OK, we know it’s been a while now and we are very behind with the blog, so in answer to the people who suggested it should be our new year’s resolution to update it more often we have decided, new year, new start (well, almost)! Here is our Myanmar missive and we will be going back and adding the missing bits (Tibet, Nepal and India) as and when we get the opportunity to do so. So, to Burma (or the Union of Myanmar to give it its current name) - a place we discussed visiting long and hard. Do our tourist dollars support an illegal and corrupt government? Should we listen to the leader of the opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest (illegally, apparently) after winning the last ‘free’ election ... read more

Tokyo, well, where to start? 8:30 sushi? Love hotels? Plastic food? Electro/Jazz fusion? Pretty boy ‘hosts’? Guitar hero arcades? Best just start at the beginning I guess! We arrived late in the evening, in the rain, and leapt straight in with our first capsule hotel experience. A very odd experience it was too, from the slightly seedy entrance to the dark dorm rooms full of people in the pyjamas provided for you at reception, who were just sitting around in the gloom, faces lit by the glow of the small pay TVs in each capsule or the occasional laptop screen. Most capsule hotels do not admit women and the ones that do have a separate ladies floor as apparently it is too dangerous for ladies to share a room full of Japanese businessmen who have missed ... read more

Travelling by bullet train (shinkansen) was a fast, efficient and comfortable experience, which began with us forming an orderly queue by our carriage number which was clearly marked on the platform where the train pulled in precisely to the mark and we boarded in an almost leisurely manner with everybody waiting patiently for their turn to get on and the train pulled gently away exactly on time. So far so not China! Refreshments were served by pretty Japanese girls wearing smart uniforms who bowed as they entered and exited each carriage - bowing is something else to get used to in Japan. Everyone bows ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ and it is quite infectious - you soon find yourself doing it involuntarily! The scenery whooshed by in a blur and we wondered how long the Trans-Sib would take ... read more

After another comfortable sleeper train journey, we arrived in Shanghai - our last destination in China before Japan. We skilfully negotiated the Metro system and found the hostel. Quick shower and change and out to explore. Our first stop was People’s Square - the central ‘hub’ of the city - a real mix of impressive sky-scrapers, all glass curtain walling, steel and neon lights, along with old British buildings from the 1930’s and tiny-by-comparison residential ‘hutong style’ backstreets all wedged in around a huge park. A real melting pot of cultures and styles. Some backstreet wandering (and fine mapwork by Dan) brought us to the old town which although it appears old is actually pretty new and possibly the largest tourist trap we have come across so far. We were constantly approached by people offering “bag, ... read more

Wutai Shan, one of China’s sacred Buddhist mountain ranges. The range is dedicated to the Manjusri Buddha, the Buddha of wisdom. After a fairly uneventful but beautiful journey (other than the driver overtaking on blind mountain road bends at high speed!), we paid the steep entrance fee to the area, much more expensive than our Rough Guide said it was! Nevertheless the scenery was stunning and we were excited about visiting all the temples and perhaps seeing some monks going about their daily business. On arrival, we were met by numerous hotel touts and picked one at random, which turned out to be ok. Basic, but clean and right in the centre of everything. We immediately went exploring even though the heavens had opened (it rained for the whole 3 days we were there!) however it ... read more