Poncho

With a sigh of relief we got out of Bangkok - a city that's just far to hectic and polluted for our liking. Got a pretty uneventful sleeper train to Chiang Mai and from the second we stepped of that train we knew that this city was going to beat Bangkok by leaps and bounds. For starters the temperature was far nicer, the air much cleaner, the streets less smelly and best of all the taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers no where near as annoying! After settling into our lovely rooms we headed off to look around the town for somewhere nice to eat. Two hours later and after a lot of head scratching we finally found something that resembled the town centre. I think even the people that lived there weren't sure where the town ... read more

So the boat trip that landed us in Shanghai...what can i say about that??? well lets start with the fact that it was 48HOURS on the same floatation device!!! We decided that for the 48 hours to and prevent insanity we needed a cabin....not a mat on the floor with god knows how many more people........so that's what we booked!! We were now second class travellers!!! The cabin.....pretty bog standard...but it had a door and a kettle so we were all set!!! what kept up entertained you may wonder...well we found the Chinese lady over the intercom offering us dinner hilarious...hows that for a start?? Lots and lots of books...some dire and some readable, sea sickness tablets that 'may cause drowsiness', which in fact induced a coma for a few hours, and some traveling folk who ... read more

Arrived in osaka...(on our last bullet train this trip) and found that our attempt at budget accomodation turned out to be a little mansion of an apartment!! Osaka weekly Mansions are fantastic in our opinion!! so after a very busy few weeks we were feeling the stain and decided to take a little break in the touristy stuff for a day or two!! a little home cooking and a few drinks japaneese style were required...and that is what we had in our little mansion!!! Sightseeing recommenced on our last day!! we set off to find the Osaka Castle..which we did with relative ease. Twas a replica that has been turned into a museum...a tad boring for us im afraid!! next on the list was the Umeda Sky Building with its Floating Garden Observatory! Well, finding this ... read more

We decided to brave the Beijing buses and headed out to see the Ming Tombs. There was a bit of confusion as to what side of the road we should be getting the bus from but with the help of Cora's future husband bus driver we were pointed in the right direction but still failed to find the correct bus stop. We stood in a queue for god know's what for a while and Ching (Cora's future husband) laughed at us a bit more but in the end we found our bus. There's 13 out of 16 Ming emporers buried in the same area (the Ming dynasty was between 1368-1644 for those of you who like dates!) They believed that when they died their soul remained so they still had human needs so their tombs are ... read more

Right so we arrived in Hiroshima via bullet train after checking out of the hostel and getting a lovely present each of chopsticks (all delighted with ourselves)! got a crammed tram for 20 minutes and a 5 minute walk to hostel under the navigational skills of Caitriona! off course we were in rooms on the 4th floor! up the stairs with our bags which would have probably killed us a week earlier! nice table and futons! then after not too long we head off for some grub in where else but Molly Malones! leave there 6 hours later..ahem...a good time had by all! off to the hostel with bitter thoughts of making our futon! have a little sleep in..well deserved! over to the 7/11 for some salad sandwiches then venture out to find Hiroshima Castle and ... read more