Jul 2005

Our first port of call was the Grand Palace which I was extremely excited about!It was incredible...just a plethora of shrines, temples, statues, absolutley amazing!

We got to see the Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Kaew, we even got to light our incense and present our flower to the Gods which was really cool!We then headed across to Wat Arun which I was particularly excited about as It looks especially spectacular! We took a little boat across the River and found ourslelves at Wat Arun!

I think Wat Arun is my favourite temple so far, I fell in love with the decorative porcelain, it was just so impressive!!!

We then headed back to Khao San for something to eat after being caught in an auful thunderstorm!!!It was today whilst watching CNN we found about about the London Bombings which is really worrying when you are so far away as you have no idea of the extent of these things when its the same footage rolling over and over on the TV.....

I love it!We started the day with the most incredible breakfast.....for only a £1!!!!!Our first plan was to subject ourselves to the inevitable rip off and get in a Tuk Tuk!We new it would most likely end in sour grapes but when in Bangkok...well it has to be done doesnt it?!?!?The guy took us everywhere for the set price of the equivalent of 30 pence each for 3 hours....First we headed to Wat Mongkul Kasatayaram to see the famous 'Big Gold Buddha' which was all huge and spangly!Went onto a couple of other temples before I was accosted by a bunch of kids...turned out they had been sent out of vlass for being naughty!!!!A few temples and lucky Buddhas later we found ourselves whisked to this shady place that sold, of course, 'fashions' (is that what they call it?!?!horredous 70's-esque monstrosities more like!) jewels, silk, soveniers...kinda like Toys-R-Us "a million and one choices all under one roof"

Obviously it all kicked off, he pulled the whole "Gas coupons" scam on us and it was clear we werent having any of it...after we got thrown out of the fashions place because we were apparently "time wasters" (yeah, got it in one!!!!) the tuk tuk man had actually gone off and left us!!!thank god we didnt pay him up front!!! We then did a fair bit of wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere which was amazing, I have fallen in love with Thailand!
This evening sees us looking forward to some scrummy Thai food and several buckets of Sangsom and Coke!!!!!

Oh my God!Im in Bangkok!!!After a night spent sleeping in Osaka airport ejoying blueberry yoghurt because our budget in rapidly decreasing I boarded my flight and headed to Bangkok!!!! I left Daniel in Japan as he waited the extra couple of hours for his flight via South Korea (which turned out he was accosted on by a couple of young girls trying to persuade him to convert to their religion!). I arrived In Bangkok and as expected was hasselled and harrassed by taxi touts so I made my way to find a metered taxi!!!Was dropped off on Khao San road and set about finding a room for the night!Ended up at the Siam Oriental Inn which turned out to be a home from home for me by the end of my trip!Dumped my bags, went out and did a bit of exploring then eventually got to meet Ashley from Travellerspoint after out 6 month long email friendship!!!!There was a knock on the door and there she was!!!She took me to meet Rich who she had also met on TP and had spent the past month travelling Thailand and Cambodia with!!! We headed out and they introduced me to the delights of the "street cocktails" of Bangkok: just pull up a plastic stool and 60baht later and your near enough to being drunk!!!!Daniel at this point was somewhere in Limbo, didnt have a clue if he would ever find me!!!Then right on queu I bumped into him on Khao San dragging his red backpack along looking ready to collapse!!!Had a spider incident in my room so was paranoid about sleeping there so poor daniel had to fully inspect ever corner of my room before I went to bed and even then i had visions of something unpleasant crawling across my face so had to rig the mosquito net up and kinda cocoon myslef inside it!!!Also slept with the light on that night as I was so traumatised after the spider!!!!!

Today we endured the most horrific rain and thunderstorms I have ever experienced!It was ridiculous...however we were not prepared to not make the most of this amazing opportunity to be in Kyoto so armed with our bright yellow unbrellas, wet socks and socked up to the knees we went temple hopping! Below is just by our hostel but I loved the whole colourful thing!!!Look closely and you can see one of my much adored vending machines!!!

We first headed to Nishi Hongan-Ji and Higashi Hongan-Ji which were both equally beautiful, surrounded by a moat scattered with ornate bridges and mulit-coloured carp!These places are huge and although a lot of our views were warped with the rain I fell in love with them all the same!

This evening we made our pilgrimage to Gion which is the main Geisha district in Kyoto and it was everything I had expected.....a teeny quiet little street, wooden fronted houses and the occasional little shrine.

Next thing I saw the very sight I had only even dreamed about.....a young Geisha girl clattering in her wooden shoes in full dress robes, make up and hair ornaments!!!It was amazing!!!within seconds she scurried out of one door and into the next!!!It totally made my day, had I left Japan without seeing a Geisha in the flesh I would have been dissapointed!!!!By the time the camera was out she was gone but that memory will stay in my mind forever!Then minutes later the same thing happened!!!So much for people saying I wouldnt get to see a Geisha!!!Im so happy!!!It was the most incredible sight! We then went on for a stroll the the Pontocho area before finding a teeny tiny traditional tea room where we enjoyed a lovely cup of tea as we watched the owner spend an hour chopping a single onion into miniscule pieces for an entire hour!Today was simply amazing!

Mount Fuji!!!!!!!

Finally got to put our JR Passes to good use and experience the famous Bullet Train!!! This morning we had to say farewell to the amazing Tokyo and of course the wonderful Toukaisou Ryokan and bid bon voyage to Sue!

Dont know how I managed to fit everything into my backpack and Im not suprised that it feels like Im carrying an elephant in there!!!! We made the trek across Tokyo to the train station where we sat outside enjoying a breakfast of cinnamon pastries and an iced latte with pistacio which was bright green!Yummy!!! We had a bit of a wait around so we could activate our JR Passes so the time was spent eating, smoking way too many marlboro lights and getting shouted at by a bunch of rude promotions girls in hideous spangly lycra who made us move our bags!
We boarded the much anticipated 'Bullet Train' at Tokyo and took the route down to the Kansai Region to Kyoto!I was so excited!you can actually twirl to chairs around on the Shinkansen trains so you can choose the position that you sit!!!I loved it! Needless to say we twisted the whole row of seats around so we had a perfect panoramic view out of the window!!!The trains are so fast...amazing views however, great way to see the country...we saw teeny, tiny, rural villages, to Rice Paddies, to mountains....and eventually the long awaited Mt.Fuji!!! It was amazing to see it in the flesh!!Its always a bizarre feeling when you see such a prominant thing that you have only ever read about in books or seen on TV, so it was pretty overwhelming, I think I was lost for words! It was covered with a blanket of mist at the top and I was suprised by how green everything was! Saying that with all of this rain, there no chance of a drought!

Finally arrived in Kyoto and were welcomed with a horrendous thunder storm! This is the worst weather I have yet to experience since arriving in Japan! Apparently the further south you travel the worse the rain is!!! With our map in hand and backpacks firmly strapped on we waded our way through the tiny streets in search of our hostel! Managed to find it pretty easily and already the contrast between Kyoto and Tokyo is evident... For all its a city, it is surrounded by ranges or mountains so everywhere you look you are kind of enclosed with hills. The overall atmosphere is a lot quieter and somehow it just has a totally different vibe, and I like it! Theres still my favourite Japanese elements here such as the little vending machines that I love so much!!!

Staying in a really cool hostel called 'K's House'! I can honastly say its the best hostel I have ever encountered!!!Its full of like minded people who seem a really good bunch, its all newly refurbished, has a great little Japanese wooden decked patio.....brilliant communal kitchens and it has the crazy toilets with all the gadgets such as music, fake flush and warm seats!!! Kyoto has always been the place I have dreamed of visiting so Its a dream come true that Im actually here, its so exciting!!! Bags were quickly dumped as we set off with our trusty umbrellas to check out the delights of Kyoto!