The Second Happiest Place In Tokyo…. Tokyo Disney Sea is the located next door to Tokyo Disneyland and is connected by the Disney monorail. It is in this park that all the marine themed Disney adventures are housed as well as a few others to fill in the gaps. From The Little Mermaid to Finding Nemo, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to Indiana Jones, Tokyo Disney Sea is not as grand as the original but certainly has enough to keep entertained. After two days of thrills and spills, we took it a little easier on Thursday… or so we thought. Off to Odaiba to have a look at some architecture for the morning, we crossed the Rainbow Bridge at headed to the Fuji TV Building where most of Japan’s broadcasting is done. A quick trip to ... read more

Travel Days Sometimes Throw Up Something Exceptional….. Leaving Kyoto was hard….. there was still so much to see and do, but time was against us, so back on the shinkasen heading for Hiroshima. About half way is the city of Himeji and exiting the station (with packs locked in lockers thank god), we were presented one of the most majestic sights I think I’ve seen. Himeji Castle is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, and for good reason. With the original keep being built in the 1300’s, and being added to over the centuries up until the Meiji Restoration in the 1830’s, the castle is now what I imagine Walt Disney would build if he was Japanese. Easily spending over two hours wandering the corridors and gardens was like living a fairytale, before climbing the seven stories ... read more

Two’s Company…. After spending Saturday people watching, I headed to the old district of Asakusa to check out the Asahi Brewery and the Sensoji Temple. The brewery wasn’t open when I arrived but it was more the architecture of the building I was interested in anyway (though some may not believe me there). The building is designed to be a glass of beer with the froth on it but I think it looks a little tadpole-ish if you ask me. Sensoji Temple is one of the major temples in Tokyo and on Sundays it is visited by thousands of people who then stroll through the parkland or visit the bustling markets that lead to the tori gate. It is a five tiered pagoda with outer buildings and it’s said if you rub the smoke of the ... read more

The Last Few Days Before Parting Ways.... The journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh covers about 400km of rural Cambodia and provides glimpses into the lifestyle of some of the people from the regional areas. Food stalls on the side of the road selling almost nothing recognisable, to rice fields, to someone killed in a traffic accident.... yes that's right.... we drove directly passed a body lying on the road while everyone just stood around looking!!! Back to the big smoke and instantly hassled by tuk-tuk drivers again, we struggled through the masses before finding our guesthouse. Ny Sokun, the owner, met us at the door and we sat down and had a few drinks with him while he brushed up on some of his English. In the mean time, we brushed up on some ... read more

Well... Maybe Not The Kind Of City Your Thinking.... Sukhothai is a bit off the beaten track (being the main route between Bangkok and Chiang Mai), but well worth the visit for a couple of nights. It's the ancient capital of Siam and houses some of the best ruins of the old empire I have seen. Coming recommended by the Tourism Agency Thailand (TAT - the government arm that all tourism and transportation goes through) as the best place to see ancient Buddha statues, we thought we'd give it a go. Thank god we did!!! Pulling into our little guest house, aptly named "At Home Guesthouse", we were greeted with smiles, warm welcomes and critical information for both places of interest and the cheapest way to get there and back. The next morning we set off ... read more