I don't really have a lot to say about Hoi An, it's basically about six or seven streets of tailors, souvenir shops, bars and cafes. The Tailors are really cheap and I think everyone in the group had at least one thing made, some of the girls had about £500 worth of clothes and shoes made up. I only got a couple of pairs of lightweight trousers with legs that zip off. Since I wasn't running around trying to get to multiple fittings I used the time to take a rest from sightseeing (I'm not complaining by any means, but sometimes it feels like a job). I spent a good part of the day reading, sleeping and playing on the internet. A few of us in the group had a bit of a messy night, after ... read more

My first real day with the Intrepid tour started with a breakfast at a restaurant staffed by street kids (sort of like Jamie Oliver's one but without all the media attention and backing). The service was really nice and the food was gorgeous. Saying that, all the food in Vietnam is gorgeous, you could give a newspaper to a Vietnamese chef and you'd be tempted to lick the plate. An hour later we where on the road for a four hour ride to Ha Long Bay for our little minicruise aboard a Junk boat. Ha Long bay is a stretch of water with over 2000 little limestone islands dotted everywhere. The postcards and travel agents make it sound so secluded and romantic, the truth is that of the four million tourists that visit Vietnam each year ... read more

I met some Australians in Hiroshima who informed me that there was a Universal Studios in Osaka and that it had a proper full on Jaws ride. After the emotional roller-coaster that I had been through at the A-Bomb Museum and the Peace Park I jumped on an early train over there. I was a little disappointed with park, although I had just visited the same place in Hollywood which had updated a lot of it's rides. The jaws ride was great though, you go on a guided tour of Amity Island, then you get a call from another boat in distress. As you go through the rest of the ride Jaws get closer and cloaser to the boat and you get more and more wet. It ends with him chewing on a powerline and being ... read more

Kyoto's, home to Temples, Shrines, Gisha's, Parks, blah, blah, blah. When I arrived in kyoto I only had one thing on my mind: Monkeys. There is a monkey sanctuary/park in the Arishiyama area of town. It takes about 20 minutes to climb up a quite a steep hill to the park. At the top of the hill you get ushered into the resting area where there is a cage on one side, from which you can feed the monkeys, but you can also go outside and wonder amongst them. I think I stayed there a bit too long, a couple of them came right up to my leg a started grooming each other. I spent a couple of hours wondering around the gardens of the Tenryuji Temple which was quite nice, but I suspect that it's ... read more

Since arriving here on election night I've been feeling a bit lethargic, I don't now if I'm coming down with something or if it's just the previous six weeks catching up with me. The weather hasn't helped much either, it rained almost all day every day up until today. I've spent a lot of time just hanging around the hostel chatting to the other travellers, watching movies and sleeping, lots of sleeping. When I did venture out I found Seattle to be a really cool place where people can be themselves, it seems like every other person in the street is covered in tattoos and piercings with pink and green hair. Being the home of Hendrix, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, it was unsurprising that most of the bars here are slightly on the rockier side, which ... read more