Blogs from Asia - page 15573

Last time I wrote, I was in Kyoto enjoying the hospitality of J-Hoppers excellent hostel. Since then, I have visited 6 more cities in my journey west across Japan and I now sit in an internet cafe in Fukuoka waiting to make the trip across the Eastern Sea to Busan in South Korea. It's been a busy week indeed and I'm now just trying to relax after so many hours walking and viewing various sights. I think I'm learning that 5 1/2 months of sight-seeing will be unsustainable, so now it's necessary to switch into traveller mode, which is much more relaxed. Since last time, I also had my first real encounter with that disarming Japanese generosity we always hear so much about and spent time getting to know a few young Japanese, which helped to ... read more

Today has been an extremely tiring day. I woke up to fireworks. And when I'm talking about fireworks I'm not just talking about our normal fireworks. For whatever reason these fireworks were three times louder than any fireworks I've ever heard. Then there was a bunch of chanting and a bunch of jets flying over head. No one seems to be able to tell me why. Apparently they have a lot of fireworks during weddings but I don't know whether or not there is a wedding or not. There is a very large possibility that I will be living by myself for at least the next 3-6 weeks. Since Jadd is leaving tonight. This is kind of a bummer but I suppose it has its advantages too. I got used to staying in my own place ... read more

Sunday, September 4, 2005 Weather: Clear Temperature: HOT! 90+ and high humidity. Our morning began with the included breakfast in the hotel. Since we had gone to bed early and our body clock was still fighting the 12 hour time zone difference we were up and walking around well before 6 a.m. and were among the first customers. Breakfast was presented in buffet style with full western offerings. There were generous selections of fruits and breads, selections of breakfast meats and an omelet station where cooked to order items were prepared. There were numerous other areas offering eastern menu items for guests from Asia. Others from our group began to arrive so we had the opportunity to meet. Our tour guide stressed in her letter of introduction that punctuality was requested so we made sure that ... read more

After an uncomfortable overnight bus journey (Asian buses are not designed for people with long legs and the drivers like to use the horn, just to warn everyone that they are there - all night) from Hanoi, we arrived in Hue. After checking into a very nice hotel for $15 a night for all three of us, we were besieged by motorbike drivers who would take us on a tour of the tombs that Hue is famous for. As we had only just arrived, we put them off by promising to do it the next day and went off to find somewhere to eat and to explore the town. After wandering around for the afternoon, including a stroll along the river, looking for the boats we had been told about in Hanoi (where you are entertained ... read more

They say, everybody needs a second chance and so we thought that the island of the gods also deserved one. We were hopeful but it did not start well; as a matter of fact the trouble started as soon as we set foot on Bali. And this is not a question of different cultural backgrounds, as a reader suggested, we had come perfectly along on Sumatra and Java. It seems that for the Indonesian government the country consists mainly of Java and Bali, some attention has gone to Sumatra due to its northernmost province of Aceh, but it seems that east of Bali Indonesia ceases to exist, maybe they still bear a grudge against the East Timorese? We think that tourism should not be concentrated on the two islands, the whole country has much to offer ... read more