goddsontour

Hearing the Sunshine

2011-09-02T16:26:00.005+01:00

Take a look at the new advert from Tourism Authority of Thailand

Khon Kaen

2011-09-01T20:03:00.001+01:00

Trains

2007-12-05T19:52:00.001Z

From tube, local trains, express trains through to the Shinkansen, you can be sure of one thing, trains in Japan are clean, efficient and relatively cheap. The ticket machines give you a bit of a headache at first but you do have the option of choosing English, and if your still unsure you just pay the cheapest fare and at the other end top up on the fare adjustment machines. If your planning to live in Japan then its worth getting a Suica card (top up swipe card just like the oyster card in London) and with a Suica you can also pay for drinks etc. from the vending machines on the platform. Unlike in the UK there are markers on the platforms stating where the doors will open when the train comes to a halt and everyone forms an orderly cue, none of the free for all you now see in London.

As I mentioned before, just before the train leaves a departure tune is played, now these tunes vary depending what line, station or platform you are on and when the tune stops, you have on average about ten seconds before the doors shut, very very handy. A few stations are famous for their departure tunes, like Ebisu and Shinagawa on the Yamanota line in Tokyo and most Japanese I have spoken to recognize these tunes. To give you a taste, click on the play button below, all the tunes are from various platforms and stations from the JR line.

JR Departure Music

2007-12-05T19:51:00.003Z

そば soba

2007-11-22T04:58:00.000Z

So off to Tokyo Friday lunch time with virgin airways, surprisingly the food was extremely dodgy for one of the worlds top airlines, but the In-Flight entertainment didn`t disappoint so I ended up watching Gordon f`ing Ramsay, The Simpsons movie and managing about 45 minutes sleep. After arriving in Tokyo I jumped on the YCAT (Yokohama city air terminal) bus to central Yokohama which is south of Tokyo, then a JR train to Totsuka, meeting Fumiko outside starf`cks at 2pm that afternoon. On the way to Fumiko`s flat in Minamiyato (south valley) a suburb south of Totsuka, we popped into Denny`s an American style diner, serving Japanese and dodgy `western` food for some noodles.

Looking down on the Japanese Alps

That evening we jumped on the bus to Totsuka, 190Yen (230 Yen - 1 Pound) to an Izakaya, a Japanese style pub, serving a wide range of food from sashimi, yakatori to salads and pizza!. Although the Izakaya in Totsuka is part of chain the food is excellent, will try to get some pics of the food at some point. The following day was more of a day of relaxation, shopping at Modi next to Totsuka station, a 7 floor department store. The ground and the basement is dedicated to food, the first floor selling chocolates and cakes and the basement containing a supermarket and individual shops selling bread, organic products from hand cream to noodles and international foods. The shop selling international foods has improved since last year, selling good Parmesan, Thai curry paste and Tim Tams, one of the few great things to come out of Australia!. The Tim Tam is not only a good chocolate biscuit (similar to the penguin but better), when eaten in the correct way it is transformed into gastronomic experience!, and here's how.....

A taste of Dorset in Totsuka!

That evening we ate Zaru Soba, cold Soba noodles with a dipping sauce, Soba noodles are usually made from buckwheat(no relation to wheat) and wheat flour although some noodles are made from 100% buckwheat flour. Then it was early to bed in order to get up bright and early for our trip to Takayama, situated on the western side of the Japanese Alps. Leaving at 5am, it took a good two hours before we were out into the country side where for the first time I got a glimpse of Mt Fuji in the distance. To reach Takayama we had to pass over the Japanese Alps, reaching a height of 1760m at which point the journey got rather tricky, at one point the road was totally covered in solid ice, so in a tunnel at -1 degree it was time to get out the snow chains.

First glimpse of Fuji san

After a seven hour drive we finally arrived in Takayama. We had booked a room at a Minshiku named Oyado Iguchi, a Minshiku is similar to a B&B in the west, except in a Minshiku you have the option of dinner. Takayama is famous for Old inns, shops and sake breweries, eight breweries in all! a bit of sightseeing it was time to return to the Minshiku for dinner and a dip in the Onsen (hot spring). The Japanese love Onsens and with around 3000 public Onsens in Japan they are hard to avoid. A lot of Hotels, Ryokans and Minshikus also have Onsens, some being 100% natural, the Onsen at Oyado takes water from Hida-Takayam hot spring, which needs to be heated and filtered before use. So after a relaxing Onsen we enjoyed some wonderful home cooked Japanese food.

Ichi-no-Machi, Takayama

The following morning we headed south to the town of Minokamo city a two hour drive from Takayama where I had arranged a visit to Sakurai Foods who make soba noodles for a company called Clearspring which specialize in organic products. At the Food Hall in John Lewis we sell a range of Clearspring products including the Soba noodles made by Sakurai foods. We arrived at the factory just before 11am and was introduced to Mr Sakurai himself, as customary in Japan I had brought a gift, the Japanese do like their whisky and its always a safe bet, so I had brought with me a bottle of Peat Monster a blended whisky from Compass Box and a tin of Earl Grey tea with Blue Flowers from Willamson Tea which is only available in the food hall. Sakurai Foods predominantly make noodles for the domestic market with around 20% going overseas, mainly to the US where the organic market is growing the fastest.

Clearspring All Buckwheat Soba Noodles

Buckwheat flour from the US is used to make the Soba noodles for the UK, this is because the Japanese organic association allow farmers to use certain chemicals which are banned by organic associations in the US and the UK. The buckwheat flour is mixed with water a salt then mixed together for 20 minutes before being compressed then sent through a machine with 5 different sized rollers before going through the cutting roller. The noodles are then layed onto a bamboo polls and sent up buy an ancient looking contraption to the first floor where the noodles are hung to dry for 2 days. This natural drying process allows the noodles to slightly fermentate which gives the noodle a very slight sourness. When the noodles have dried they are cut and then weighed and packed by hand. After the tour of the factory we visited an organic shop owned by Sakurai sans daughter and son in law from Bristol who spoke very good Japanese, then it was off to a Soba restaurant in town for lunch, Zaru Soba served with tempura of vegetables and prawns which were cooked to perfection.

Ready to dry

The return to Golders Green

2006-10-07T07:25:00.000+01:00

Maguro, Hot Dogs & Friends

No doubt your all still wondering what happened between Beijing and Japan, the plan was to spend a few days in Beijing then get a flight back over to Tokyo from either Beijing or Shanghai. Now during my time in western China I did look at other routes and countries to travel, I looked into a fligth to Baku, Azerbaijan, then head overland through Georgia and Turkey then fly back the the UK from Istanbul, with the flight costing 250 pounds to Baku from Urumqi. I was extremely close to central aisa, I could have got a 3 day transit visa at the airport in Almaty, Krygyzstan but that only gave me 3 days to get a visa for another central asian country and get out. Pakistan was another option and its surprising the amount of travelers traveling through in the present political climate, but I could only get a visa from Beijing or England. Next i thought about heading to Thailand for a couple of weeks, the flight costing 90 pounds from Chengdu to Bangkok but the real killer was the flight from Urumqi to Chengdu, 160 pounds. To make it worth while, flying to Bangkok was the only option, I didn't have time to take the train and getting there was going to cost me 240 pounds and I still had to get another visa for China in Bangkok and get a flight back to Shanghia.

Michael and friends, Shanghai

During all is commotion, Michael in Shanghai was doing all the leg work, finding out different prices and times for flights, then having to do it all again every few days!. After arriving in Beijing my mind was made up, plans were made and Michael and the tickets to Tokyo were waiting for me in Shanghia, a big thankyou to you Michael for all your time and trouble. The flight to Tokyo was at lunch time on the 24th, but I had to arrive in Shanghai at least a day before that to collect the tickets, which ment I had to take an over night train on the 22nd, leaving me with only one evening and three quaters of a day in Beijing. That evening and my only evening in Beijing, I went out to eat Beijing duck with a girl from Middlesbrough, costing 38RMB for a whole duck, thats two and a half quid!.

Tokyo to Shanghai

The next morning I went off to visit the summer palace, one of Beijing's best sights, then it was over to a couple of parks in the city and then down to an antiques market, this took up most of my day, so it was back to the hostel for some food and off the the train station to catch my train at 7pm to Shanghia, a 12 hour journey, 500RMB. The following day I picked up my flight ticket and that evening went out with Michael and a few more friends and ate excellent hunanese food, which is very similar to Sichuan food, full of chilli. The next morning I got a bus to the airport, 15RMB and after a very expensive sandwich and coffee it was of to Tokyo and Totsuka to see Fumiko.

Meguro man!

During my stay in Japan I had to get another visa for China so i could get back into the country in order to catch my flight back to the UK. Thanks to the Chinese national holiday I had to pay nearly double the price of the visa for the express service, 7000 Yen, as they were closing for 10 days. Fumiko and I went back to the local market near Totsuka again to visit the Maguro(tuna) man, as ever, always smiling and once again, extremely generous giving us two types of tuna as a gift. His business is inside a local market and he sells mainly to restaurants, plus any passing trade. The following monday,2nd october, he was opening a sushi restaurant in the market, so we decided to go and visit the restaurant on the 3rd, on our way to the airport. We had excellent sushi and rolled sushi with green tea then we went to say our goodbyes, but before we could, he sat us down so we could eat dessert!, an apple flavoured drink with ice and a japanese red bean dessert and to top it off, he gave me a T shirt from his new business.

Koichi, Xinjiang province, western China

So again, it was goodbye to Fumiko and Japan and back to Shanghai for the 4th time on this trip. Koichi, the japanese guy who I traveled with in western China had kindly let me crash at his pad for a couple of nights before heading back to the UK, he rents a hotel room right in the heart of Shanghia's business centre, Pudong, with a fantastic view over looking the river and surrounded by futuristic buildings. That night we ate hotpot and then watched a rerun of the world hot dog eating championships from New York, with a japanese guy, Takeru Kobayashi, winning it for the 6th consecutive time, crazy stuff!. My last full day in Shanghai consisted of shopping and by the time I had got back to Pudong it was straight back out again to met Bart who was in Shanghia sorting out his visa, although, I barely recognized him since he had shaved!. We went to a japanese izakaya, recommended by Koichi, where you could eat and drink as much as you like for 98RMB per person, a great meal with lots of japanese beer and plum wine, along with the great company, it made a fitting end to my 3 months here out in the far east.

Bart, say no more!

An early start the next morning, Koichi was off to Hongkong to get a 1 years chinese visa, so an hour or so in starbucks to kill some time, then off the Pudong international airport via the maglev, a train that reaches a speed of 431km per hour and travels 30km in eight minutes, all for £2.80, 40RMB. It was now time to head back to the UK with China eastern airlines, a very very average airline and in true China eastern stlye they didn't disappoint, for the 12 hour flight the inflight entertainment was not working, paper cups were running low so they were asking people to keep hold of the ones they had and they had run out of red wine on a flight with very few laowei!. So arriving back in the UK at heathrow terminal 2, I waited 30 minutes for my baggage as there were 3 flights coming in on the same small baggage carousel!, then I jumped on the piccadilly line to Kings cross and northern line to Golders Green, arriving back to 35 the vale in the rain at 10pm UK time.

Back at The Vale, Golders Green

The highlight of traveling is not so much of what you see but the people you meet, who are often from different countries and different back grounds, its definatly a thing I will really miss.

My quick stint out in the far east has now finished and i'm back in London, its time to return back to reality, get a job and earn some cash.

Totsuka

2006-09-28T14:16:00.000+01:00

A different world

Now i did`t get chance to tell you about this place when I was here last, so now i`m back, i`d better fill you in and give you in a insight into life in Totsuka and Japan. Coming to Japan from china is like entering a different world, clean, organized and efficient, quite the opposite to China. From the airport you can jump on the ycat (Yokohama city air terminal) bus, which is a one hour and 30 min drive to central Yokohama for around 20 pounds. Once in Yokohama, its a 10 min walk to the JR( japanese rail) line where you catch a train on the tokaido line to Totsuka, taking around 10 mins non stop. The trains on the tokaido line are around 15 carriages long and there is next to no chance at getting a seat, especially at rush our when getting the `crazy train`, the reserved and polite japanese politly push and shove each other until everyone is packed in so tightly, like sardines in a can. Just like the UK, no one talks to anyone else on the train, some read japanese comic books, send e mails on their phones or just sleep, some how waking up just before their stop. Signs are everywhere asking for mobile phones to be switched off, so you never here the sound of a ringtone or someone talking on the phone, all very japanese.

The tokaido line

Buying a ticket is rather straight forward apart from one thing, knowing how much each journey is going to cost you. The ticket machines give you an option of how many passengers and various ticket prices, but if you want to know how much its going to cost you to reach your destination, then you`ll need to understand japanese. But there is no need to panic as there is one saving grace, the fare adjustment machine at your destination. When buying your ticket, buy the cheapest fare and at the fare adjustment machine the other end, just pop your ticket in and pay the fee shown on the screen, it saves all that embarrassment, plus holding up the other ten thousand people waiting behind you with their electronic swipe cards.

totsuka central at sunrise

Its quite simple, the trains here are never late and i mean never. They arrive within 2 minutes of the departure time and then about 20 seconds before the train is due to leave, a litte tune is played which vary from line to line, very handy if your in the process of walking up the stairs to the platform, then around ten seconds after the tune has finished, the doors close and the train leaves, on time. Just upstairs from the station exit at Totsuka is marui(oioi), a 7 story department store, on the basement is a supermarket then on the ground floor is a food hall selling all kinds of treats, from bread, sushi, bento boxes through to high quality cakes and chocolates, plus a starbucks. Right outside is Totsuka bus station, where you can get the bus to Minamiyato, a 10 minute bus ride to where Fumiko lives, costing 190yen.

Bus to minamiyato

The centre of Totsuka is not so large, but has everything you need for day to day living. There are the standerd japanese restaurant chains like mos burger and denny`s, an american style restaurant and for cash, the only place you normaly can withdraw money from, is the post office. You never go far in Japan without seeing a convenience store, these are great little stores selling all sorts of goods from dodgy comic books for men to milk, bread, snacks, sake, soft drinks, cheese, tofu,vegetables, hot fast food and hot tinned coffee which, quite frankly, is disgusting. These little beauties are everywhere, the most famouse being 7 eleven, they are often open 24 hours a day and are also great places to stop if your on a long journey.

Japans No.1 convenience store

It takes 40 minutes on the trian to get to central Tokyo, 10 minutes to central Yokohama and 15 minutes to Kamakura. Traveling around tokyo seems a bit daunting at first, but once you get used to the fare adjustment machine and understand the tube map !, then your on your way. There are loads of chained coffee shops in Japan, most allow smoking, some of which are of dubious quality, others offer the morningu setto, or a selection of breads and pastries, some of which are definalty not for western tastes. Eating at lunchtime can prove to be a bit of a challenge, a lot of places can be in the basement or on the first floor and the signs are in japanese, and once you`ve found one then you have to try to understand the menu.

Plastic lunch anyone?

There are quite a few restaurants with picture menus, so pointing usually gets you what you want. Its common for restaurants to have plastic life size samples of their dishes in the shop window, ranging from soba noodles, sushi and drinks right through to spaghetti bolognese and hamburger and fries. Kappabashi ( kitchen town), is the place where you can buy various types of these plastic samples, but they`re not cheap, some costing around 80 pounds. The other day i was walking through Tokyo and in the shop window was half a loaf of bread with some ice cream on top, i`m still wondering if i actually dreamt it or not.

Kappabashi

Kashgar to Beijing

2006-09-21T09:58:00.000+01:00

So it was time to leave Kashgar and head back eastwards towards Shanghia. I really didn't want to leave Kashgar and in hind sight i left a little to soon but my train ticket to Turpan was booked so that was that. On the way to the train station the taxi driver was listening to Uihgur music, one song which i captured on video was very nice, listen here . I had booked a hard sleeper to Turpan, this time around in China i haven't been to keen on hard sleepers but this is the only hard sleeper that i know of that has 4 beds and is more enclosed. The train was busy and i ended up in a 4 bed room with 3 Uihgurs who worked for the CCP(Chinese communist party) tax office. The train journey was 22 hours and i arrived in Turpan at 1pm the following day, i went straight to Johns cafe, a very very basic chain of cafes on the 'silk road' for information on where to stay. I had some lunch then this guy approached me regarding tours on sights around the area. Just before he spoke to me he spoke to a french guy not sitting far from me, he then called the guy over to talk about price. We finally agreed on a price which involved the sights we wanted to see, sharing with a couple in a taxi.

Chris, cutting up some tasty melon at jiahe

The french guy, Chris, said he was staying across the road, 30RMB a night for a dorm room, you got one token for the shower room which along with the toilets was about 100m away from the dorm room, opposite an open air restaurant!. That night Chris and i went to the night market and we had some seriously good roast chicken along with some lamb kebabs and a beer. The following morning, i met up with Chris, to find out that it was now a minibus and there were more people, so we renegotiated the price and off we went, with us were the couple from the cezch republic, Nicky, a woman from Belgium and two chinese guys. On the tour we stopped at the flamming mountains, which cost 40 RMB, but you walk 100m to the point where the fence ends and then you can see for free. Next up, was the ancient city of Tuyoq, which was great, then onto a few more sights which the chinese guys wanted to see, after a noodle lunch we set of to see a few more sights ending with another ancient city by the name of jiahe, which was fascinating.

The mosque at jiahe

The following day i booked the night bus to Dunhuang which is famous for the Mogao caves, on the bus was the woman from belguim and a japanese guy, Koichi and some vile chinese women!. It was a 12 hour journey, but in true chinese style it ended up being a 16 hour journey, we checked in at a hotel by the bus station and had some lunch, then it was off to the caves. I had heard mixed reports about the Mogao caves and was thinking about giving it a miss, until i spoke to Chris the french guy in Turpan. There is a 100RMB entrance fee ( no guide ) and then you are able to see 10 of the 492 caves which are open to the public, you are able to see more , its china remember, so just open that wallet and off you go. Having only seen a picture of the caves in one of the guide books, i wasn't expecting too much, but boy, was i surprised, very very impressvie and to save spending the next half hour writing about it, click here to get all the information you need.

On the way to the dunes, dunhuang

After the caves we headed back into Dunhuang and hired a bike for 2RMB to ride to the sandunes just outside of the town. Time wasn't on our side and it took around 35 mintues to get to the dunes. There is a 80 RMB entrance fee to the dunes and one thing i don't like to do is pay to see nature, so we headed west on dirt tracks to find the end of the fence. What with having difficulty with finding the end of the fence and taking at least 10 mins to lock our bikes, the sun had just about set, so it was a scramble to the dunes, just before the dunes there was a sign in chinese, stating a 200RMB fine if you passed that point, the dune was huge and very very steep, and with it being sand it took for ever to get anywhere, by half way i was done, Koichi was able to get 3 quaters of the way up, but by this time the light was starting to go, time and the dunes had won plus being stingy didn't help!.

Half way up a dune

The following day we got the bus to Jaiuguan, a six hour bus journey, so eight hours later we arrived in Jaiyuguan and checked into a very drab hotel, we headed over to a restaurant across the road and we ate Sichaun food, the second best Sichaun food i have had in China, then to bed for the next days sightseeing. In the morning we got up early to check out the train and bus times to Lanzhou, Koichi who speaks chinese got talking to a guy about the days sightseeing and eventually came to arrangement which involed all the sights we wanted to see. We then headed off the chemist to get some antibiotics as it was the 4th day in a row that i had diarrhea!. The days sightseeing included a trip to the Xincheng Dixia Hualang, an underground burial sight, Overhanging wall, a restord part of the wall from the sixteenth century, Jaiyuguan Fort and the first Beacon tower also from the sixteenth century, which was the best of the lot.

Over hanging wall, jaiyuguan

That evening we got the train to Lanzhou, we had been extremly lucky to get the last 4 tickets at the station. The train arrived in at Lanzhou at 9am, i had been to Lanzhou 4 years ago, as its the gateway to southern Gansu and Sichuan. Everone went their separate ways and i set out to book my ticket to Beijing and find one nights accommodation, which in all took 4 hours thanks to the rude and unfriendly staff at various places, plus traveling to western Lanzhou to a guesthouse to find it had closed down. That afternoon i visted the yellow river and had a couple of kebabs and a coke for dinner. The following day i arrived in Beijing, and checked in at the Far east international youth hostel, where i had stayed two years before, a small place with a lovely courtyard set in hutong not far from Tiananmen Square, selling a bottle of cold beer (660ml) at 2RMB!, 7 beers for a quid!!!.

The yellow river, lanzhou

Sunday Bazaar & Lake Karakul

2006-09-12T11:07:00.000+01:00

Kashgar Sunday Bazaar

Kashgar is famed for its sunday bazaar and the guide books rave about it, ' the mother off all markets' , says The Rough Guide. So after the market at Yarkand expectations were high and so they should be, considering its supposed to be the larkest market in central asia. The market kicks off at around 8 am, Xinjiang time and was advised to get there early, i arrived around 8 but not much was going on, people were still arriving and laying out their goods. I decided to get some breakfast, hot milk and You tiao, deep fried dough, 1.5 RMB. then took another walk, by this time things were starting to happen. The market was all out doors until 3 years ago, then a large market square with a cover was built called the Central asia market (open 7 days a week). The goods you can buy inside the Central asia market are mainly clothes, pashmire silk scarfs, rugs, herbs and spices, such as iranian saffron, knives, various hats and pots. Out and around the indoor market is all the fresh produce, garden tools, mouse traps, cats for pets, places to eat and the donkey 'car park'!, there is an animal market but from two people i have spoken to, there were more foriegn tourists than animals, same same but different!.

You Tiao, Kashgar sunday bazaar

Its common to see Uihgur people having a heated discusion or pushing and pulling each other, but it seems to be quiet a harmless activity and makes a stroll that little more exciting. I saw one of these in the market, what it was about i have no idea but was all over in just a few minutes. In the whole, the sunday Bazaar was definatly an anti climax, nothing like what you read in the guide books or on the net and everyone here i speak to feels the same but its still far better than any other market in other parts of China i have been to which are dominated by the Han chinese. By 12 noon xinjiang time, i headed back to the hotel via the old town which has a smaller bazaar selling much the same stuff but with blacksmiths and ironmongers hammering away. Kashgar isn't just the sunday market, its the people and the way they go about thier lives, old men sitting drinking tea with long beards and weatherd faces is a common sight, one which i never get boared off.

Kashgar sunday bazaar

Lake Karakul

There are two ways to get to Lake Karakul, one by public bus costing around 50RMB one way or by private car/taxi costing 400RMB for a day return costing between 700RMB and 950RMB for an overnight stay including a night in a yurt, plus dinner and breakfast. I put a message up on the various notice boards for more people to share a private car and costs, within one day, two girls(australian/american) had left a message under my door. I had various quotes and decided to go with on travel company, until the desert trip, where our driver offered to do it for 500RMB. We arranged to meet up with the girls to discuss the trip but a mix up with local time and Beijing time ment the driver turned up two hours late. I met the girls at 10pm Beijing time, but they had decided to go with another travel agent, leaving me and the driver in the cold. I couldn't afford to pay 500RMB on my own so it was up to me to call the driver at 10.30pm to tell the driver that the trip was off, i was not a happy bunny, but luckly Alex, the guy from the desert trip could speak chinese and explained to him what happend for me.

Preparing Yak milk tea, Lake Karakul

The following morning we left at 9am Beijing time and the drive took just under four hours, at one point we had to stop at a check point, get out of the car and walk thought to an office where they checked our passports. When we arrived, we were taken in the a hut and given some hot tea with yak milk which was rather salty plus a small bowl of meat fried with onions, well actually lambs heart with the arteries thrown in, which was very very chewy!. I decided to walk around the lake, lake Karakul is 3600m above sea level and is surround by Mt Muztagata ( 7564m ) and the Pamir mountians which boarder Pakistan. On the way around i passed Yaks and goats grazing and the tourist area where there is an expensive hotel and restaurant, plus thousands of tiny flies which smotherd you every so often.

Kyrgyz family, Lake Karakul

In the distance was a Kyrgyz village, so i took a walk over,the village was very small and not much going on, some children came over shouting hello and an old man came over, they invited me in for some food, which consisted of stale bread and fresh yogurt which was very sour, i talked to the grand daughter in my very basic chinese, enough to get point across, then it was outside for the family photo shoot!. I said my goodbyes then carried on, on the entire walk i only saw one other tourist and he was on a horse, at the lake you can hire horses, camels and even a yak if you wish.

Getting hot, Lake Karakul

After about four hours the heat was getting to me and the walk became a little more challenging, the entire walk took five and a half hours and was back at the Yurt just in time for some hot tea, this time with no yak milk or salt. That evening we ate mutton and vegetables and rice which was very tasty, by 11pm it had turned very cold and windy, so before heading to bed i sat in the taxi and stared up at the beautiful night sky with the odd shooting star thrown in. The following morning i was up for sunrise then it was stale bread and tea for breakast, we then headed back and arrived back in Kashgar around 13.30 Beijing time. I checked back in to the Seman hotel and then headed across the road to the Pakistan cafe and ate chicken jalfrezi, mutton paratha and chi for lunch, then back to the hotel for a shower to find that there was no water, its now at 20.13 and still no water!.

Mt Muztagata and Lake Karakul

Xinjiang

2006-09-08T16:06:00.000+01:00

Urumqi

Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang province and is the most landlocked city in the world, over 2000 km from the nearest ocean with a popluation of over 2 million people. I arrived from Chengdu at around 5:30pm and got a shuttle bus which dropped me of somewhere in the city, after an hour of fun i finally arrived at the xinjiang youth hostel, where a bed in a very cramped 5 bed dorm cost 45 RMB, again full of high quality chinese snorers plus the toilets were vile. In some toilets in China, you're not allowed to put the toilet paper down the toilet, so it needs to go into a bin by the side, usually right beside you so you can enjoy that lovely spring time aroma. Just after i checked in, i met Bart, a slightly mad dutch guy who was cycling from turkey overland to Indonisia on a second hand bike(with dodgy pedals) he bought in Turkey!, so we headed up into the Uighur part fo the city to find some food. The Uighur diet mainly consits of bread, mutton, rice, noodles and kebabs, we found this bread that had lamb inside, a little like the indian keema nan, which was delicious and watched a guy walk the tight rope near the city mosque.

Bart, on his way to Indonisia!

The next morning Bart set off east to Turpan and i headed off to the bank of China to get some more cash, after that i burned some pics onto CD with the help from a computer company, thrown in was an excellent home cooked lunch and to top it off thay booked my flight for me to Kashgar, you certainly don't get this kind of hospitality in the west from strangers. After i headed off to the fubar, a bar owned by a guy from New Zealand and a guy from Japan, to get some info on Kashgar, then off to the airport.

Kashgar

Now Kashgar is 5800km from London and 5513km from Tokyo so nearly half way home already, its around 300km away from the pakistan boarder, 200km away from the Krygyzstan boarder and is 4176km away from Shanghai where my flight leaves on the 5th October. I didn't plan to get this far west until i got chatting to another dutch guy in Chengdu named Herbert, Herbert is a journalist in Holland and has been traveling for the last 30 years, he wasn't drunk but his eyes were bulging with passion when he started to tell me about Kashgar, it was then i knew i had to come here, check out his website ( dutch). Kashgar is famous for its sunday market, the biggest in central asia and is estimated that around 30 -40,000 people converge here every sunday, it also has a large Uighur popluation, much larger than that of the chinese.

Nan(bread), the main staple in Kashgar

I checked into Semen hotel after arriving, a 2 bed room for 60RMB, the following morning i checked out and checked into the Qinibagh hotel just in front of the old British embassy, which was 30 RMB for a dorm bed in a 5 bed dorm. That afternoon i checked out the old town and then ended up eating some chinese food at Johns cafe just in front of the hotel, by 5 am the following morning i had bad stomch pains and after an hour or so a mass exodus of liquid left my body!, so in bed the whole day then yogurt and fruit for dinner. That evening i was lying on my bed when a cockroach ran down my bed along side me, now in all my travels i have never seen a cockroach on my bed, although i'm sure millions of them have run over me while i've been asleep. I love all 'gods creatures' bar two, mosquitos and cockroaches, oh sorry and spiders!. I despise cockroaches and i'm sure they flew in on some space craft millions of years ago, now you may think i am going a little over the top on this one, well lets have a look.

The 'vile' Cockroach

5000 different species of the little bastards.

The females mate only once then are pregnant for the rest of their lives.

Wonder why you can't catch the little bastards, well they can run up to three miles an hour.

Can live without a head for up to a week, then the only they actually die is becasue they can't drink water.

Can survive without food for up to a month.

Nuc the little bastards..... hold your horses, dont be so hasty : A lethal dose of radiation for a human is 800 rems*, the american cockroach is 67,000 rems! and the german coackroach is up to 105,000 rems!!!, Vile.

*A "rem" is the dosage of radiation that will cause a specific, measured amount of injury to human tissue.

So the following morning i moved back into the Semen hotel. There are a few cafes and travel agencies in and around the hotels here with message boards, which are a great way to hook up with other people who are heading the same way as you. I answered a message wanting more people for a day trip to the Taklimakan desert posted by two british students, Alex and Fi who are heading back to the UK via Pakistan after Studying chinese in Beijing. Later that evening i got talking to Ivan an isreali guy, born in South Africa who lives in London!, he was also interested, so the four of us it was.

Ivan, Alex and Fi attracting a crowd of onlookers

The Taklimakan desert is the second largest desert in the world, at 337,600 sq km and at a height of a 1000 meters. The day trip inclded a trip to the desert and and stopping of at a local market in the small town of Shache. After setting of at 6.30 am Uihgur time, now before we go on, there are two times here, Uihgur time and Beijing time (offical time), the Uihgurs basically hate the chinese, so they use the Uihgur time, 2 hours behind Beijing time, which is actually how it should be considering Kashgar is 4000km west of Beijing.

We finally arrived at the desert nearly 5 hours later, we then walked into the desert for a couple of hours which was better than i expected, then on the way back we stopped off at the saturday market, which was a totally new and fantastic experience. The moment we arrived, we were the centre of attention, when ever one of us stopped to look at something or take a picture a croud soon gatherd around and when you turned to walk away you were hemed in and no one would move. My batteries ran out at one point and in the process of changing them, a crowd of around 30 people circled around me, it was unreal, suddenly the sellers were now reduntant and we were the stars of the show.

Lizard, Taklimakan desert

So after all the excitment it was time to leave and head back to Kashgar, another fun filled four hour drive.

Kashgar

2006-09-06T12:55:00.000+01:00

Am now in Kashgar, over 4000 km away from Shanghai where i get my flight on the 5th October. Have now added Chengdu and updated all my photos, including todays.

Chengdu

2006-09-02T09:35:00.000+01:00

Just before I left Nanning, I took a day trip south to the river Hui to see ancient rock paintings, it was a 2 hour bus ride then a tuc tuc type vehicle to to the river then a 2 hour boat trip to the paintings, so after nearly 5 hours of traveling from Nanning we arrived but one problem though, they were closed!, yes closed for renovation!( oh china, how i love you so! ) you could see some on the wall by the river, so after about 15 minutes there, we headed back to Nanning!. The following morning i flew with shenzen airlines to Chengdu, i'm sure the plane had a bigger seat pitch than my international flight with china eastern and all info was in english and chinese( unlike china eastern), a very pleasent flight it was.

Falling asleep ' at the wheel', Hui river

A 10 RMB shuttle bus to the city then a taxi to the hostel, dragon town backpackers, which is set a beautiful old street, where people pass their time away playing marjong and dringking tea, or should i say did was a beautiful old street , now there are few of the original buildings left and the place looks like a building site. The hostel itself has a lovely courtyard and i took bed in a 5 bed dorm,public bathrooms costing 30 RMB with a fan. I stayed at Dragon for 2 nights then moved to another hostel called Holly's where i had stayed 4 years before. Before i left Dragon, i was sitting in the courtyard when 2 members of the Bank of China walked in and started talking to this french girl, the girl had changed US$200 in travellers chqs and by mistake the guy who served her gave her RMB for US$300, there wasn't to much she could do, in China you can't beat the system, if she would have said no to them, then i'm sure the lovely men from the PSB (public service bureau/police) would have been making a little visit to say hello. Talking of the PSB, in the same hostel another 'stupid' french girl left her mobile phone on the table in the courtyard and when she came back to get it, it was gone. The following day she got a call from a chinese man who had her phone saying that if she wanted her phone back then she would have to pay him 1000RMB. She arranged to meet him and he still demanded the 1000RMB. She then went to the police, a few hours after, a couple of policemen walked into the hostel and asked her to go with them. The police took her to this guys apartment, the police said to her that she would need to give him 400RMB to get her phone back, so she gave him the 400RMB, during which the guy and his family were saying xiexie xiexie!!!( thankyou). During the evening at Dragon, a lot of chinese just walk in off the street, the owners don't care, it was a bit odd, you didn't know who these people were and like most chinese, their noise level is a lot higher than the rest of the world and struggle to talk without shouting, plus i had some arrogant americans in the room who kept moving the fan in the middle of the night, so i decided it was time to move.

Linjiang river, Chengdu

Holly's is set right in the heart of the tibetan area of Chengdu and has been done up a little since i was last there. This time i was in a 6 bed dorm but with a partition wall making it 2 rooms with 3 beds with aircon, private bathroom for 30RMB., plus a TV with CCTV 9, english channel which is very amusing, the presenters have weird american/chinese accents and the propergander is a lot more noticeable than if it was in chinese. For example, 2 years ago i watched the news on CCTV9 and they were reporting on the trouble in and around isreal, after the news, they gave all the dates and numbers of people killed due to 'israeli aggresion' in palistien. They do show highlights of the premiership here and the other day i was extremely unlucky enough to turn the TV on when the were showing the highlights of Man City and Arsenal.

Red Panda, Chengdu research centre

Chengdu is not like other cities in China, the women are the most beautiful in china and their dress sense is a different class. It is said in china that people from Chengdu are lazy, because of their more relaxed life style, you feel that the people of Chengdu have a better lifestyle than the rest of China, nothing wrong with that. I got my haircut in this really smart salon, including a head massage for just over 30RMB, got some more music since my i pod battery is dead and had a 2 hour foot and body massage for 45RMB. This morning i visited the Pandas again at the research centre, this time they had more red pandas, which are really cute!. The same evening i visited a Sichuan Opera, but it was more of a show with different acts including opera, which was very entertaining. Chengdu is famous for its tea houses, i visited Renmin park one more time, its the best peoples park i have been to in china, then i sat with a family watching them play mahjong for an hour with no idea what was going on and drinking green tea. Back at Holly's me and this guy from Cuba had a go at making soya milk, he and the Mrs from the US won a trip to the Philippines but were turned away at customs due to a rather racist offical, maybe the exchanges of f**k you didnt help!, so they jumped on a flight to Hong Kong which Americans/Cubans need a visa for, so again were turned away but were then 'fast tracked' to the chinese mainland!.

Playing mahjong, Renmin park tea house

So after a week in Chengdu it was time to move on, i got a flight to Urumqi which is 2,400 km north west of Chengdu, a 3 hour flight with china southern airlines.

Sunshine is warmest, Chairman Mao is kindest

2006-08-27T03:48:00.000+01:00

So after Huang Shan I got the bus back to Tunxi where I was approached by this woman who had a B&B at 160 RMB a night, so i took a look and surprisingly it was very nice, up to western standerds. I stayed there for a couple of nights, during which I did a days sightseeing at some old villages and homes from the ming dynasty and catching up on a bit of sleep.

When you stay in smaller places, places that deal with westerners, the people who run them always seem very nice at first,but you soon realize that they're after only your money. Mr Hu for example, I had lunch at his restaruant, twice, but he constantly tried to get me to go on his waterfall day tour, then tried to convince me that Tangkou was a better place to spend than Tunxi. The B&B in Tunxi, yes 16o RMB isnt exspensive but just take a look at there web site and see how much they actually charge, of course you don't know this when you've just stepped of the bus. People have said to me that I shouldn't worry to much about paying a little extra, yes as a gwai lo I expext to pay a little more but in China thay charge you 3,4,5 times what you should be paying.

But this is the price you pay for being at the budget end of things?, No not in China, four years ago I did a three day boat trip down the Yangzi river to see the 3 Gorges, paid the going rate and what happended, we only got to see one as the boat passed through the other two at night.
From Changsha to Nanning I took a bus, a 10 hour trip arriving at 11:00pm at the north bus station in Nanning, No, in reallity a 14 hour journey that drops you off at the toll gate on the express way!. I have many more examples but for now i'll leave it there, but its a common theme here in China and you either have to like it or lump it.

From Tunxi I took the 5:45am train to Jingdezhen the place to buy porcelain in China, I took a look at the market, plus the museum of ceramic history, just after lunch I then took a 4 hour bus trip to Nanchang, a big city, where I spent the night.

My mate Mao, Jingdezhen.

The follwing day I went south from Nangchang to another big city called Changsha, from there I went to Shaoshan the town in which Mao Zedong was born ( 3 hour bus trip). There I visited the house where he was born and grew up in ( free admission!), then the Mao Zedong Exhibition Hall and just as my guide book confirmed it had no mention of the cultural revolution. So it was another 3hr trip back to Changhsha where I booked the 10 hour bus ticket! to Nanning in Guanxi province. Nanning in south of the tropic of cancer and although its about 120 km south you do notice the change in humidity.

Sleeper bus to Nanning

The bus was a sleeper bus and it had 15 bunk beds, 3 rows of 5 and for a small person like me there was just enough room to move. It was until 10:30pm that I knew things weren't right, we had entered a city, the city of Guilin, I had been to Guilin a few times before and I know it takes about 3 hours to Nanning. In Guilin the coach pulled up and got two of its back tyres changed, which took about 40 minutes. The bus finally arrived at the Nanning toll gate on the express way at 3am where Tom( chinese friend) was waiting for me with a taxi.

Sound a light show, Nanning

The majority of gwai lo who goto Nanning are either heading to or from Vietnam or teaching english and its a greener city than most other cities I have been to in China. On friday evening we visited a park where every weekend they do a light and music show with fountains, which was quiet impressive, but apart form that I have not been up to much, oh and catching up on the blog. Yesterday I booked a flight for tuesday to Sichuan's capital, Chengdu, one of my favourite cities in China, the flight was half price, so only cost 650RMB, pretty good bearing in mind that there are no low cost airlines here.

Just read the shocking news that Arsenal have lost their second game of the season, plus my i pod has all gone pete tong!, what the hells going on?.

Where am I?

2006-08-26T03:05:00.000+01:00

To find out where i have been and where i am, click on the map to enlage it.

Huang Shan

2006-08-25T09:12:00.000+01:00

So after 3 days in Shanghai, it was a 12 hour sleeper train south to Huang Shan, the most famous and beautiful mountian in China, so everyone tells me!. The saying is, once you have climbed Hunag Shan you will never want to climb another mountain, so it was definatly worth a visit. Huang Shan is an hours drive from the train station situated in a town named Tunxi, the bus then drops you off in a town named Tangkou which is another 10 minutes drive from the base of the mountian itself. A guy by the name off Mr Hu jumped on the bus at Tangkou and offered me some good advice, so I had lunch in his restaurant plus getting overnight storage for my bag, so at 1pmI set off for the mountain. You can either take a cable car up the mountain or climb the steps, apart form the 200 yuan entrance fee (1 pound=14RMB) the steps were free, so the steps it was. it took about 2 hours to climb and the steps were busy with porters, one carrying two creates of tofu which looked extremly heavy.

A hard days work!

At the top the cloud was low and could see nothing at all, I walked to a few high points but of course I could see nothing. I decided to stay the night on the mountian so I could see sunrise, but I had not pre booked any accommodation, so with the help of Mr Hu I got a dorm bed on the moutnian, with no shower! for 80RMB cheaper than the going rate ,200RMB. Mr Hu had told me that the dorm accommodation was not very nice but it was either that or get a single room at 700RMB. So that evening, I spent the night in the cafe of the hotel sipping green tea and reading various copies of the china daily. I was also avoiding going to my bed knowing that there might be a group of chinese toursits casuing havoc in the room.

Me, myself and i enjoying the wonderful scenery on Huang Shan!

So by 9pm I decided to get my dinner, which consited of a bowl of instant noodles, cured chicken leg and a type of sausage( bit like spam). After dinner it was time for bed, the small room room I was in had 4 bunk beds and a bed in the middle, with no fan and no wire mesh on the window to keep out the mossies, thus the window had to be closed. I chatted to the group who were staying in the room, they were all teachers from the same school in Gansu province and some could speak english. In true chinese style, they invited me to go with their group to see sunrise in the morning, which I gladly excepted, but that ment a 3:15 am start.

Dorm accommodation, Huang Shan

After lights out, the fun or not so fun began, one thing that chinese men are very good at doing is snoring and here I was in a small hot dirty room with no fan and 9 chinese men. You have to be prepared for anything when your on the road, so I always carry earplugs, but with loud snorers they're just not up to scratch, so phase two gets brought into action and out comes the the i pod. This was definatly a phase two, so Keane's Atlantic kicked off the nights entertainment, but after about 10 mintues I found myself slowing turning up the volume, to a level where sleep couldn't be possible. Minutes then hours passed and maybe in the space of 4 hours i might have dozzed off a few times, then at 2 am it was time to bail and I ended up telling a sob story to the receptionist so I could sit or sleep down in the lobby/cafe. So by about 2:50am I finally fell asleep, then to be woken by my watch alarm 20 minutes later to be up for the sunrise.

Sunrise, Huang Shan

We walked in darkness for about an hour, although it was still in the early hours of the morning, the paths were busy as the whole mountian had woken up to do the same thing, there is an estimated 10,000 people on the mountain in one day!. The sunrise consisted of high wind and cloud which covered everything on minute then dissapeard the next, a sunrise to suit this unusal but beautiful mountian. I then spent the next two hours with the group seeing other parts of the mountain, a chinese tour group is a noisy group and they like to have fun no matter what they are doing or where they are, which I suppose is the whole point of going on holiday. After 2 hours it was time to head back down the mountain, the chinese group set off eat breakfast, so I said my goodbyes and caught a cable car back down the the base of the mountian, a 10 minute journey with more breath taking scenery.

Cable car down the mountain

Shanghai

2006-08-25T05:26:00.000+01:00

So leaving Fumiko and Japan, I arrived in Shanghai on the 13th to huge cues at passport control thanks to the japanese national holidays, then got a lift into the city with a guy from Singapore. I checked in at the YMCA hotel which is situated near renmin park( peoples park). This is my third time to Shanghai so the plan was to take a few days rest before heading south. Just around the corner from the hotel is a road called Yunnan Lu(road), which at night really kicks into life with Uigur people selling kebabs(common in western china), bread, stalls selling all sorts of food including live ducks and a gooose, caged ready for the jouney home to the chopping board. The chinese have a very different out look to food, its seems that if it moves then its suitable for the dinner plate. Of course not totally true, but on the menu you can try all sorts of tasty treats such as scorpions( guanzhou), frogs, dogs, squirrals and in the country, small birds. Although in recent years it has become more of a fashion to have a dog as a pet here, but i doubt thats not put a decline on restaurant sales!.

Dinner tonight?

A few things I noticed in Shanghai were the amount of westerners and starbucks which both must have trebled since I was here a couple of years ago, plus their dress sense has become a little more westernized. The BBC now often cover China on the news and you get a sense that things are really moving forward, which of course they are at a great rate, but under the surface things seemed to have stayed the same. While I was in Shanghai, I met up with some chinese friends who like all chinese, refuse to let you pay for anything and I mean refuse, their hospitality is unmatched and can never seem to do enough for you, something special!.

A night out with friends along with Chivas Regal mixed with green tea!.

Apart from visiting friends, I did visit a temple in the city called Yu Yuan, well not the temple itself, but a tea house just outside. Now tourist sights in China are always extremly busy as you can imagine with a population of 1.2 billion and Yu Yuan was no different. Being a 'backpacker' or 'traveller' seems to give you this devine right to think you are the first one to discover the world and if your not the only 'backpacker' around or there are hoards of chinese tourists causing havoc then somehow your experience isnt how it should be, which of course is total codswallop. The tea house is mentioned in my guide book (rough guide) and is right next to Yu Yuan, when you get to see its location you immidiatly think that its going to packed full of noisy chinese tourists and is going to be very expensive. But it was just under 2 quid for a pot of longjin tea, a famous chinese tea grown near the famous west lake in Hangzhou and to my surprise, very few toursits were there.

A pot of Longjin cha along with my faithful guide book, Yu Yuan

During my time in Shanghai I tried to get my pics down loaded onto disc so I could clear my memory card, but after hours of time waisting in 2 internet cafes I gave up. Internet cafes here are full of young men playing games and watching chinese movies while smoking, chewing and spitting on the floor, just a little something extra to the add to the atmosphere!. The computers often have a copy of windows ( I used one which had windows 98th!) plus thay often freeze, so half your money is spent on waiting for the computer to be reset and as a foreigner, laowei or gwai lo (white devil!), you have to show your passport and sometimes they photcopy it.

The same is for banks too, I have always used travellers chqs in China, but now you can use ATMs at the Bank of china( the only bank in China, gwai lo's can withdraw money from). I used American express travellers chqs last time and this time have Visa, but this seems to cause more of a problem. Lots of staff gather around and check it and then spend what seems forever on the phone, before they go through the laboriuos task of stamping endless pieces of paper and then finally getting around to counting your money. If the staff at the bank are not to friendly, which is usually the case, you can give them a rating on their service, you have a little box with 3 buttons ( satisfied, average and dissatisfied) with thier current rating given in stars that light up, what a fantastic idea!.

Street scene in Shanghai

Videos

2006-08-22T11:45:00.000+01:00

Have taken some very short videos while in japan as you will see below, not been able to take any in china as yet as getting my pics onto disc is nearly impossible here!. Take a look....

China

2006-08-17T04:46:00.000+01:00

Internet here in china has become worse since i was last here, it really isnt good, hotmail is very touch and go and depends on where you are. So any one who needs to contact me can mail me at goddsinchina@yahoo.co.uk

Have now got Kyoto up and running, so take a look below.

kyoto

2006-08-08T04:19:00.000+01:00

Up at 6am as we needed to be at Shin Yokohama station by at 8am at the latest to catch the train to kyoto, sorry did i say train, sorry i ment the shinkansen!(the bullet train) ,an awesome piece of engineering which was brought into service in 1964 and has yet to be one fatality. There a various models of the shinkansen operating on different lines throughout japan, the shinkansen which goes through kyoto is on the tokaido line and does an average speed of 168mph(270kmph) and the fastest ever recorded speed is a staggering 277mph(443kmph). to look at one, click here.

no, not the 10:51 kings cross to cambridge.

We arrived in Kyoto after a very smooth journey befor lunch time, we decided to stick our luggage into storage at the train station and head out for some lunch, plus visiting a couple of temples befor heading to our guesthouse. Finding good food in any city is a lottery, so i decided to stick with my guide book on this one, the lonely planet. we headed a block north of the station to a small restaurant called limura, which did a set lunch for 650 yen, which consited off cold soba, unagi(eel) on rice, tea and pickles, a bargin at just over 3 quid. Then off to see a few temples before heading to the guesthouse. The guesthouse was very basic( 2 rooms ), one room and a toilet with a large balcony. The bathroom and shower were in the basement and we had to state to the guesthouse owner what time we would be taking a shower!. We dropped our stuff off and headed over to our first temple. I am not going to even going to attempt to give you a brief descriptions of the temlples we visited, as i would be here all day, plus the interest for me was the gardens not so much the temples themselves and this was one of the more impressive temples we visited with beautiful garden.

That evening we booked ourselves into a obanzai-ryori( home style cooking) restaurant, recommended was the rikyu bento which was excellent. we then took a walk down ponto-cho an alley in which its supposed to be one of the best places to spot a geisha or maiko. Half way down the alley fumiko nudged me and there just in front of us was a geisha/maiko( very hard to differentiate), to late to get a photo and not in the right circumstances, but it was great to see one in the flesh so close up.

obanzai-ryori

The following morning i had to be up for my shower, the owner of the guest house knocked on the door a few mintues after 7am, so i got my things together, when i stood out of the door, there he was waiting for me!, this was a bizarre trend which was set to continue. So out for some more temple hopping, on the way to out first destination we decided to get some breakfast, in japan some coffe shops do a morning breakfast set( moningu setto), normally consiting of toast, jam, salad plus a coffee. The first temple we visited was my favourite in Kyoto. We had got there early, so had the whole temple just to ourselves. There was an area where you sit and look out over the garden in pure silence and to experience this silence, click here!.

moningu setto

Befor heading over to our next destination we stopped of Kyoto handicraft centre where they had a selection af samuri swords. Next stop, Ginkaku-ji and Honen-in temple, the first being well worth the 500 yen entrance fee. On our way back to the bus stop, we stopped off for lunch at a noodle restaurant called Omen. On one plate you get a selection of 7 vegetables, a plate of cold soba, bowl of soup and a bowl of seasame seeds. You just mix the ingredients into the bowl and of you go, that afternoon we visited the golden temple, the most famous temple in kyoto, which was definatly golden!. After the golden temple we headed into central kyoto but on the way we stopped of at coffee shop which was housed in an old sento ( public bath ) still with its original tiles!. While relaxing over a coffee, i noticed an ad on the back of a magazine, advertising a maiko( trainee geisha ) dance, so fumiko was straight on the phone and our table was booked. That evening, we got the chance to see a maiko dance plus she came and sat at our table for 5 minutes. She is 16 years old and is from Hokaiddo, after watching a programme on TV about Geishas, she called the TV company who gave her the contact details to the school in Kyoto and the rest is history. It will take her 5 years training befor she becomes a geisha and part of her training is working at the restaurant 10 nights a month. I do have some video footage of her dancing, but alas all my pictures along with Fumikos have been wiped off her computer since it crashed last week, but watch this space.... .

The following day we visited a few more temples then headed into the centre of town to do a bit of shopping. That evening we headed north of town to a sake bar, where we could try different types of sake. We were a little surprised when we arrived to see that guy who owned it was not japanese, he was from israel!. We tried 6 different sakes and in the process learned that sake is very much like wine, in that it ages in the bottle and the sake maker has control over the finished product, then we tried a few more, one of which was 18 years old. We then headed to an izakya, a japanese style pub. Now izakyas are the ultimate pub, beer with good range snacky food, ranging from sashumi, tofu with soy sauce and ginger, sashimi of horse! which isnt to bad but a but tough, all that running around!!!, through to fried wedges of potato, salads and pizza ( japanese style).

The next morning was our last in kyoto, we visited Kiozumi temple just up the road from our hostel, after we headed over to a flea market, then to the train station and back to yokohama.

Down at the local indoor market

2006-08-01T10:34:00.000+01:00

The plan for today was to visit Kamakura and its temples just south of Yokohama, but befor, Fumiko wanted me to see a local food market, similer to the indoor markets back in the UK.

The market had the usual sort of dry,tinned and vac packed goods, but at the back of the market, things started to get a little more interesting. There were all types of fish, usually in supermarkets the fish is cut and pre packed but here there we all different types of fish.

Anyone for octopus?

We then made our way up to the front to the veg stand where we brought some pumpkin for tonights dinner. Just befor leaving we looked into a smaller part of the market, there were only a few stalls, one of which had more seafood including tuna. I took a couple of pics then was called over by the owner, who then asked me if i wanted to see the tuna in his freezer!. I took a quick look but at -60 its was a bit chilly so was back out in a flash. While fumiko and the shop owner were chatting he sliced up some tuna on a dish, for us to try. The tuna was caught just off the coast of yokohama and of a very high quality, so we tried the sashimi with a little soy sauce and it was very very tasty!. Then suddenly he gave us another dish to try, not fish this time, whale!.

It was dilemma time, i am totally against whale hunting and the japanese have been very naughty in their quest to get the ban on whale hunting lifted. The owner had been extremely generous, what with showing me the tuna his freezer and offering his exspensive tuna. Considering that, plus not wanting to offend the guy, i went for it, it was strong in flavour and a little chewy with a strong after taste, the first and last time!. Straight after that, more tuna was offered, then he gave us two pictures of frozen tuna lined up in a warehouse!.

Sashimi of whale

By this time we knew there was no way of leaving without actually buying something. The owner was so enthusiastic and hardly stopped smiling, so we brought some fresh tuna, for this evenings dinner. When we finally got around to paying for it, he gave us a discount and then gave us another pack of tuna marinated in soy sauce, for free!, unbelievable!.

So after a great hour at the market we headed down to Kamakura for a bout of temple overload. first stop the was the great buddha at Diabutsu, which was impressive, then to the temples of Hase Dera and Hokoku ji. Hokoku ji is a lovely little temple, with beautiful giant bamboo and a small area where you can drink ocha tea ( powderd tea ) at 500 yen a bowl, looking out on to the bamboo.

Ocha green tea, Hokoku ji

By this time it was gone 2pm and way past lunch time, we headed towards a Tsurugaoka Hachiman, a famous shrine in Kamakura. Not far from there, was a noodle shop which served a type of noodle called soba. I have had soba a few times here in Japan, but the noodles here were hand made and the soup the noodles were in was by far the best i have tasted to date. After visiting the shrine we headed north to visit another temple befor heading back but by the time we had arrived it had closed, so back to Yokohama to eat some seriously good tuna!.

Soba with chicken, Kamakura

Hokkaido

2006-07-28T09:24:00.002+01:00

The land of pleny

So on the 20th we traveled to Hokkaido, it was a 22 hour journey on the ferry to Tomakomai, a port on the southern coast of Hokkaido. Going for the cheaper option we had booked into second class, we were in a large room with 22 'beds' but the ferry was not so busy, so ended up sharing with another 6 people. At 2pm the following day, we arrived in Hokkaido, the plan was to head north up into central Hokkaido, to a town called Biei, pronounced B-A, as in BA Baracus from the A team!!.

Overnight ferry to Hokkaido

Since arriving in Japan the weather hasn`t been to good. The rainy season has decided to hang around, for me i would imagine!. We were hoping that in Hokkaido we would see some sun, but alas it was more of the same when we arrived. After having a slight disagreement about directions! we finally got on the right road and set off to Biei. We arrived in Biei at 7pm, we were staying with a host family who owns ooba farm, where fumiko had previously stayed before. That night for dinner we ate tampura of vegetables, fresh from the farm.

lavender fields on the way to biei

Annualy the farm produces 300 ton of carrots, 100 ton of 0nions, 10 ton of asparagus, 200 ton of wheat and 600 kilos of daiou, a type of medicine, bringing in 35 million yen, a nice little earner. The farm also produces pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes, aubergines, sweetcorn, courgettes and green peppers which the family mainly use during the long winter. Deer is very common in the area and the family go through about 50 a year plus a couple of bears if lucky!.

whats on offer down at ooba farm

During our stay we visited the daisetsuzan national park, but it was a quick visit due to the weather. South of Biei is the town of Furano which is famous for its melon, lavender fields, wine ( disgusting wine!) and cheese or to be more precise, squid ink camembert cheese!.　North of Biei is Hokkaidos 2nd largest city, Asahikawa, famous for its sake and its record for the coldest ever temprature, -40 degrees C!. There we visited the otokoyama sake brewery and museum plus a sake tasting which you learn about the different types of sake!.

a view of daisetsuzan national park from biei

On our last night at the farm we ate japanese BBQ, which consited of marinated lamb sliced thinly, beef, chicken satay, venison, pumpkin, aubergines, green peppers, cabbage and beansprouts. Some of the meat and the veg is cooked on a flat tray and the rest of the meat is cooked on a grill.

japanese bbq, ooba farm

The following day we said our goodbyes with a bag full of their delicious tomatoes and headed east to Akan national park, there we stayed at a minshuku in Akan onsen. Minshukus are usually family run guesthouses, shared bathroom is the norm and dinner and breakfast are included. They are a good budget option, the minshuku we stayed in cost 5,500 yen per person per night, thats about 27 quid (1 pound = 203 yen) . On the first night we took the option of upgrading the dinner costing 8,900 yen for the night, which included a whole horseshoe crab brought from the coast that day.

Dinner in akan

The following morning we took in the sights of Akan, lake Onneto, a stunning lake with me-akan-dake( active volcanoe) in the background. then we headed futher east to lake Mashu, once having the world record for water clarity, to a depth of 35 meters. Its often very foggy and many people who visit, never see the lake. In the middle of the lake is a small island and it's said that if a single woman can see the island then she will marry, so action was taken and Fumikos eyes were covered immediatly!.

We then headed over to lake Kussharo with its own version of the loch ness monster, named Kusshi!, on the way we stopped off at hellish mountian with its yellow sulpher and steaming vents. Down at lake Kussharo we stopped off for lunch, where we decided to try the local speciality, sashimi of Parimono, a local river fish only found in the area. Sashimi is great, its my favourite japanese food and here in japan the fish is very very fresh. The fish was thinly sliced and arranged around the plate with its head placed in the centre. After about a minute the head started to frantically gulp away, with its eyes moving and muscles twitching!. It did this a few more times and when we got up to leave the restaurant it started doing it again!, i'm still not sure what to make of it, a surreal experience.

sashimi of parimono

Talking of sashimi, ruibe ( frozen sashimi) is a speciality of Hokkaido which originally came from the Ainu, the indiginous people of Hokkaido. The Ainu are the last living decendants of the jomon people who lived in japan 13,000 years ago. The fish classically used for ruibe is salmon, so on our last night in Akan we stumbled across a cool little cafe in the Ainu village ( tourist shops owned by the ainu) and it was there where we had out first ruibe experience.

ruibe of salmon

The following morning it was time to head back to Tomakomai to get the ferry back to Honshu. Before we left, we visited the akan eco museum, where you can see marimo in glass tanks, marimos are balls of algae which grow 1 cm every 100 years!. On the way back to Tomakomai we stopped off in the town of Ikeda, which is famous in Japan for its wine. You do a very short tour of the winery (2-3 mins!), then head up stairs to the shop. There, they had a rose you could taste, but like furano wine it was pretty awful. On the plus side we did manage to by some more cheese, one a goats cheese and the other called natural cheese!, a nice cheese but i'm not sure what type of cheese it is. When we finally arrived in Tomakomai, we stocked up on noodles and beer for the journey. Hokkaido is such a beautiful place and as the ferry sailed out of port, we said our goodbyes and in true hokkaido style, it returned the favour with one of the best sunsets i have ever seen.

I knew very little about Japan befor coming here, i knew the japanese ate sushi, and there were lots of earthquakes! but i didnt expect to find what i found in Hokkaido. It lies on the same lattitude as Paris, its the size of Austria and has the same population as Denmark. Its rather like europe in some ways with its lavender fields, potatoes, milk and cheese. But on the other hand it has bears, wild salmon, harsh winters, during which ice bergs come down from russia, mild summers, stunning lakes and active volcanoes. The food here is sublime, the vegetables are localy produced and seasonal, the meat, fish\seafood is very fresh and very good value for money and the beer is pretty good too!.

Izu, Wasabi and the merry Dojo

2006-07-28T08:08:00.000+01:00

Finally getting out of the hustle and bustle of Yokohama we headed south to the peninsula of Izu. The original plan was to climb mt Fuji then goto Izu the following night, but the weather wasn`t to good on mt Fuji so Izu it was. We stayed in the small town of Dogashima on the west coat of Izu in a ryokan, a traditional japanese hotel which includes traditional japanese dinner and breakfast, the latter being a little tough on the western stomach.

Ryokan dinner, Dogashima

On the way we picked up some fresh wasabi which izu is well known for, wasabi commonly grows wild since it needs pure water to grow and is totally different in taste and texture to the aluminous green stuff you usually get. if you like the taste of wasabi then you should definaltly try wasabi ice cream, its a bizarre experience, nice and cold then the heat of the wasabi hitting the back of your throat!.

Wasabi, izu

The following day we headed back to Tyoko via Shuzen Ji which is a very picturesque japanese town. Unlike the UK it can take a little longer than one would expect to get to places by car, not only was fumiko driving! but with a population if 125 million there are a lot of cars on the road and on many roads the maximum speed is 50 km per hour. Since its a mountainous country there are lots of hills to contend with, all adding to the time factor. You can avoid the local roads in a lot of cases with the highways but they are not cheap, every highway can vary in price and some have cost up to 15 pounds for about a 150 km journey. So now you can all stop moaning about the car tax back in the UK!.

Dojo nabe

On the 19th we headed into Tokyo and had lunch at a 200 year old Dojo nabe restaurant in Asakusa, where Michale Palin visited during his full circle series. Dojo (loach) is a small freshwater fish related to the carp but looking more like a small eel. the Dojo is marinated in sake while still alive, then cooked in a stew, its seved on a small iron skillet which sits on top of its own little furnace with glowing coals, you then add spring onions and a sauce to your liking. Its not that great and regarding japanese cuisine i`m sure its way down the list but an experience in any case. That evening we went to see Coldplay live at the budokan, which was the final concert of their world tour.

Budokan stadium, Tokyo

Hokkaido

2006-07-20T02:01:00.000+01:00

So today we`re off Hokkaido, north of Honshu, Japans main island. We will be staying with a host family for 3 days who own ooba farm, a farm just outside a town called Biei in central Hokkaido. We will then head east over to Akan national park, befor heading back to Yokohama on the 27th july. We will catch the overnight ferry to Hokkaido and have the pleasure of sleeping on the floor, sharing, for a mere 200 quid return!. Will give you an update in a week or so.

Coldplay

2006-07-19T16:38:00.000+01:00

Coldplay, Budokan stadium, Tokyo, 19/07/06

Now have pictures from tonights coldplay concert at the budokan in tokyo, take a look.

Photos

2006-07-18T11:21:00.001+01:00

I have now got some photos online for you to have a look at, just click on the Photos link to your right.

Golders Green to Yokohama

2006-07-14T23:29:00.000+01:00

I arrived here in Yokohama yesterday afternoon after a 2 day journey including a transit stop in shanghai. At Heathrow my oyster card(tube pass) decided to pack up so I spent the next 25 mins getting a new one. I am flying with China Eastern Airways during this trip, the seats were rather small, even for me! and the food was poor by airline standards. So after 11 hours I finally arrived in shanghai and was met by a member of the airline who then took me to immigration where I was promptly sent back for not having an arrival card, thanks to the airline staff telling me that I wouldn`t need one as I was on transit, so when I finally got to the desk again the official crossed a line over my visa with his pen not realizing that I was on transit!, never before have I met such attitude at immigration before.

When collecting my baggage I noticed one of my bags to the side, when I went to collect it, I was stopped by an official and asked to open it. He asked me if I had dairy or meat products in the bag, I said no not in this bag, he asked me the same question a few times and I answered it a few times. I had cheese in my plastic bag(hand luggage) and meat(pre packed cured sausage) in my other bag, but after getting a very frosty reception at immigration, I wasn`t going to give him that information unless he asked for it.

The woman who had collected me off the plane told me that the transit bus would be 10 mins, then 20 mins later she said 30 mins then after 1 hour she said 10 mins, by this time another plane had arrived and there were more people waiting for the transit. The chinese dont like to tell you want you dont want to here, I was a little pissed(off) after going through immigration and she knew it, she kept on smiling which is another habit most asians have when they feel uncomfortable. So instead of telling me I had to wait for 90 mins for another plane to arrive she extended the truth by 90 mins.

18th floor view

The hotel was a 20 min drive away, the room was on the 18th floor and the bathroom was bigger than my room in London! it also had a large bedroom and living room. Met up with this canadian guy in the hotel and went out to find dinner, niether of us had chinese money, only visa, so after a good hour we returned to the hotel and ended up on the 22nd floor in a revolving restaurant, with frilly orange chair covers, see through glass on the walls with green neon lighting and holes in the table clothes........ We orderd a few dishes, one of which was a salad, sliced cucumber with a massive blob of mayo on top with chunks of tomato dotted around the plate and a green glacier cherry sitting on top of the mayonnaise!, then to top it off, she smeard the mayo and marie rose sauce all over the cucumber, a flashback to the early 70`s.

Another great view

The following morning I had chinese breakfast, a buffet style breakfast which is usually tough on a western stomach and this one was no exception, chicken feet, slighty sweet stale bread with crusts off cut into 4, slices of chinese sausage, cake, spring rolls, dumplings and girl in a dirty chefs uniform cooking fried egg to order. The staff were extremely friendly though and couldn`t do enough to help, something you`ll never find in the UK. So back to the airport and out through customs again, when you arrive into china you have to fill out 3 forms and another 2 when you leave!. The flight left 30 mins late without an explaination or apology, saving face is something the chinese take very seriously and it can really get up your nose sometimes!.

The greeting when I arrived in Japan was a lot warmer, but at customs they turned my bag right out, finding nothing. Fumiko was waiting for me at the arrivals gate, we drove back to Yokohama and that evening we ate Sashumi(sliced raw fish), japanese beer, japanese style satay and Fumiko cooked japanese curry, an excellent start to my time here.

Sashumi

Its very hot and humid here, yesterday it was 33 degrees and very much the same today, humidity in the UK averages at about 30%, here is 60% and next week it shoots up to 90%, my god!.