The flight to Kuala Lumpur was only 5 hours, but they didn't stop feeding us!! Seriously, every 5 minutes they were walking round passing out nuts, drinks, beer, sandwiches! We even got a huge meal, veggies with rice, a croissant, cake, fruit! Ace :) Kuala Lumpur's a very energetic city, at first it's a bit overwhelming, but it's loads of fun once you get used to it. It was really hot though and we hadn't been to a beach in ages so we got on a bus then a boat to a gorgeous little tropical island down at the south end [View Full Entry]

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Today is our last day in China! We are off to Malaysia tomorrow for some beach action! :) After Chengdu, we went to Xi'an. It was ridiculously hot there! Xi'an is one of the only Chinese cities left with the old city walls, they are pretty impressive. There is also a bell tower and drum tower, we didn't go in them because we had to pay. There is a Muslim quarter there as well, surrounding the old mosque, we had a wander round there, it had a huge market and loads of weird looking food! And, obviously, in Xi'an there are [View Full Entry]

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The flight here (to Chengdu) was fine, I couldn't stop trumping though, that always happens to me on planes. The food was alright too, we got some noodles with chicken, a bread roll and some watermelon. Yum yum. When we arrived we got the airport shuttle bus into town, then we had a bit of a hairy moment because I didn't have a map to find the hostel, just the address and directions written in English which none of the taxi drivers could understand. We asked in a travel agents and a hotel but no one could understand to help us. [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai is a shithole. Sorry Mum, but it is. It's just a massive, dirty, smelly building site! The people are really rude and racist and they spit all over the floor. Gross. We really wont be taking many good memories of this place! We went to the Russian embassy to apply for our Russian visas and they got rejected. Horrible day, spent all day queuing and being shouted out at by Russians to be told no! bah. But, it's turned out pretty good, we have got cheap flights to Kuala Lumpur and they give out free 90 day stamps so we [View Full Entry]

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We're back in China and after Japan, it is a real shock! Japan is so clean and civilized, and the people there are lovely and friendly. It's so clean, we saw people scrubbing the pavements and road signs! After the sumo, we went to Kawaguchiko, which is a lake near to Mount Fuji. As we were leaving Tokyo, we could see the mountain from the train, but we weren't sure if it actually was Mount Fuji because it is very shy, but it turned out that it was! We were super lucky because when we got there we could see it [View Full Entry]

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We are staying in a capsule hotel with free internet!! We have to pay for the showers though. We went to see the sumo today - loads of fun :) We paid for the proper cheapo tickets. From 8am - 2.30pm it's the unranked trainee wrestlers, not many people bother going to see them so it meant we could sit right at the front in the $150 seats! It was pretty amazing, but a bit scary in case they fall on you. We watched loads of mad fights, they only last a couple of minutes though, some are over in seconds. [View Full Entry]

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I will have to be quick - the internet is well expensive here. 70p for 20 minutes!! We have done 2280 miles in the last week! Starting from Hanoi, we got the bus to Nanning in China, that took about 9 hours, then we took the train to Shanghai which took 30 hours! It actually went pretty quick though. Shanghai is a world away from SE Asia, so different. And it was really difficult to order food - all the menus are in Chinese. We gave upand had a MacDonalds. Then we got on a ferry to Japan which took 46 [View Full Entry]

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My Mum and Kate flew home today, it's very strange, it feels like they were with us the whole time and have gone on a day trip today. I keep expecting them to come back to our hotel!! We had a great time with them, though I'm not sure my Mum would describe it as great!! I think she was very shocked by the way of life here. It is dirty and smelly. Hanoi is very very busy as well, and there are motorbikes everywhere which means you have to be on your toes all the time, more about that later [View Full Entry]

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My Mum and Kate are now here with us in Hanoi, we are off to Sapa tonight. I think we gave them a pretty good welcome. On the way to the hotel from the airport, we saw a bad motorbike accident and 2 dead bodies on the road. Our hotel was bad. To me and Matt, it was ok. Hot shower, bed, their room even had a window. Things took a turn for the worse when we went out for tea last night though. Someone came into our room, had a bite out of my LAST crunchie, then hid it behind [View Full Entry]

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We're in Hanoi now, my Mum will be here tonight!! Can't believe it though, yesterday was the hottest day ever, and today it's raining!! After Saigon, we went to Nha Trang, which could of been anywhere! It felt like Rhyl. We had lots of fun though, the beach was nice, the sea is different here. It's quite cold, in Thailand it was like getting into a bath!! Matt played in the sea while I sunbathed and watched the crabs, I saw one do a poo. We had an amazing day at Vinpearl amusement Park which is on an island just off [View Full Entry]

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