http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Danny-and-Claire/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Danny and Claire en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:17:30 +0000 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:17:30 +0000 Arrival at Bangkokrsquos amazing airport the second time was much easier than the first and a bus over to the now familiar surroundings of Kao San Road felt a bit like coming home although being back in the company of so many westerners took a bit of getting used to A couple of lsquoadminrsquo days were followed by the 13 hour train journey to Chiang Mai first stop on the well worn backp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-378737.html OK we know itrsquos 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 yearrsquos 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 B http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/blog-373580.html No photo with this one as a section of the Japan photos appear to have to have been mislaid when we find them we'll post themOur arrival in Osaka early evening took us straight to Dotonbori for dinner and a search for a suitably kitsch Love hotel. Many were entered and many were left for not being kitsch enough. We finally settled on an SM dungeon For those who do not know what a love hotel is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Osaka/Osaka/blog-339365.html Tokyo well where to start 830 sushi Love hotels Plastic food ElectroJazz fusion Pretty boy lsquohostsrsquo Guitar hero arcades Best just start at the beginning I guessWe 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 t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-339364.html 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. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hokkaido/Asahikawa/blog-339361.html Armed with our newly acquired Japan Rail Passes and plenty of snacks Claire seems to have developed a monkey nut fetish on this part of the trip she just wonrsquot travel without them we boarded the Su Zhou Hao ferry bound for Osaka. We were welcomed on board by smiley and efficient Japanese staff and shown to our spacious 4 berth cabin with tatami matted lounge and panoramic window which http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Osaka/blog-339339.html 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 Peoplersquos Square the central lsquohubrsquo of the city a real mix of impressive skyscrapers all glass curtain walling steel and neon ligh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-324939.html The train was really comfortable although the Chinese people seem to go to bed very early and consequently get up very early starting the day with a pot noodle as you doMaking lay ins and not also wanting to eat pot noodles very difficultAfter our previous success with following a hostel tout to a hostel we thought wersquod repeated it unfortunately with a lesser degree of success on this http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi--an/blog-324937.html Blogs are like buses you wait for ages and then.....Early the next morning have you noticed how many early mornings wersquore doing its worse than going to work you know We got the slowest taxi in town to the bus station where we boarded a rickety old bus to Taiyuan for the connecting bus to Pingyao an ancient Ming dynasty walled banking city which has remained relatively untouched and i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/Pingyao/blog-324934.html Wutai Shan one of Chinarsquos 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/Wutaishan/blog-324932.html Hi allOK going back way back in time After having to leave Beijing a little later than anticipated we had to change our nice comfy sleeper tickets into slightly less comfy but considerably cheaper hard seat tickets. We arrived wind and sand blown if you ever have to take a hard seat donrsquot get one by the window 6 hours later in the inner Mongolian city of Datong.After fruitlessly tr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/blog-310410.html Hello everyone Again it's been a few weeks since our last blog but I reckon that's just how it's going to be There has been so much to see and do in the last three weeks and we now have a lot to tell you about....So we completed our TransMongolian railway journey from UB to Beijing 7855km in total from Moscow and we arrived exactly on time almost to the minute The train got very hot a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-309637.html Hi AgainWe had a couple of days post trip to relax before the National State Nadaam Festival a three day extravaganza of the three national sports of Mongolia Wrestling Horse Riding and Archery. This essentially meant do our washing and have a shower although on our first day back the centrally supplied hot water for our region of UB was broken so we had to wait an extra dayWe also discovere http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-300854.html Hi AllOnce again it's been a while Just don't know where time goesSo we left Russia they had one last go at being pointlessly stern and overly officious with a 4 hour border crossing where they made the poor Provodnitsa take all the carpets up and open every cubby hole god knows what they were looking for I thought people could and probably should just walk out of Russia if they wanted http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-297875.html Hi AllI hope this missive finds you all well We are still alive so the St Petersburg Mafia have not found us after our last email. I fell I should add that everyone else we have met so far who has been recently has really not liked it either other than people who have livedworkedstudied there so perhaps it's more of a locals place.Anyhoo we will start with the Trans Sib. After 3 city breaks http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Olkhon/blog-290247.html Hi allWe left you last time in the finnish lakes promising to not leave it so long 'til the next one and it would appear we may have fibbed Sorry for thatAnyhoo Helsinki managed to find a room in a massive hostel above a nepalese restaurant very tasty although they didn't always have a room for us so we had to check in seperately every day we were there and had to experienced our first dor http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Finland/Uusimaa/Helsinki/blog-287994.html We didn't realise it had been so long since our last blog We have travelled quite a few miles since then We finished our last blog entering the Artic Circle so well continue from there I guessTromso was interesting theres a great arctic museum full off stuffed animals in traps to show how a trap works I'd guess and a full size tableau of a man skinning a reindeer including blood all w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Finland/blog-281454.html Ahoy there from the MS VesteralenThe Fjords are absolutely stunning we039ve been stopping off at lots of little villages as well as some bigger ones and they are all a bit wellhellip..small and wooden I guess is the best way to put it lots of timber buildings and everywhere is soooo tiny even at the ports you can walk across the centre of town in 15 minutesOn Thursday we took an excu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Nord-Norge/Lofoten/blog-277471.html We have had a fantastic couple of days in Bergen. On Monday we had a leisurely walk around the town which is a mixture of modern concrete buildings and beautifully painted timber clad houses situated along narrow cobbled streets tucked away from the main roads high density but highly colourful living Itrsquos a tiny place though so it didnrsquot take too long to get our bearings so we t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Vestlandet/Bergen/blog-276117.html Hi AllWe have arrived safely in incredibly sunny Bergen although today would appear to be a bank holiday so its all closedThe train journey to Newcastle was fine thanks for the packed Lunch Mum and we managed to traverse newcastle to make the ferry in plenty of time. As we left the mysterious 'fog on the Tyne' appeared but fortunately no Gazza or Lindisfarne for which we are eternally thank http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Vestlandet/Bergen/blog-275337.html