Even though we were technically on our way to the west of China, in our minds we were leaving the country and could not be happier. Destination: Lhasa, Tibet. I have been wanting to come to Tibet for longer than I care to remember and have attempted to enter twice before but, for whatever reason, I was turned … [Read more…]
When visiting Japan, one has to eat Kobe beef. And where better than in Kobe itself. We hopped on the shinkansen for the short trip to Kobe. I say “short” but I really mean “quick”. It is 250km between Hiroshima and Kobe but it took us just over an hour on the train. I don’t understand … [Read more…]
Our next destination was Hiroshima. No matter who you talk to or where you are in the world, the name Hiroshima will forever be associated with death and destruction. But the city we found had almost no trace of that. The streets are tree-lined and beautiful, pretty shops and lush bakeries are everywhere and the people are the friendliest … [Read more…]
Sadly our short trip back in time to traditional Japan came to an end and we headed to the next big city – Kyoto. I prefer Kyoto to Tokyo so was really looking forward to it. However, on the train Adrie warned me that she had booked another more “traditional” hotel in Kyoto too. I hope that does … [Read more…]
I was expecting a lot of things landing in Japan; great customer service, order, a clean city, sensible traffic. Check. I was also expecting it to be a lot more expensive than South East Asia. Double check. What I was not expecting was it to be 7 degrees when we landed! We still had our … [Read more…]
Nothing epitomises the perseverance and tenacity of the Vietnamese people during the war quite like the Cu Chi tunnels – a network of underground tunnels near the village of Cu Chi only 30km from the then enemy capital, Saigon. At their peak the network stretched 250km to the Cambodian border, sometimes even within the perimeter … [Read more…]
Our two-week trip through Vietnam was coming to an end and our last stop was Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City. The current name was given after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 and honours Hồ Chí Minh, the first leader of North Vietnam. Even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn remains in daily speech, … [Read more…]
Today we are exactly halfway through our sabbatical. From start to finish we have 200 days of holiday. Today is Day 100. What a ride it’s been! But it seemed we had another fun ride ahead of us… We have decided to travel from Hue to Hoi An – about 150km – on the back of … [Read more…]
We had a long travel day ahead of us, not because the distance between Koh Rong and Phnom Penh is great, but rather because of the slow cruise back to the mainland coupled with the busy traffic on the country’s roads. The bus ride was rather interesting. Driving out of Sihanoukville, we drove behind a … [Read more…]
“STOP!” There used to be a time when there were only two acceptable responses to that order. You either went; “…Hammer time!” or “…collaborate and listen”. It was only until we set foot on Cambodia’s beaches that we realised the word “stop” was enough. Throughout our travels over the last few months there wasn’t much time … [Read more…]