Darren weblog

Taking full advantage of our 200 pound (each!) Japan Rail Pass, one of our day trips whilst in Japan has been to Hiroshima. I really wanted to visit the city after WWII and the nuclear bomb – morbid perhaps, but interesting nevertheless! Hiroshima is a small city; the main thing here is the A-Bomb Dome site, the only ruin left from the bomb, which is being propped up by scaffolding; and the Peace Museum / Gardens.

Naively I thought the site would have been a massive hole in the ground (which is why I was so intrigued to see it), however having learnt that the bomb was detonated in the sky 600m above the city centre, everything was basically burnt to a frazzle. The Japanese decided to leave the Dome standing as a reminder of the event and act as a vehicle to strive for world peace. I now understand why whenever you see Japanese people getting their photos taken they pose with the peace sign; this is something that is definitely engrained within them.

In the gardens there was a Children’s Memorial site which was built in memory of a young girl who at the age of two contracted Leukaemia, as a result of exposure to radiation, and who died a few years later. There was a school trip there who were paying their respects with kids reading out readings and singing – it was all quite moving I have to say.

The museum was pretty interesting, showing images of Hiroshima before and after the bomb. They predicted that nothing would grow again for 75 years and within a month plant roots had started to peak through the earth. Like most of these things there was a lot of propaganda, the museum did acknowledge the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, however this was very much played down.

Tokyo baby!

So we arrived Tokyo after an amazing 5 days in Beijing, such a high, so I suppose a little fall was to be expected. Tokyo is amazing, I truly do love it (Kaz isn’t so sure) – but Beijing was fab for many reasons! After landing at the airport and clearing customs/immigration which is basically a mix from Australia (customs) and US (immigration) we found our way to exchange our JR Rail pass voucher for the actual rail pass! Once over that we boarded a prompt & efficient train for Tokyo. Here we stumbled upon a bullet train for 1 stop to get us closer to the hostel then the metro. The journey wasn’t so bad, most, if not all, signs are doubled in English and everyone is so HELPFUL!

After going for a solid month on local food, we gave in and had a burger for dinner @ Hard Rock Cafe – yum yum and a good vat of beer! Our expectation was that Tokyo prices would be stupid; now they are not cheap but certainly not mega expensive (we have Moscow to thank for that). We returned to the hostel to catch up and meet some other travellers in the common room – a wise decision as we heard the bus to Anka Wot in Camboadia is stupidly over priced & long for a 300km trip – fly instead is the recommendation

Our first full day in Tokyo was planned for the obligatory walking tour and guide from the book with the carrot being an _Onsen_ at the end of the day! We had read about an Onsen which supposedly had a mixed bath, but given our reading, we should have been more wise. An Onsen is basically a collections of spa mineral baths/jacuzzi’s where people go to a) clean and b) relax. It was soon evident, that although we could mix with the opposite sex in our Yukata, we bathed separately. This was actually the first time we had spent time apart since the beginning, so maybe there was just reason we both enjoyed the serenity of it!

Once inside the bath area & bollock (sorry parents) naked there were shower cubicles to complete wash down. In the mens there were more than enough products. Instead of the minimum required of body wash. We were spoilt with shampoo, rinse aid (presume conditioner) and shaving foam. Yes, I did use the conditioner :p. In the ladies there was even face wash, a foot scrub, hair stuff, hair dryer (not seen for a wee while), and body moisturiser – it was fab!

The collection of baths were excellent, some a dirty water form 1400m below Tokyo bay, some a Jacuzzi, some outside (my favourite). Once bathed and clean the both of us were so relaxed we could have slept there & then. The Banya’s in Lake Baikal were good, but these were AMAZING!

The next day we first headed to Electronic city. I was in my element, John, Ray & Bear would have needed a container ship the size Debs & Karen would have filled from Beijing! You could buy anything…TV’s, air con units, washing machines, hair straightners (obviously Iv don’t need any, as I brought my GHD’s with me – much to the dislike of Dan (he he!), resistors, various size wound motors, camera’s, phones, wii’s, playstations – you name it, if it conducted electricity, it was there. With just a few purchase’s (can’t give Karen too much encouragement for retail therapy!) we wandered off for some lunch. Now we had been in Japan for almost two days now and no Sushi. We tried in vein to find somewhere where I could get Susih and Karen something not too Sushi – but we failed – instead we had an omelette filled with rice – quite common on menu’s here!

That evening we tried in vain to find another onsen (it had closed since the book was written) so instead headed for Roppongi hills to a) see the city view from the 53 floor of the Hyatt Hotel and b) get some booze! After a bottle of wine, we decided on a route change. Some of you know that our original route meant we missed the China F1 race by 6 days. We then found out we were missing the Japan GP by 11 hours. Needless to say, we have booked flight tickets out of Shanghai to Xi’an, then on Chengdu then back to Shanghai and we have tickets for the Grand Prix in Shanghai – awesome! So here’s me hoping for a good result for Lewis in Japan which means he can clinch the title in China :-)

Not to waste the last day (train leaves at 12.33) we got up super early (6.30 – that’s early for us!) and headed to the daily fish market. Now most people know Karen doesn’t like fish – so credit due, I even think she enjoyed it! The market was immense – once you got the knack of avoiding the motor carts (many a broken ankle surely) we walked around the stalls selling that mornings catch. Plenty of alive fish, some half dead, some very dead. Plenty of Tuna (frozen) being cut by band-saw and a live crab that Karen almost ran away from as it was crawling out of the box! After a browse it was time for SUSHI! We sat in a sushi bar a stone’s throw from the market I was treat to a delightful platter of fresh sushi – extremely tasty! Karen had a cup of tea! But the balance was restored when we visited Karen’s (new) favourite bakery (you can take the girl away from Greggs but you can’t take Greggs out of the girl!) and stocked up for the day ahead!

We are now leaving Tokyo for Kyoto. No firm plan, other than to frequent as many Onsen as possible – there is supposedly the best in Japan on a beach about an hour train ride away so that’s on the list. So is Hiroshima – maybe they have hot baths still?!

Just for the record, this post was written on the bullet train bound for Kyoto at 240km/h!

just a quick note to say the route map is updated and photo’s from beijing are posted – we split the days into folders (Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall & Birthday - click on each one to see the photo’s within) to try and organise the many photo’s!

Kazza & Dan xx

So we arrived into Beijing just after midday to the busiest train station in the world – it was so immense it was a sight in itself. It even brought a tear to Karen’s eye! Knowing our hostel was close we were extremely pleased to be able to see the hostel from the train station main door – so we scurried across the square & checked in. Easy.

Once settled we went for a wander to get our bearings and walked a good distance to Tiennamen square. At first we couldn’t work out why everyone was gathering, but then we realised there is a daily event – raising, and in our case, lowering the Chinese flag. It was quite a site – so many people to see a flag come down! It gave us the opportunity to get some great pictures of the Forbidden city by night. Next stop – food and there was only one destination…the night market. If it can’t be served on a stick, it’s not for sale. However, this condition does not limit the menu, far from it…there was the usual “beef”, chicken, pork, kidneys, hearts, squid then more unusual items…silkworms, snakes & testicles!

After enough stick food and a very boring conversation with some yank about the quality of plumbing in China, we decided to brave the underground. Fortunately everything in Beijing is dual signed – in both Mandarin & Pin Yin. With relative ease we whisked backed to the hostel for 2Y (about 13p) for a nightcap in the bar!

Forbidden City

The plan for the first full day was the Forbidden City (first however was some much needed laundry – what better place to do it!). Now my expectation of the forbidden city was set by watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (how western!) so I expected small, intermit buildings, quite close together secured by a massive perimeter wall. Well, there is a massive perimeter wall – but the buildings are huge and the courtyards vast! The Emperors certainly knew how to lavish themselves! After the city we wandered around a couple of parks and climbed to the top of a hill for an awesome elevated view over the city – shame about the pollution, as it was smoggy! It had rained just before we arrived and as the rumour goes, 3 days after rain the smog returns – yuk.

That night we went to a local little restaurant – it had some Western faces in, so we thought it would be ok. Having heard Chinese food in China isn’t like the Chinese food back at home, when Karen read Beef in Black Bean Sauce on the menu, she thought let’s give it a go. Well the black bean sauce was good and very similar to home, however the “beef” was definitely not beef. Karen can now tick off the food list Dog aka “Beef”!!!

Summer Palace

Day 2 we ventured out of the city centre to the Summer Palace. Having been to Petrovets in St. P our expectation level for royal summer retreats is quite high. The Summer Palace did not disappoint. The only downside was the smog prevents clear blue skies shining down on the vast lake. From the Summer Palace we went in search of some therapy for Karen…shopping! We went to a 5 (yes five) story market with each floor having way in excess of a 100 vendors all selling knock-off copies of t-shirts, ski gear, handbags, watches, electronics, shoes, etc etc. In addition to the size of the place was the pricing policy. Everything started at 280Y (about 23 quid) be it a t-shirt or a knock off Spider Ski Jacket (photo below for Mont!). But with some determined bartering the amount of cash that changed hand was usually 90% less than the starting price.

It is true that if Karen was given the time, a handful of cash and no baggage limit, she would have left that place with a knock-off suitcase (in excess of 80 litres) filled with handbags and clothes. God only know’s what Karen and Debbie together would have managed – probably enough gear to sink a boat!!! After a few hours of walking & bartering Karen got her second fix of therapy – a pedicure! With new t-shirts & fresh feet we rushed back to see Marius for some dinner – but that is a whole story in itself. The up shot was a very late dinner (11pm) and a tired and grumpy Dan & Karen. Needless to say we were not happy with the 6am departure to the wall the next day either!

The Great Wall

After a 4 hour death-defying drive to Jungsangling we ascended the hills to the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Our day trip was a 10km walk along the wall to Simitia. Some sections of the wall were restored and other sections very much original. The wall is awesome (trying not to use this word to much, but justly deserved for the wall!) and the hike quite pleasurable – even though it was 30 degrees’! This again is one of the highlights of our travels so far, it was amazing. We had heard a treat was in store at the end of the hike, not just a beer but a zip line to descend. Making Karen go first I can testify, truthfully, that Karen actually wanted and looked forward to it and enjoyed it – much to my surprise! I did the manly thing of trying to film the decent – I don’t think it will win any short movie awards! We arrived to the end point on time and scoffed a buffet lunch. We boarded the return bus on time only then to be delayed because some stupid old Chinese man had gone past the end point of the wall and ascended another section – muppet. This was September 29th!

Dan’s Birthday

So of course our last day in Beijing was my birthday!! Yay! And what a day it was. After breakfast in bed and presents from Karen we packed our rucksacks and transferred to a 4 star hotel!!! This is the life! We had been told that as from 28th Sept the Birds Nest and Olympic Village had been fenced off and all tickets had been sold. But not to give up we were directed to a location of ticket touts, secured two tickets for the Nest for only 10Y above face value and taxi’d to the stadium (it was my b’day after all). Not really sure if the tickets were genuine we approached security confidently to walk straight through. Within 5 minutes we were in the echelons of the Birds Nest itself. Here it comes again….AWESOME, truly AWESOME. We even got to go onto the field and I managed to dodge the police and get a starting position photo’s on the 100m track We then tried for the water cube, but didn’t want to pay the 400Y for tickets (which we didn’t know were genuine) some guy was offering so instead we just admired the surrounds and had a beer!

My birthday celebrations continued. Karen had got us tickets for the Flying Acrobats (a good hint dropped by myself some time ago!) so we returned to luxury, showered and even shaved (!) and taxi’d (remember bday!) to the theatre. Once shown to our front row tickets the show started – OMG there were parrots flying around the theatre! Jackie you would have died! The first half was amazing itself – acrobats balancing on a 1-2-1 see-saw type prop flicking china bowls off the see-saw onto their heads stood onto of another acrobat who himself was on a see-saw! Amazing!

After the interval things went up a level. Two guys ran around a pendulum type piece and then girls performed a bicycle show where at one point c. 10 girls were on 1 bike! Guys then jumped, rolled, flicks and tumbled through hoops of various sizes and elevations – Holly you need to watch these guys to see how to do a proper forward flip! The whole show was unbelievable and a grand treat for my bday! Being in Beijing, we could not leave without having some Peking duck! So off to a plush restaurant we went. The duck was fired in a wood burning oven and the taste was out of this world – we finished the night with a scotch and G&T before retiring for our 9am flight the next day to Tokyo.

So we are now on the plane Japan bound. Quite fortunate really as the taxi driver from the hotel to airport decided to cruise at 160km/h and dodge other cars/van/buses/taxi as if he was driving in Hollywood! He did the trip in 28 minutes (estimated 45 minutes) and I think it only took him that long as he went the bloody long way!

Sorry for the long post, but Beijing has been hectic, packed full of stuff and truly truly awesome! But now to Japan, and Tokyo!!!

Just a quick post to say thank-you for all the txt & email messages wishing me a happy birthday. I had a top day, Karen did me proud and we both thoroughly enjoyed our last day in Beijing!
Dan x