just a nice sprinkle of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Let’s go..Nikko !! Leaving the buzz of Tokyo we travelled two hours North of Tokyo to Nikko. Using my flash JR pass (Japanese Rail pass) for the first time, we boarded the super fast bullet train. I have been on trains, fast ones, in Europe. But I have never been on a bullet train. Like all train tickets, the carriage number is printed on it, but unlike most places the carriage number is also clearly labelled on the ground. The platform even has a box so you can line up, so when it comes you can hop on the train without [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tokyo ! Population 12 million, vending machines 6 million. A city, where not all ATMs are 24 hours, yet most convenience stores are. You can’t smoke on most footpaths, yet you can cycle on them. To cross the road everyone waits when they see the little red man, when he turns green he is accompanied by a chirruping bird sound for the blind. In a city that invents and makes most electrical goods, mobile phones here are super size and flip top. They are everywhere and are even work on the Metro (in the silent mode of course). Getting around the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Saigon... capital of motorbikes.. Day 21- 22 In a city with a population of 9 million there is an estimated 5 million motorbikes. That’s more motorbikes than the people of Ireland, and this is only one city ! I have no doubt that many teenagers have never been in a car in their lives as the motorbike is the only mode of transport they need. We got an evening cyclo city tour of Saigon. I was really scared going in a push bike while motorbikes whizzed around, past and toward me, but surprisingly it was a fun ride. I had a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Design your dream dress with a dressmaker. There’s a sign when you entering Hoi An, saying that the old town is an UNESCO sight, what the sign fails to mention is that it is also a shopping Mecca with every street lined with tailor shops, totalling over a 100 shops. So here’s my story. After arriving into Hoi An we went for a lovely lunch in the Cargo bar, which had a picturesque setting overlooking the river. Feeling stuffed from lunch, all I wanted to do was walk off my food, but we only walked a few hundred meters to Anna’s [View Full Entry]

---

---

Colourless Hue 16-17 We left Hanoi in the evening of Day 16 to board the overnight sleeper train to Hue. The train was different from the one that we took in Thailand, it’s wasn’t one big communal sleeper like before, this time we had a four berth compartment. It wasn’t as comfortable or a clean as the Thai train, but it was better as it was compartmentalised and felt more secure that way. A 14 hour train had us in Hue; unfortunately it didn’t live up to its colourful name. Hue, I will remember for fun! Taking a full day tour [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam with approx 5 million inhabitants, the same population as the whole of Ireland, was where we spent 3 days. 5 million is a lot of people, and to me is feels like they all have motorbikes! As that is my lasting impression of Hanoi, motorbikes. From the moment you wake up in the morning all you can hear is the constant beeeeeeping, all day long. I think the city is made for bikes and not people, really. There are two story motorbike parks, all the streets have ramps so you can push your bike on the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Boarding our mini-bus bright and early in the morning, this time we were on the way to Halong Bay . Half way there we informed that we would no longer be sleeping on the junk, as planned, as there was a tropical storm on it way. We did however enjoy the whole day on the junk and slept in a nice hotel on dry land instead. Halong Bay has 1969 islands in total, made of limestone of rock. None of them are inhabitated. They range in shape and size, from small little dots of rock to tall hills. At the beginning [View Full Entry]

---

---

To Vietnam we go! Day 12, the 11 October 2009 is for me an historic day. I’m 29 years old and I am lucky enough to have been to all 7 continents and today I was going to visit my 50 country. 50 countries by the age of 30. Naturally crossing over the border from Laos to Vietnam I took a photo to mark this momentous occasion. My dream was always to see 50 countries by the age of 30. Other people have dreams of becoming a millionaire by the age of 30. Luckily I was able to become both, without [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today we drove all day to our Home stay in the small town of Hin Boun. Stopping shortly before the town, we let the min-bus go the rest of the distance while we boarded former B52 fuel tanks and cruised along the river during the setting sun to our home for the night. Hin Boun is a small village of only 45 houses. As we disembarked from our boat we were greeted by children who led us up the dirt track to their village. There was one main dirt road, with houses along both sides. All the houses were build on [View Full Entry]

---

---