day 192, Pai

Had a big day planned and woke up early to crack on with it. Drove to the train station in order to see if the motorbike place had a bike for me to take up to Pai, they did! Drove back to the first bike rental place to return yesterday’s bike, walked back to the hostel for Galen to take me back to the train station and pick up my bike, back to the hostel and pack up my bag and drive it back to the train station for them to take my bag to Pai on the minivan, then back to the hostel to meet Galen, what a palava! We started on the drive all wrapped up as it was going to get cold and set off to cover the 190odd km ride. It was really fun, I clocked my bike at 105kmh and we were stopping off at places to take pictures and chill out. We stopped off half way along at a waterfall which was pretty impressive, then carried on our way up the winding mountain roads. Getting higher and higher it got bloody cold and started raining so we stopped off for some lunch at a roadside café before continuing. Really enjoyed the ride, bloody spectacular views and 5 hours later arrived in Pai just as the sun was emerging. It reminded me of Yangshuo and is lovely, we drove through the town and out about a km away down a little path was Spicy Pai hostel, and it is insane. It reminds me of my favourite grand designs, the one with Ben and he burns charcoal and builds this sick house with the massive a-frame wood workshop, and it’s exactly like that. The common room is one big A-frame with no walls either end, and there’s hammocks and cushions and just chilling out, the dorm rooms look like wooden spaceship similar to the ones off Independence Day and has beds at different levels which is so fucking cool. There were a lot of people from Chiang mai here, so spent the afternoon just chilling out and chatting, walked into town to pick up my luggage, had some awesome soup, got some beers and went back to the hostel to sit round a bonfire while Pong the hostel owner gave us a history talk about Thailand which was cool, before more chatting and hanging out, called the family and went to bed.

the dorm, mine's the one on teh right with my shit everywere

view on the way into Pai 

the waterfall on the way, sadly that's not me

the common room

day 191, Chiang Mai

Had an ambitious day lined up, me Andy and Galen went and hired scooters and set off for Thailand’s highest peak. It was a 2 hour ride which was really fun. We entered the National park and started winding up the mountains crossing the river and seeing beautiful countryside. We were almost out of gas so went in search and after 40mins and some fried chicken found an automatic petrol pump and filled up. We then gave up as Galen had a dental appointment and he was the map man who knew how to get back (incidentally Galen is from the states and he’s getting his dental work done over here to a really high standard and together with his 3 month backpacking trip it’s costing the same as it would do in the US). It was a good ride back though started to get a sore arse, chilled out at the hostel for a bit and started to make plans for tomorrow. I’m going to head to Pai which is about 4hours away, I’ve booked into the hostel and tomorrow morning will hopefully rent a scooter so I can ride up with Galen while they take your luggage for you. Apart from the petrol it’s the same cost as taking the bus, though a fuck load funner and you can stop off whenever you want for a waterfall or whatever. Me and Andy went to an organic vegetarian place which was lovely and went in search of the saints game, though is not on tv at all, grr. Sat in the hostel catching up on emails, admin and planning the next few days plus reading up on Laos.

day 190, Chiang Mai

Got up earlyish to get the most out of our bikes which we had till one. Becky and Sarah were still sleeping so myself, Graham and Andy set off for the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, one of the most well known temples in Chaing Mai, which was alright, it was a really cool wind-y drive up there, we had a look around and then carried on and ended up at this little village which we parked up and had a walk around, before going to this little street restaurant, got a curry and it was fantastic. Had a cracking ride back to the bike rental place and chilled out for a couple of hours. Sat in the hammock listening to some music nodding off. Went for a wander with Becky then met up with everyone for Irish Dave’s leaving do. He’s been staying and working at the hostel for the last month and is a lovely bloke. 24 of us piled into a southaew, a pick up truck converted with benches and a roof, myself and 3 others were stood on the tail gate clinging to the roof. We went to the riverside bar which was really cool, had a great meal and  beer. There was some live music which was cool then we went to the night bazaar. Had a mosie round plus an ice cream before jumping home in a tuk tuk.

day 189, Chiang Mai

Woke up feeling surprisingly fresh, wandered downstairs as had planned with Becky and Sarah to have a gander round town though Galen is getting a moped and going to a cave and a hot spring, Andy the Scottish bloke is joining him, had a word with Becky and Sarah and we headed off to go rent some bikes. We got 3 bikes with the two girls on the back and headed off in search of gas. It was a really cool ride out in the country, cruising past crops and farmers working the land just taking it all in. Arrived at the cave and walked up the stairs, the cave was bloody massive, you go down a really steep staircase into the cave and it is huge, had a massive Buddha and other cool shit down in there. We got back on the bikes and headed to the hot springs, where they have a 105 degree spring where people boil their eggs, they had a mineral pool which was really awesome and silky smooth and bathed in there for a while. Got some bbq chicken and rode back to the hostel. We went to a thai bbq which was fabulous, it was a massive warehouse with tables full of food where you can get everything from ready cooked meat and veg to raw meat and veg and a bbq on your table and you bbq it yourself. It was pay your 4 quid and it’s all you can eat, including ice cream and cakes and all you can drink (soft drinks), they had live music and was fantastic. Walked back to the hostel with a heavy belly and monged out, some people were going to Thai boxing but didn’t fancy it, watched Forrest Gump and called Jason as it were his birthday.

day 188, Chiang Mai

Slept pretty well and joined the aussies plus Jason’s gf Michelle who was sleeping last night to chill out and play a few more hands of hearts before I taught them shithead. The train was 4 hours late so arrived around midday. For some unknown reason I decided to walk to the hostel to get my bearings and was good to be off the train after 17 hours, it took me an hour and 45 mins and was bloody hot, though the hostel is really cool and full of people who are mostly travelling on their own which is awesome, it’s like a European hostel. Within 10 mins I was out at a local restaurant eating dinner with 5 people, a Scottish bloke who’s sound called Andy, irish Dave and american dude Galen, a girl from leeds called Amy and another Scottish lad called graham. After showering and sitting in the laundrette people were going out for dinner, we walked through a fair thing which was cool, ended up a restaurant outside, there were around 12 of us including sarah and becky the Canadians that i met in Bangkok. Had a really nice dinner and few drinks before moving off to a bar where another couple of drinks and shared buckets later which the owner of the hostel got in and I was smashed, enjoying myself just chatting to people. All together walked back to the hostel and passed out on the couch, where I woke the next day at 9 to crawl up to bed for another couple of hours kip.

day 187, Bangkok

As my train was at 6 I checked out of the hostel, dumped my bag and went off to do a few things. I got some cash, met up with Bryce, a Canadian bloke at the other hostel who is also off to Chiang Mai tonight on the later train. Walking around I got some Chinese food, then on the way back to the hostel to watch a film I saw a barbers full of thai people, my hair was getting a bit long so thought I’d nip in for cut. I sat in the only free chair and this little thai lady put the cape on me and pointed to the nine worst hair cuts I have ever seen, all thai men with bone cuts on a poor black and white photocopy, I couldn’t leave as I was already sat down and caped, so I pointed to the least creepy one and she set to work. The chair was not steady and I was sat down for 2 hours while she shaved me through a comb, then gave me a wet shave which was really good and cleaned my ears, however I look like  a right knobber. Went back to the hostel and chilled out before jumping into a cab to go to the train station. On the night train I listened to a few tunes then joined 3 aussies from Sydney, Dave, Jason and Perry, played some hearts with them then moved to the dinner cart which was transformed into the karaoke kart, it had fairy lights and shit loud music and people drinking and shouting and was a good laugh.

day 186, Bangkok

The morning was spent eating a bit of breakfast in the café which is attached to the hostel while watching the King’s birthday parade on tv. It was happening just round the corner from where I am staying though there was no point of actually going out and seeing it myself, as all that happened were loads of people crowd the streets and the king drives by in a minivan to the grand palace where entry is restricted and they have a big ceremony. It was cool to see on tv and it reminded me of something that goes on in Britain relating to our Queen. Made a decision to go to Chiang Mai tomorrow so walked to the train station and bought my ticket. Originally I wanted to take the day train as I read it was loads cheaper and I wouldn’t mind a bit of window gazing, though when I got there the day seat was almost the same price as the sleeper train so went for the latter option. Walked back and chilled out at the hostel escaping the sweltering heat, then late afternoon walked down to the other hostel to meet up with Karen, Mark, Aleen and Bryce, went out for some dinner then walked over to see the festival thing they had going. The roads were closed and there were hundreds of thousands of people, thousands of Chinese lanterns were going up, massive spotlights and lasers were roaming the skies and they had a big stage in a park with different acts going on. They had banned drinking on the streets and I didn’t see any alcohol whatsoever, everyone was in a chilled out mood and walking about or chilling on the grass. It was a great evening, really enjoyed it. Unfortunately there wasn’t any massive fireworks that  I was hoping for, there were a couple that went off that were cool though not in any real quantity. Oh, when we were eating dinner the owners of the restaurant and everyone else in the street came out with a candle and sang a song for the King, it wasn’t happy birthday though was very strange, they do love their king over here (it’s an criminal offence to criticize him) and they have the national anthem before every movie at the cinema!

day 185, bangkok

Rather then heading for Chiang Mai I’ve decided to stay two nights as it’s the king’s birthday on Monday and there’s a national holiday and abit of a party for it. The hostel that I’ve been staying at was fully booked so I spent the morning checking out places to stay. Found a really cool hostel about 30mins away, walked in the bleeding heat and flopped down on the sofa and put a film on. I watched the hangover 2 more out of obligation then desire and it was fucking awful. In the evening I walked back to the hostel I was previously at and met up with Chris and Mark, Chris being a really cool german bloke who’s living in Beijing, and Mark a manc now living in London, went out for dinner then headed back to call home and watch some football.

sidenote

hello! arrived in Laos yesterday, arrived in luang prabang this morning in the horrible early hours, settled in and met with scottish andy from chaing Mai. internet still works in patches so will update when possible. x

day 184, Bangkok

The other day I lost my lip balm and over the lat couple of days it’s been pissing me off. I did a bit of google-ing and found that Burts Bees has a shop in Bangkok, so that was the mission of the day. I got a map from the tourist info centre and selected other bits of interest to see on the way there and on the way back. I walked for about an hour and half and ended up at the MBK centre, Bangkok’s largest mall which is mostly all the knock off shit that you get up and down Khao san road though with air conditioning. From there I walked down the street to the Siam complex and Siam Paragon, found Burts bees and the one I wanted was “finished”, for fucks sake. More annoyed then I probably should have been I set off for the robot building, though when I was walking the sun was proper in my eyes and again pissing me off. I haven’t been with a pair of sunglasses since Krakow when I stood on them so I set about looking for a pair. I tried loads on, all of the fake shit which were shit (and there is no point having fake sunglasses as it is wank for your eyes) and some real stuff, ended up at the Oakley store and comparing shit loads I hesitantly spontaneously splashed out. From there I walked to the robot building which was cool though you couldn’t get the best view of it as it had the sky train dissecting it in the middle, caught the ferry back up to Khao San road. At the hostel they were having a bit of a party and joined in, played a few games, some bbq, chatted to a few people and headed out for a night on town, didn’t feel like drinking very much though had a pretty good time, had a boogie which got gatecrashed by a few soon to be ladyboys which was surreal and headed home.

day 183, Bangkok

In the morning we wandered into town to pick up a couple of things, had breakfast back at the apartment place then got a tuk tuk to the bus station to head back to Bangkok. Not learning previous lessons we opted for the minibus option which would drop us off at Khao San Road. The minibus was bloody cramped, it was boiling and they had shit music playing, the bloke drove like a lunatic and we went some bizarre way. Two joyless hours later arrived in Bangkok, I checked into the hostel where I stayed last time I was in Bangkok, went for a walk as matt wanted to buy a few things. Once that was achieved we saw this bar on a balcony and sat there having a few beers, were joined by two cool Mancs then got some street food, matt picked up his bags and got in a taxi to the airport. I had another beer and sat in the hostel, chatted to an American girl called Karen and went to bed.

sidenote

hey y'all, i'm still alive and having a ball, in pai at the mo which is awesome though my internet is not working so have jumped on the communal laptop for 20mins. i'm hopefully going to Laos tomorrow where finger's crossed my internet is back working so i can update properly. x

Day 182, Kanchanaburi

After yesterdays exertions and early morning and with no plans apart from walk over the Bridge we treated ourselves to a lie in, mooched about a bit, got some late brunch and set off for the Bridge over the river Kwai. Again it was a bloody hot day, the walk took us 30mins to get to the bridge then we walked over it and back again. The day was full of ticking off the checklist of things to do,  inspired we walked along the tracks and set about it. First on the list was getting a coconut to drink which was fab, we continued to walk through this market which was full of locals and was half merged with a really shit carnival/fair, it was deserted but there were loads of people about, mixture of sleeping, walking and selling shit. On the way I broke my self imposed ban on fizzy drinks for the comical reason of having to sample a bag of coke. As they get money for the bottle recycling when you buy a soft drink they pour it into a plastic bag, top it up with ice and give you straw, hence you see loads of people going round with a bag of coke and a straw. The drink wasn’t that great but I slurped it with a constant smile/laugh on my face. Consuming our bag of coke we also stopped off for some undistinguishable meat on a stick which we see everywhere, the first was rubbish and was just fat on a bone (on a stick) the second though was sensational, liver charcoaled and it quickly disappeared. Walking back to the riverside room we stopped off at a bar for a beer and a few games of pool, back to mooch at the flat where I’ve booked 2 nights in Bangkok before heading North I think, then back out into the main strip for dinner. Not particularly hungry we stopped off at a bar on the pavement where you sit on upside buckets and had a couple of 10baht whiskeys before going to a cool place for dinner where I had a fantastic fish dish then in for a hours oil massage which was cracking. Back to the pavement bar for more drinks and headed home stopping off at the 7Eleven for cake and milk, watched a bit of facejacker on the internet and crashed out.

Day 181, Kanchanaburi

After fighting temptation to stay in bed still completely knackered we dragged ourselves to breakfast and out to the main road to flag down the bus which would take us to Erawan Falls. The bus ride can only be described as rickety, though did the job and offered really great window gazing. Thus we arrived at Erawan falls just over an hour and a half later, paid our monies and set off for a little trek to the waterfall. Arriving at the first one we hatched the plan to climb up all seven straight off with no swimming in the hope of it being less busy and then swimming in each one on the way down. The climb up was pretty cool, a little bit jungle-y and we rinsed through it pretty quickly stopping to take a picture of each of the waterfalls. At the top we stripped off and jumped in, well hobbled/fell in due to the sharp slippery rocks and the little bastard fishes that liked to nibble you. It was bloody amazing to be swimming underneath a waterfall, and we made our way down to the next one. We skipped 6 and headed to five which was pretty cool, there was a big fallen tree which went right over a cliff which was awesome to walk along, a la jungle book. (I wish I could claim that comparison but I pinched it off Brian’s mass email in which he took a shower under a waterfall in ‘Nam and he said he felt like Mowgli which I loved) Stopping off at number 4 waterfall was by far my favourite, it had two big rocks with the water cascading off them, they looked like an arse, and the water had fashioned two flumes and was amazing to climb up and slide down into the deep clear water, matt has an underwater camera so we mucked about with that for ages and watched some local kids just messing about which was fab. We got a shift on and decided to forgo the next 3 waterfall swimming spots to catch an earlier bus back to the river flat, chilled out and got some dinner and a shake, had a walk around town, beer and some pool, then popped in for an hour’s thai massage before heading to bed.

Day 180, Kanchanaburi

Exiting the bus in Bangkok we jumped straight onboard the bus headed for Kanchanaburi, 3 hours later had arrived to glorious weather, donned Michele and walked in search for a place to crash. The place we wanted to stay only had double beds so we went next door where they had a twin room, so we are staying in a lovely little complex which is actually on the river kwai which our balcony is on! After some breakfast it was about midday, we were both worn out from the bus so thought we’d steal an hours kip, that turned into 5 hours kip, so we thought we’d go for a look around just as the sun set. We walked through the village and ended up at the Bridge on the River Kwai, and accidentally stumbled into the festival. We paid our 20baht and got a seat just to the left of the bridge, which in the darkness was all lit up and had booming music playing. The place filled up and an hour later a short movie started being projected onto a bridge pillar. What followed was a bizarre mix of a light show, a laser show, some kids walking up and down the bridge dressed up as Brits and slaves from the war, some kids on the other side of the river digging a hole, lots of noise and music with gunfire sound effects, then the fireworks started just as a WW2 train was driving across the bridge. At first they were quite small, then when the train had fully exited the bridge they took off, along with Chinese lanterns being let off on the other side by the kids. The noise was deafening, and while not the biggest spread of fireworks I’ve seen was very impressive, my favourite being flying pigeons connected to the bridge from the building behind us, they got fired at the bridge and just as the landed a firework/explosion would go off, it was fucking amazing. As soon as the fireworks had finished all the kids came dancing across the bridge waving all the world countries’ flags to a jolly song which was a great end. We walked back home, went out for some dinner and a beer, off to bed ready for a early morning to visit Erawan falls, a 7 tiered waterfall!

Day 179, Phang Nga

With a packed day in sight we got up early, sneaked a bit of food from the 7eleven and headed to the travel place  where we had booked our trip to Phang Nga bay. A converted pickup with benches picked us up and took us to a pier on the riverside, boarded a creaky long tailed boat manned by a olden thai bloke with a gammy foot. We headed up river and he took us to all the beauty spots and places of interests, through hoards and hoards of Mangrove trees, through caves and showing us bits and pieces on the cliffs, including caveman graffiti.

After a couple of hours we moored to a stationary boat where we hopped into a canoe and this cool bloke paddled us into some caves which was awesome, and we engaged in what I reluctantly describe as banter which was great fun.

Back on board and full steam ahead to Scaramanga’s island from the Man with the Golden Gun, which though it was riddled with tourists and the souvenir tat was awesome, a fantastic little bay with that iconic rock about 50m in front, though unfortunately the big satellite dish focusing the sun’s rays into an all destructive super weapon wasn’t there. I was also disappointed about the lack of The Man with the Golden Gun paraphernalia, it’s known as James Bond island though there was no merchandise, you couldn’t buy a replica golden gun fridge magnet or lighter and think that’s a trick missed. We took the boat back to the pier, stopping off at a fishing village in the middle of the river all on stilts, with it’s accompanying football pitch, for a delightful ice cream, then back to the meeting point after a thoroughly fantastic day.

From there we got some bus tickets to Bangkok for that evening, had some amazing Pad Thai from a grotty thai street cage, chilled out then on the way back from the shop for another water and ice cream run I walked past a local barbers, grab matt and go inside and we both get ourselves a cut throat shave. I hadn’t wet shaved since I can’t remember as I’m rubbish at it and I’m sensitive (in every way) though it was bloody marvellous. It was a little bit strange having someone hold something so sharp very near my eyes and throat, though he did a cracking job including shaving some hair off my ear lobes and the tip of my nose. Matt equally enjoyed his though had to re-iterate the desire to not shave off the Moustache he’s growing for Movember which is actually verging on glorious. (Also his Movember team is called ’Rage against the Mochines’ which I thought was brilliant and am still spending ages trying to come up with something equally good if not better, yet failing.) With baby soft cheeks we again got some food in before making our way to the bus station to catch the bus to Bangkok. Compared to the Nicky fiasco it was a brilliant bus ride, we got the government bus, 1st class with air con and a blanket for half the price as it cost us to come down, and it took the 11 hours as advertised which was bliss.

Day 178, Travelling to Phang Nga

Slept a lot better and refreshed myself in the morning with a cold shower in our outside en suite bathroom before going to Mr Fisherman’s for breakfast and catching a motorbike taxi thing to the pier. We sorted out tickets via a boat and bus to Krabi, chatted to a lovely German girl and boarded our boat. The boat took about 3 hours, then a minibus took us to Krabi Bus station. As soon as we departed the minibus we hopped on a bus that went to Phang Nga, where we found a hotel room, had a bit of dinner, booked a boat trip to Phang Nga bay tomorrow and chatted to the family.

day 177, Koh lanta

As me and matt are sharing a double bed in our Indonesian hut just off the beach I didn’t have the best sleep, though woke up bright and early for a yoga session. It was taking place on a custom built platform again right on the beach, led by the rather miserable british lady who part owned the place with her lovely kind faced husband. There was five of us in total and she took us through the basic philosophy of yoga before getting down and dirty with it. I really enjoyed it and found it pretty difficult, I’m not the most flexible of people and controlling your breath was very hard, though I did expect to be worse and really hope to pick it up as something I do in future. We then treated ourselves to a fancy breakfast before doing absolutely fuck all during the day, it was bloody roasting so we alternated swimming, beaching and just sitting in the bungalow/in the hammock chilling out which was fabulous while planning what to do with the rest of our days (matt leaves on the 3^rd). In the evening we went back to Mr Fisherman’s restaurant just down the road as the food there was superb and the man who ran it (who we nicknamed John) was a fucking dude. No surprise that it was another fantastic meal and a milkshake that probably ranks in my top 3, then we wandered down the road looking for a pub with the football on. Ended up in a Irish bar sat at the bar having a few beers while chatting with the local expats, watched the united Newcastle game which was a cracking game before calling it a night.

day 176, Koh Lanta

Indeed woke up feeling wank, we bought our tickets to Koh Lanta yesterday, packed off and walked down to the pier, boarded our boat and an hour and half later was on Koh Lanta. We commandeered a makeshift motorbike taxi where the bloke had just added a side carriage to his moped which whisked us to our chosen place, somewhere that Lauren, the girl I met in Hiroshima stayed at and said was good, called Sanctuary. We got ourselves a bungalow right on the beach with a hammock hanging outside and headed straight out for a late lunch. Had an amazing curry just down the road then spent the rest of the day chilling on the beach and having a swim. In the evening went out for dinner and had some seafood which was very good, a milkshake then sat on the beachfront looking out into the world before off to bed ready to do my first yoga session tomorrow.

day 175, Koh Phi Phi

With no real plans for the day decided to have a chill out one. Spent the morning walking up to the viewpoint which was really cool, saw monkeys and this duck creature that didn’t look anything like a duck, like a duck crossed with a cockerel but bloody massive. The viewpoint was great, gave a awesome view over the island and the hourglass beaches, treated ourselves to a banana shake then headed to the beach after lunch. Spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at the beach just chilling and reading. Went for a swim though the water was really shallow and full of rocks for as long as you could go, so settled for just sitting in the water. Walked back up to the bungalow, got a couple of beers and chilled in the glory of air conditioning while watching a bit of Lord of the Rings which was on tele,  went to the town and got dinner, some amazing pizza and another beer. Matt was done in so went back though I fancied a couple more beers, met a aussie group of doctors and hung around with them, went to a couple of bars and clubs on the beach, had a boogie and a few more changs and accidentally got really drunk, stumbled back up to the bungalow in the early hours of the morning, chatted up the porcelain lady before crashing out ready for my Changover tomorrow.

day 174, Koh Phi Phi

After sneaking in breakfast and a little apprehensive about the transport about to show up a lovely minibus with air con rocked up on time, took us through Phuket to the ferry terminal, they put a sticker on us and forwarded us to a slightly beaten up boat that had chairs and air con, a hour and 45mins later we are on Koh Phi Phi! Meandered our way around the people harassing for bungalows and rooms, walked a bit inland and picked up a map with all the resorts/hotels/bungalows listed and picked our favourite and made haste. On the way we got stopped by a van full of people who got picked up at the pier, jumped on board and checked out the wooden shack on top of a hill. After a bit of hard bargaining have a bungalow on stilts amongst modest jungle, 3 beds, tv and air con for 8 quid, happy as larry. Walked into town and down the beach on the north side, then walked to the south beach (the main bit of Ko Phi Phi don is shaped like an hour glass so not very far at all) then walked along the coast, over some rocks to Long beach for a sit down and a swim. On the way back stopped off at a bar/restaurant on the coast, hoping to see the sunset though it repeated it’s trick of yesterday of just disappearing, had some good thai food with a beer and sat there for a while, literally on the beach just looking out. Got chatting to an American/south African couple called mark and Katie, was getting bitten alive so walked back to the bungalow. Matt wasn’t feeling too great and it started to absolutely lash it down so switched the tv on and watched the end of blade 3, nipped in for a shower and when I came out matt was conked out, if you can’t beat ‘em join them so turned in more tired then I realised at nine.

day 173, Kata Noi

I think I’m flirting with becoming a morning person out here, to naturally wake up before the alarm beeps mechanically, to sit outside and read my book or fill in yesterday’s events in my blog and look forward to the day I have ahead of me. What a day it was going to be.

On the walk up to kata and Rumblefish, the company we are doing our scuba dive with, me and matt stopped off in a fancy café for a plate of stir fried veg and an iced green tea frappe. Another blisteringly hot day, there was a good vibe at Rumblefish, very relaxed and informal, while a Vietnamese bloke called Tien was our instructor who ran us through what to expect, the techniques and the safety briefings, before getting the gear fitted and piled along with ourselves into the pick up truck down to the beach. We got geared up and walked down into the insanely warm sea. There we learned the general beginner skills of scuba diving, from how to breathe underwater to equalising the pressure and clearing your mask from water. I found breathing under water a lot more comfortable then I thought I would, and did the drills with clearing my mask and loosing my regulator and putting it back in my mouth no problem at all. We then went deeper and to my surprise we were down there for 40minutes, swimming around and seeing fish and coral while going down to a depth of up to 6 metres.

I loved diving, though I struggled with my ears a bit, plus my mask strap came off and didn’t realise it so spent almost 10 minutes continuously blowing water out of it. It was also the first time I wore flippers which I wasn’t a natural at. Having done it and had an amazing time I haven’t got the bug, I don’t like being deep underwater though I am keen to snorkel. Matt also had a blast though struggled with getting depth.

High on adreline and knackered from the effort of concentrating on breathing and not being a ’airzilla’ we returned to the fancy café to treat ourselves to more fancy drinks, then to another café for a bite to eat, walking past the turn off to go to the jungle sauna as we couldn’t be arsed and it was hot enough, back to the apartment, backed up some photo’s and headed to the beach for sunset. At that direct moment I was just plain happy, I was sat on a quiet beautiful beach, a cold beer in my hand watching the sun go down. Unfortunately cloud stole the sunset from us though we just went for  a swim till it got dark and watched Chinese lanterns be released, got some dinner and back at the apartment now finishing off my book.

day 172, Kata Noi

Awoke feeling much refreshed having slept in a bit, had a leisurely breakfast then checked out and caught the local bus over to Kata, had a quick look around though was quite built up and had heard that Kata Noi was quieter and nicer so walked over the hill separating the two beaches, plonked the bags at the beach while one of us sat with them and the other one had a quick hunt for a place to stay. Ended up at a villa complex, have got a twin room with ensuite for 8quid a night each, we knew we could have got it cheaper though we are rubbish at bargaining and me coming from Japan I’m more then happy to pay that for a night. Spent the rest of the day at the beach which was almost empty, swimming and reading. In the evening we walked back up to Kata to have a look around, got some Pad Thai from a Thai place which was amazing along with another fruitshake, then carried on wondering around, sidestepping the massages and the hookers. After a bit of a search we found Rumblefish, a diving place as Matt was keen to try diving tomorrow, after chatting to the lady I decided to join him. Walked back to Kata Noi in search of a pub or shop though as everything was closed already at 12, read some more of my book and turned in.

day 171, Bangkok then the bloody bus

Some drunk wanker at quarter to four in the morning decided to whack the whole of the dorm’s light on and made a bit of a noise which was the only blemish on my otherwise fantastic sleep. Had arranged with matt to meet whenever we did, so I got up about half 10, wrote my blog and did a bit of computering researching the place we are going next (phuket). Checked out of the hostel and stashed our bags and headed off for some breakfast at Mr Yim’s. Yesterday while dozing off I had the grand idea of continuing the theme and not eating meat for a while, though in the morning it completely escaped me and I got a chicken baguette which was marvellous, only after I finished it did I realise I went less then an hour while I was conscious before eating meat. It was another tremendous day, the heat was stiffling and we walked to the Dusit palace grounds as our grand palace ticket from yesterday entitled us free entry into the ‘exhibition of the masterpieces’. It was a grand building and inside was, well, masterpieces, all big and gold, from thrones to model boats or exquisite silk embroidery, they gave us an audio guide and it was really interesting, and the building itself was beyond belief. I also had to purchase my first sarrong to get into the place as no shorts allowed and I’m afraid I bloody love it, far too comfy. On the way back we picked up an iced coffee which was fantastic, back to the hostel and out again for a bit of dinner. Ended up back at Ethos, the organic vegetarian place from the other night which was amazing, had a banana coconut shake and spaghetti mixed with pesto and nuts, glorious. Back to the hostel for a cheeky shower ready to catch our bus. At five to six a bloke comes into the hostel shouting “phuket” which is us, we were expecting to get in a taxi as we were told by Nicky to go to the southern bus terminal, though what awaits us is a Tuk Tuk which drives us a bit down the road and drops us off along with some other backpackers. No-one is really sure what is going on and after 10 mins we are told to walk up the road where a series of buses are waiting. We believed we bought 1st class bus ticket (which are more spacious and faster, plus only 5quid more dear) though the bus we boarded was a shit heap, the arm rest had been ripped off, the table wasn’t connected to the leg so when it was leant on it came off plus there was a monster of a man with his little Thai bride who got on after us and within 3 and half minutes of sitting down, not even moving yet he starts snoring like a steam train. There were others in the same situation as us including a Swedish couple of sisters who have been living in Thailand and caught the first class bus down so we weren’t being proper thick. The bus chugged off then stopped again for more people, chugged off then stopped again, then onward and outward. It wasn’t the smoothest ride and I didn’t get any sleep, we stopped off at 12 for a break, then at 2 some people got off so there was a spare couple of seats so I grabbed it and fell into a sweaty hot/cold sleep (as the air con was broke) before being woken at half 6 by the bus driver shouting at everyone to get off the bus. I expected to be in Phuket as we were told the bus takes 12 hours, alas we weren’t. We were at this place called suratthani, got told to sit down and wait, after about 20mins a pick up truck came which we were shepherded into, me, matt and 3 others, to a travel agency where we sat down for two hours. While there we were coerced into spending another 200baht to get from Phuket town to Karon, the beach where we wanted to go, it was around 200-500baht for a taxi considering and he was very adamant it was best for us, so after a bit of negotiating again we had a deal. Around an hour after they said the bus would arrive the 5 of us plus another 4 piled into this pickup truck with all our luggage, to quote Richard key’s we were practically hanging out the back of it, which drove us down the road and into a bus. This then took another 5 hours to reach Phuket, after numerous stops all the while we were cursing fucking Nicky and rueing the floods as to why we couldn’t have got a government bus ticket from the bus terminal which we had wanted. We arrived in Phuket city to transfer to a minibus, got our bags from the coach and I saw that my clips were undone, the zips weren’t how I always leave them and the 2 padlocks I have which is on the double zipper combinations were different to 000 (which I always a little OCD leave them so I can open it in the dark), so some bastard had tried getting into my bag and failed, the cunt. In the minibus for another 16kms, dropped everyone else at Patong ( a party hotspot and an absolute shit-hole, similar to Newquay but a lot bigger) and after emphasising to the bus driver we wanted to go to Karon he finally set off, before having a break for 20minutes parked in an alleyway… 7 minutes drive down the road we arrive in Karon, which is awesome, a lot quieter and generally more attractive, didn’t have anything booked so had a bit of a walk around, the first two were full though the 3rd wasn’t, checked out the room, a twin private room with ensuite and AC near the beach which is clean for 5quid each, we were so tired from a 21hour journey and happy with the price didn’t even bother with a bit of bargaining and bit her hand off, showered, teeth cleaned, fresh clothes and out for fish and chips and a beer, 16:45, first meal of the day and it was fucking grand. Walked down to the beach, beautiful golden fine sand, clear water, the sun setting, rushed back to the hotel, grabbed our cossies and had a dip till it got dark. Emerged refreshed and considerably more happy, and am back in love with Thailand again after not being in love with it or it’s people for 21 hours, looking forward to bed after a walk around to see if can get any better accommodation, more food and a few beers as it’s cooler then Bangkok feel like having a bit of a drink.

day 170, Bangkok

Met with matt earlyish for a cracking mixed fruit breakfast then headed off to the Grand Palace. When I arrived and got in I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, Grand was an understatement. It was a big complex of temples surrounding the palace, the features were intricate and absolutely stunning, right up there with some of the best things I have seen, I couldn’t stop taking pictures. We spent a couple of hours walking around with our mouths hanging open then stopped off for an ice cream before deciding to walk to the southern bus terminal to book our tickets to Phuket. We were told by a couple of people that the southern bus terminal is closed though we thought we would seek it out anyway, I googled it and it was about an hour away toward the north west of central Bangkok. As soon as we crossed the bridge (where we could see one of the rivers ridiculously high volumed and overflowing it’s banks) Bangkok changed, there was debris everywhere with massive mud patches scattering the sidewalks. No other tourists were around and people were going about their daily life which seemed  pretty chaotic still though thankfully without the pressure or pestering to buy shit. There was still some flooding and a couple of times we had to walk over a wall of sandbags to get up a bridge. We arrived at the bus station an hour later and it was deserted, re-checked the map and turns out the bus station has been relocated. The old bus station was abandoned and felt like a movie set, similar to The Hurt Locker, buildings were dilapidated, things had been stripped, stray dogs were abound, one woman was eerily sweeping randomly, people were sleeping rough and was a very strange experience. We headed on to the new bus station (crossing more sandbags and seeing some awful flooding which has completely uprooted hundreds of people who were camped up at the railway tracks) which was to the west of the old station along a main road (actually a double decker motorway though it had pavements with numerous activity and markets going on. We walked for another couple of hours, we found the temple that was directly opposite the bus terminal (which was described on the web as being ultra modern and similar to an airport) though couldn’t find it anywhere, even asking policemen (side note, so far I have found the Thai people insanely pleasant and happy, and although I read that it’s in their culture to save face and to Thai’s a smile can indicate every single emotion, they have all been polite and awesome, even when walking past hoards of homeless people apart from apprehension I have not felt unsafe or any danger) so we surrendered, got a taxi back to central Bangkok and went off looking for TAT (the thai tourist agency) which is supposed to be the best one. We literally stumbled upon it and was met by Nicky, a thai who started a spiel about how he lived in Middlesex and has a kid blah blah blah, then gave us a price for the bus to Phuket. I did a bit of research on internet and found what the prices should be, showed him this and after a bit of negotiating we got a price we were both happy with and are taking the overnight bus to Phuket tomorrow, plus being picked up at our hostel at six (we were told it was a 32 seat air conditioned bus which on the internet indicates the first class bus plus unlimited food and drink, though anything could turn up, though I’m really interested as to where the bus terminal is as we are taking the government BKS bus (we think)), for the bus to Phuket which is 600km ish away, plus a nights sleep is costing 18quid. We thanked Nicky and made the way back to the hostel, I changed my socks as they were soaking after walking through flooding and went out for dinner. On wikitravel I read about a organic vegetarian restaurant down the road a little way called Tham na, found it and it was sublime. Having had no lunch as just too hot to eat and didn’t fancy it, and what with all the walking was pretty hungry, so me and matt ordered two starters to share, got bruschetta plus grilled pumpkin with pesto, both of them were amazing, then for main I got roasted mushroom curry which was the best curry I have ever had, numerous types of mushrooms which were just fabulous and a fruity taste, and matt got grilled tofo and mixed vegetable tempura with noodles which was also out of this world, for drinks he went for lemongrass and I went for a mixed fruit shake, ¾ of a pint of fresh amazing fruit blended, bloody fabulous, plus the restaurant was really small and had such a cool interior, bare brick walls and cool paintings, it was their house where they just turned the bottom floor into a restaurant. We did splash out a bit and the meal came to 6quid each. Having walked our arses off we treated ourselves to another fish spa and this time a head, neck and back massage which was lovely, painful in places but fucking fantastic, being pulled here and prodded there was amazing, before calling it a night.

day 169, bangkok

Slept like the dead in a really well laid out dorm with killer air conditioning and made my way out. Outside the hostel has a couple of seats and I ran into a few people I was chatting to last night so joined them for breakfast and sat there under the excuse of acclimatising though I think I was just chilling out in hot weather. I got some amazing mixed fresh fruit muesli and a cuppa and sat down for a couple of hours where this English bloke called Matt sat down. He’s in his mid to late twenties, a web designer, been living out the uk for a couple of years, first went to work in NZ now is working in Oz and is basically doing a visa run while his application for residency hopefully processes. I instantly liked him and got on with him, there are a lot of people here that I wouldn’t necessarily choose to socialise with, not to sound like a snob though there are quite a few thick people who’s idea of travelling is completely contradictory to my idea, ie getting drunk and then telling people how drunk you were as a mark of cool-ness. Me and Matt headed off in search of the Grand Palace though we went the wrong way and ended up at a couple of temples a little distance off. I really enjoyed the temples as the architecture was polar opposite to the Chinese and the Japanese temples that I have been visiting over the last couple of months. They were big white buildings with a few different style roofs, one was a gothic wooden carving roof at then others were cool coloured tiled roofs similar to those in croatia with gold horns on either end. One of the temples had a stunning spiral staircases which went up high and offered a good look around Bangkok. Compared to Tokyo it isn’t as densely building populated and those buildings are a lot more flat then Tokyo, and it doesn’t feel anywhere as busy as I thought it would do. Before I arrived in Bangkok I was a bit apprehensive as I was running into more and more horror stories by said thick people who I wouldn’t necessarily choose to associate with, and it’s bloody fine, in fact it’s awesome. I’m staying a couple of roads down from Khao san road (a backpacker haven which was featured in the Beach) and Khao san road is tourist central, shops, bars, clubs and boots the chemist. Though around it is fine, and there are a lot of quieter side roads and back alleys offering quieter entertainment and a better atmosphere. Very quickly I am adapting to Thailand’s pace and the friendly pedestrians who try and sell you tuk tuk rides or tell you that a palace or temple is closed and you should go here and there, and I don’t have a problem with them as they are friendly and polite, and after you tell them no and ask them a question they give you honest advice and directions, you just have to get your head round the fact that if someone approaches you for no real reason he’s trying to sell you something or point you in a certain direction and that he is lying to you, though me and matt quickly found their kryptonite, basically we’ve been here for a week, we’ve seen everything that they are about to ask us about and we are leaving tonight and they quickly leave you alone. Also we’re trying to see what obscure countires we can get away with saying we are from as invariably that is one of standard questions you ask, I choked on Mozambique. From the temples and the golden mount (another temple) we walked toward the grand palace stopping for an ice cream and another bottle of water (it’s was  glorious day and was fucking baking). Found the grand palace and there was a crowd of people at the entrance not being let in. We were told by the people on the door that it was closed for the King coming back or something and would re-open tomorrow. Thus we have adopted the rule ‘never believe anything anyone says unless they have a uniform and/or a gun’, and the blokes on the door had both, they were in the army and they had guns with knifes on the end of them, so I think they were telling the truth as they weren’t telling us to go anywhere else, so we sat in the park for a bit and headed back to the hostel to try and figure out where to go after Bangkok. Matt didn’t have any real plans though knows there is a festival on the ‘bridge over the river kwai’ area (I’ve forgotten the name of the actual place) where it’s supposed to be an amazing atmosphere and they lace the bridge with fireworks and effectively blow up the bridge! That of course sounded amazing though isn’t for another week I think, so heading south west to the coast for a bit of island hopping, decided on Phuket to give us a taste then we will head to Ko Phan Nga, Scaramanga’s island from The Man with the Golden Gun!!!! After a little while we headed off for dinner with a Belgian dude called Eve, it was still early so we got a beer in a side street bar and had a chat, then headed to Ethos, a vegan restaurant in a back alley which was amazing, I had a fabulous Falafel and a cinnamon, raison and chocolate coconut shake for under 4 quid and it filled me up proper. We wandered down a couple of streets and on the way sampled fried bugs (scorpion, cricket, worms etc) then all fancied a massage (a proper one, not the cheap trashy kind) and Eve walked past a place that was a few blocks away and quiet which we went to. First we started with the foot spa where the fish nibble your feet which was great though a little bizarre, very weird feeling and a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant. After 15mins soaking I got a foot massage while the other 2 got back and neck massage for half hour and it was excellent, felt so relaxed and instantly better. Both of those set me back a total of 4 quid which I still can’t believe, then headed back into the night. Tiredness suddenly hit me, so I left the other two who were heading off for another beer and possibly a ping pong show which I don’t fancy at all, got a bottle of green tea, showered and turned in having had a great day, I’m looking forward to the next 4 months soooo much round south east asia I can’t describe it.

day 168, bangkok

Woke at 6, finished packing, got some fruit candies for the plane and rushed to the subway. I caught the express train to the airport which took over an hour, found my check in desk and checked in, then took a wander to survey the food options, it was horrifically overpriced so ended up having a sub of the day on the view terrace. About 45 mins before flight leaves I realised I haven’t gone through to the departures lounge so rush through there and board my flight. To my delight it’s a huge plane, loads of leg room, a tv in front of every seat with a remote and 100s of movies for you to individually choose, and I had a 3 seat combination to myself! It was a 7 hour flight and it was the best flight I have done, my ears hardly hurt, the meal was amazing and I would have had it again quite happily, they come round with free beer, tea, wine, orange juice and water every so often, plus ice cream and packets of nuts! I watched the art of getting by, bridesmaids, bad teacher and half of friends with benefits. I tried watching the guard and the help though I couldn’t hear it properly over the shitty headphones they give you. Before I knew it I had arrived in Bangkok and it’s bloody boiling, no signs of floods, get through customs almost like it doesn’t exist, no questions as to why I have no onward flight or what not, then get the train to the city centre and meet an irish bloke going to the same sort of area so got in a taxi with him from there. Found my hostel and it’s really nice, then took a walk around. I’m staying in Khao san road, well just off it really and it’s really busy full of backpackers, most of them out to shop or get drunk. don’t like it a lot though is quite interesting to meander through and so far think thai people are lovely, even handling some of these pricks that are out here. I was due to meet up with mark for dinner though din’t work out, was at the meeting place for 15 mins but ah well, I went off a bit on a side alley and found a vegan restaurant where I had some much needed nourishment and a fruit shake which was divine, chatted with some people there and now back at the hostel dying on my laptop through tiredness.

Day 167, Tokyo

Did indeed wake up early-ish and set off on a packed day. As running low on cash I decided to walk to everywhere. Started off heading for the Bunkyo district which had a very cool civic building which housed numerous government and council office complexes all in one building, and at the top was an observation deck. It was laid out pretty well so you get in with all the office workers and see where they work when the lift stops. The building itself was very cool where it was a square sky scraper though there was a square in the middle which was left hollow, almost like a courtyard, then on top it looked like the starship enterprise was perched on top to provide the observation deck over Tokyo. From the building you could also see bits of the theme park at the Tokyo dome including the rollercoaster which goes through a hold in a building then goes through a ferris wheel which doesn’t have any ‘spokes’ like the dyson bladeless fan which was awesome, ‘cept the roller coaster wasn’t running as a couple months ago a fat man fell out of it and died. From there I walked toward the rainbow bridge which was right on the south side of town stopping off at the way at the sony building which was a bit of a disappointment, nothing really new in there part from some tablets and then their newest ranges of already established products. It took me forever to walk to the rainbow bridge (910m suspension bridge over a river), turns out you can’t walk over it so caught a train which went over it which was actually great as to get on the bridge it does a 270degree turn which I don’t think I’ve ever done in a train. Once I arrived I walked to the Fuji tv building which is awesome, weird and huge, then to pallette town to see the Toyota showcase thing, lots of shiny cars and bits of their history and demo’s of safety things they are implementing and what not, t’were pretty cool. By this time it had got dark so I walked home which took about 4 hours, got some dinner at the café where I went the other night which was amazing. Got home about half 9, showered, booked some place to stay in Bangkok and finalised things, packed and bed.

day 166, tokyo

Slept in for the first time in ages and arose around midday, I had no clean clothes and my towel fucking stank from the mud bath so whacked ’em all in the washing machine and sat around in my awful swimming shorts and fancy Chinese t shirt waiting for them to dry. Once the machine was finished the clothes were still soaking wet so hung them up and wandered around in said swimming shorts looking like a right bellend and walked around the Sky Tree, Tokyo’s six hundred and something metre high tower which is ridiculous. I then lost my bearings and got lost myself before finding my way back to the hostel, meeting a German machinist over here for work and went out to dinner and had liver and chives with noodles which was amazing, got some chocolate milk for a change and hitting the hay early for a early rise tomorrow and my last day in Tokyo!  

day 165, tokyo

Walked to my new hostel and dumped my bag then maximising the lovely weather walked to the imperial palace gardens and wandered around there. I was pretty tired so I laid on the grass and drifted off for a couple of hours with the intention of looking around the rest of it though the gardens closed at 4 and I got woken up by a warden and pointed to the exit which was a bit of a shame. Wandered on home and met a couple of blokes who are pretty cool, Saul a nuclear physicist and Joshua who’s in the national guard in america. We went out to small little café which served an enormous bowl on tonkutosu ramen which was sublime with a side of Gyoza which are soon becoming my kryptonite before walking back, skyping and going to bed after watching a bit of F1

sidenote

hello y'all. just a quickie to say i've arrived in thailand and it's bloody hot. had the most pleasant flying experience to date, found the place and meeting up with an irish dude for dinner in a bit. internet is a bit poor at this hostel, it's on and off and you have to use internet explorer whcih is dreadful so blog might not be updated for a couple of days. x

164, tokyo

I woke up to glorious weather around 8:45 so threw away the robotics idea (too nice to be inside and from a bit of research it sounded like a business exhibition of which I have no interest in, plus behind the nerdy cool superficiality I still think robots are a bit naff.) Having toiled away yesterday for over an hour copying and pasting Japanese into google translate trying to figure out a way to purchase a rugby ticket first site I stumble upon is the English ticket website, though they stop online ticket sales 12midnight the day of the game. I photo’d the directions and set off 2 hours before first kick off. I found the stadium pretty easily, it’s part of a cool complex where it has a baseball stadium, an athletics stadium, the national stadium and loads of tennis courts and football courts in one central area. I got in the gate and directed to a portacabin and was bought a ticket for 1500 yen for two games! Unaware of the food restrictions I left and got a freshness burger which was great, then headed back in. They had a cage where both teams were warming up. The first game was ricoh black rams v Honda heat, the Rams had James Haskell, Ma’a Nonu and Tamati ellison playing for them. The Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium is the spiritual home of Japanese rugby (who are hosting the 2019 Rugby world cup) and is a 27,188 seater stadium. When I arrived it was almost empty, for the first game it was about a quarter full and for the second game about a third full. Before the game they were showing almost propaganda about rugby, montages of Japanese blokes scoring tries on what almost looked like park pitches with buzz words flashing up like “heart”, “power” “aggression” “speed” and “togetherness” very amateurly. It was probably one of the most authentic Japanese experiences I have had and I loved the whole spectacle. Where rugby is still developing the Japanese people aren’t 100% sure how to behave while watching the game, so they tried separating the fans into each team’s segments, with ‘cheerleaders’ in the loosest unconventional sense of the word encouraging them. I decided to sit with the Black rams fans as they had the most people. Our cheerleader was a jolly rotund fella who had a lovely happy face and a cheap plastic megaphone with chants written down which he went through before the game. For the whole 80 minutes whenever there was a slight break in play he would turn to face the crowd, hold up a sign and shout away imploring for joinment, though everyone was super timid and the most he got was a bit of muttering and light clapping, he still went at it though like a trooper. Also at half time he put on a Sulley from monster’s inc costume for no apparent reason but I loved him infinitely more for it. The Honda cheerleaders were four blokes with just one chant though I think that played in their favour as audience participation was increased. Just before the kick off the Honda heat cheerleaders (and their fans) chanted the rams chant which made the fat bloke blush, so of course he (and he alone) responded with a Honda Heat chant, then there was a good 2-3 minutes of bowing. By the way, this recollection is in not in strict chronological order as it was just too bizarre.. Before the team announcement on the tv screen there was the team video which was just hilarious, montages of big Japanese blokes running up mountains while  carrying tree trunks, looked like a budget worlds strongest man. Then the teams ran out to ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, ran toward the biggest section of crowd (the one I was in) and all of them chucked mini rugby balls into the crowd which they had signed. The game itself was a routing, the Honda heat were awful and got spanked 53-0. You could tell the overseas players were playing within themselves but they were vastly superior to the majority of the Japanese players (odd ones apart) and at times it was almost embarrassing though I didn’t think much of Haskell, even at that level he was leaking penalties and I just don’t see what he does. The Honda heat reminded me of the tauntons rugby team when I played it was that bad (though we did lose 65-0). As soon as the match finished the first thing both teams did were run to the stands, line up and bow, before shaking hands and doing the tunnel. It was then time for the Nec green rockets v the Toyota Verblitz which was a much better game, completely different standard and a lot more competitive, plus the atmosphere was a lot better, there were even people shouting. It finished 29-26 and was a cracking game. I forgot, at half time of each game were cheerleaders (in the conventional sense) but they were about 13 and they got a better reception then the rugby. It was a great way to spend a day in the basking sunshine. From there I thought I’d wander to Shibuya and have a look around.  About 10 mins out of the stadium I run into James Haskell, ma’a Nonu and the other bloke all in their matching suits, they are bloody huge, should have got a photo probs but was just happy seeing how big they were. Anyway Shibuya was just architecture porn, ridiculous buildings were everywhere. I stopped off at the junction which is bloody busy and features in Fast and furious Tokyo drift (where the cars drift while the swarm of people are crossing and they form just enough space for the cars to pass by) which was damn cool. By this time it were around 5 and was pretty peckish, so stopped off at a side street greasy spoon equivalent and had some gyoza, pork with vegetables, rice and soup and it was divine, seating was all situated around the cook and was fascinating to watch. Also in that area it was full of neon lights and advertisement screens which was good to see, then I realised it is just advertisements and is a shopping area and wanted to get out. On the way I stumbled upon an Adidas football tricks exhibition which was unbelievable, some things I had never seen before and was just ridiculous. Utilising my compass and with no plans for the evening and having sat down all day I decided to chuck my map down and see if I could find my way home. I’m finally beginning to understand Tokyo, at first I found it difficult to comprehend that there isn’t a definitive city centre area, though I walked home which took 3 and half hours oscillating from my path towards places of interest that caught my eye. On the walk I saw an actual blymph! One that flew around! I thought real ones were just a myth and it was awesome to see. Tomorrow I move hostel as this one has shit beds but it stayed at it’s pretty cheap price over the weekend then think I will explore the imperial palace area.

day 163, tokyo

Did indeed leave the hostel at 6 and set off to the fish market with a Canadian bloke called Gareth. I’d heard a lot about the fish market and how it was worth a visit and was really looking forward to it. When we arrived we got told by this bloke that tourists weren’t allowed in until 9, I thought it was awfully presumptuous of him to assume that I wasn’t after a large bulk fish order but his hunch was correct. I was a bit pissed off at this considering it was half 6, though we walked around a bit and went in through a side gate. We walked around for 10 mins and it was just a fish market, albeit on a unbelievable scale, and some of the fish we saw were immense. It was also a bit of a minefield where traffic was concerned with loads of little buggies shooting left right and centre. We then got collared by another security bloke who told us we weren’t allowed in and escorted us to the exit, though I was done anyway. It then started to rain (which was to continue for the rest of the day) so took the subway back to the hostel to have breakfast. After having too much toast and tea and chatting to a mancunian couple for a while I headed off to the national museum which was great, had displays of paintings, calligraphy, armour, weaponry and many other things. From there I found a 100yen shop and finally found and purchased a compass, so with that in mind I thought I’d try and get my bearings and walk back to the hostel. On the way I stopped off at a sushi conveyor belt place which was grand, then stopped off at Electric city, a huge electronics centre full of everything you could want, including a segaland which housed tonnes of arcade machines from the state of the art to the classics. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a arcade though was glad that some things never change, all the pro virtua tennis machines were full and some bloke was ridiculous at time crisis. There was lots of stuff that I’ve never seen before and the level of some of the people playing was insane, I was in there for about an hour. I walked on home after it got dark (still in the rain). Not sure what I’m doing tomorrow, it’s a toss up between a robot exhibition, a rugby game, a skateboard expo or something completely different!

day 162, Tokyo

Awoke determined to sort out my Vietnam visa hence the day was a success. After breakfast and finding the embassy website, filling in the form and getting detailed directions I set off catching 2 trains and a 5 minute walk (which turned into a 45 min walk despite the comprehensive aforementioned directions) and to my surprise the tiny embassy (3 windows and 8 stools round a table) is full. I go the window, there’s no information about the services, just a map of Vietnam, I say really unsurely “I want a visa(?)” and he takes my form with the stuck on picture, points me to a recently vacated stool and I sit there reading my book for 20mins. He then calls out my name, gives me my passport back with the visa stuck in and asks for 7000yen. Really happy it’s done, the only thing I was not expecting was I had to give the direct day I was coming in, it can’t be ‘a month’s entry sometime as long as entry is before…’ which is what I was expecting, so I reasoned a month in Thailand, a month in Cambodia or Laos (depending on route) then to Vietnam so I can’t enter ‘Nam before 16/02/12. Two reasons this is a shame, because with the floods I’m probably doing the Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam-Laos-Thailand route as opposed to the inversed route I planned on, it means I will miss out on the festival that takes part in the 2nd week of January in northern Vietnam I think, as I will enter at the south and make my way up north. Secondly it means my birthday will not be in Vietnam, and for some unknown reason I wanted my birthday there, though no doubt the change of plans will bring about ridiculous amounts of spontaneity and insane experiences so I am quickly over the second one. With only a smither of the day left (I left the embassy at half 2 and it gets dark around half 4) I set off to Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s numerous districts. I went up the Tokyo Metropolitan government building’s observatory which was insane. It was 45 floors up and offered panoramic views of Tokyo, I couldn’t get over the scale of it, it went on for miles and miles and incredibly built up. I then walked round, to a park which had “Tokyo niagra falls” which was shit, a 4m waterfall, walked to the entertainment area but didn’t like it and got the train home. Tokyo is very interesting as it has numerous street levels, normally basement 1, GF and 1st floor, with roads on the `1st floor and ground floor, and pavements on all 3. It’s quite normal to be walking on a outside road, carry on going and you get to a roof promenade, walkways which are at ground level though the roads and rows of skyscrapers just start on the 1st floor if that makes sense. I walked from the train station to the Tokyo metropolitan building which is 700m all without seeing the sky. Back at the hostel I met Philip a Swiss and Gareth a Canadian and we went out for a Chinese which was very good. I made a (bad) joke about Philip not speaking Japanese as the swiss speak every single language, he tried ordering in English though the girl didn’t understand him, so he tried Chinese which she did understand  and bloody ordered in fluent Chinese! Back at the hostel now ready for a early night as going to the fish market (the largest in the world) at 6!

161, bus, Nagoya, Bus, Tokyo

Caught the bus from Fukuoka alright, finished High Fidelity which I loved, started on Will Self’s Cock and Bull, listened to some music and tried getting some sleep, which proved difficult as every 3 hours lights come on, the driver shouts over the PA that we’re having a break and everyone gets up and starts shuffling around. Arrived in Nagoya around 8 hours after I left Fukuoka, faffed around for 3 hours trying to work out where to get my next bus, it arrived and my name wasn’t on the list. I managed to bulldoze the driver into phoning the office, turns out I didn’t pay for it somehow online, though they let me pay for it over the phone and I am on the bus. On the bus for another 5 hours, reading more of Will Self’s book which is bizarre though am enjoying, (it’s split into 2 stories, one about a woman who grows a cock,  the second about a man who discovers a vagina on his knee) and arrive in Tokyo. I catch 2 trains and find my hostel pretty easy and email Ayumi and Saul to try and sort out a night out. Ayumi doesn’t get back to me though Saul does, so I meet with him and we go out for Gyoza (dumplings which are insanely good) and some other dishes, karage and this prawn thing in sweet and sour sauce, then head off to the newsagents for some beer for him, an ice cream for me and we sit by the river just chatting till it got too cold and we call it a night. Saul is very good company and a right laugh, he’s training to be a doctor and is full of anecdotes which make me crack up. He spent 6 months living in Japan as a 16 year old on school exchange, though still sees Japan as a super foreign beast and shares his observations which are hilarious. I got a litre of milk on the way home, tried emailing a couple of people though was distracted by a bloke who started talking to me who i instantly loathed, so went to bed.

day 160, Beppu

Alarm went off pretty early, packed my stuff up and met with Saul to head out. We caught a bus up into the mountain area in order to find a hidden onsen, a completely natural occurrence where they have channelled  the water through into some rocks which have formed pools out in the open. We walk for 30mins with good directions from the hostel including a picture crib sheet of where to turn and what landmarks to look out for. We arrive and there’s only a couple of old Japanese men there, we greet them, strip off and go in to lovely warm water with a incredible view of countryside, it is immense. After half hour there of just relaxing we ship out in search of a mud bath. On the way we stop for some food at what looks like a very average road side café however the Udon they serve in there was incredible, definitely the best I’ve had. The mud bath was just next door, it has a couple of pools then the mud baths which itself was very strange, it’s about 4 feet deep, warm water for the top 3 feet then a foot of mud, which we paste all over ourselves, sit there, don’t really get it or like it, wash it off and leave though glad I done it. Caught a bus back to the hostel, had the left over vegetable stir fry and then the train back to Fukuoka, at the moment sat in a café waiting to catch my bus in a couple of hours to Nagoya. Saul is going somewhere then will be in Tokyo tomorrow, our hostels are right near each other so have arranged to meet up, I’ve sent Ayumi a email to see if she is still in Tokyo and fancies a night out.

day 159, Beppu

Caught the train back to Fukuoka, then onward to Beppu which took 4 and half hours altogether. Getting out of the train station I bump in to Saul, the aussie I met in Fukuoka a couple of days ago. He’s staying at the same hostel and he gives me directions there (as I forgot to get some) and I check in and try to work out what to do in Beppu. It’s a Onsen capital and has loads of them spread out, as well as hells which is just pools of boiling water that the Japanese, to make them more user friendly have tackied them up, giving each one a theme and sounded like a laugh. I couldn’t work out which onsen to head for, so the hostel lent me a bike and I plan to choose as I’m going along. Literally 2 minutes away is a area of seafront with a bit of beach, and I get off and just lie there reading my book (I picked up High Fidelity) and before I know it it’s dark and I’ve been laying there for 3 hours. I head back to the hostel to see if Saul is back, he’s not so go to the supermarket to buy some food and some milk and make myself a vegetable stir fry while watching some Japanese Baseball. Really tired so put Rise of the Planet of the Apes on dvd in, get my computer and half watch the film while booking busses to Tokyo and a hostel in Tokyo for when I arrive. Saul comes back and we plan tomorrow together, he heads to bed, I finish the film and follow him.

day 158, Nagasaki

Learning from the other day in Hiroshima I got up early to sort out where I was heading off to next. In the map for Fukuoka it advertised a northern Kyushu Japan rail pass which you could buy in Japan! Basically 95% of people travelling in Japan have a JR pass as it makes things sooooo much cheaper though the passes themselves are not cheap and most people plan their trips to maximise the value of the pass. Also you have to buy them out of the country normally well in advance. With this pass they were offering (3days for 7000 yen) it gives me freedom to go anywhere in that district. With that in mind I have 3 days to play with as I need to take a bus to Tokyo on Tuesday the 8th from Fukuoka, so have worked out I can go to Nagasaki for a day and night, train back to Fukuoka, onwards to Beppu (onsens and hells! (more on that later)) then on the Tuesday back to Fukuoka to catch the night Bus! So… jumped on a train to Nagasaki, checked into a very nice hostel and walked up to the memorial park and the memorial museum which was equally as interesting and a sobering experience as Hiroshima. From there I read more of the virgin suicides, walked back to the hostel stopping off along the way for things that interested me (a football game, interesting buildings, a statue…) then back at the hostel where I am the only guest, they had a giant hammock in the common room so sat there and finished off the Virgin Suicides which I thoroughly enjoyed and am on the lookout for the film version by Sofia coppola. Under the advice of the owner of the hostel I went down to the wharf to Red Dragon restaurant to sample Champon, this noodle dish in a meaty porky broth with squid, octopus, prawns and other things in. I got there around 8 and they were closing up so unperturbed I walked into Chinatown, found a restaurant and it was amazing, ridiculously nice then walked home with my headphones in, chatted to the Family on skype, booked a hostel in Beppu and went to bed!

day 157, Fukuoka

The pouring rain ruined my intentions to have an early start, though it cleared-ish up around 11 and with no real plans meandered through Fukuoka. My hostel is on the outskirts of town so I spent the whole day just walking around, going up streets that no one really walks up unless they have a purpose to which was very interesting, to see normal Japanese living and the little things they do. Fukuoka is famed for it’s ramen, in particular it’s tonkotsu ramen, and in canal city (which is a shopping centre, the centrepiece being a manmade canal) they have Ramen Stadium, just a floor of Ramen vendors and it was excellent. I then walked to Ohori park which was very cool, very peaceful and read more of The Virgin Suicides, which I find very interesting in spurts then put it down after 10-15 mins, then a couple of hours later pick up engrossed before going back in my bag. The rough destination goal was the Fukuoka tower, on the way I stumbled upon a batting cage next to the Fukuoka hawks baseball dome, so went in and had a look. I’ve always wanted to go in a batting cage and a very kind man showed me the ropes. I started out at 100kmh (that sounds like I had a choice, I just pressed a couple of buttons and it popped up), the first batch whistled straight past, with me swinging wildly like a dickhead. I managed to refine my technique and hit about half the next batch, it was such a great feeling to Kriss Akabusi it I was smiling ear to ear under the helmet. The third batch I did even better and loved it, and left with a surprising amount of adreline pumping and quite the sweaty betty. Onwards toward the tower and came across “robosquare” which didn’t quite live up to it’s billing, a very bright small room with a few robots in, most you weren’t allowed to touch and as usual not a lot worked and I struggled to see the point to them. From there visited the tower which was very cool, though I didn’t go up it as I was distracted by a beach! For some reason I was caught unaware by this beach and actually very stupidly pointed and said out loud “beach!”. They had a cable that dragged people on wakeboards which was very cool to watch, though it was merging into darkness so they called it a day, leaving me just to sit and reflect overlooking beautiful views. I walked back around stopping off again at the batting cage, this time tackling 70kmh, 100kmh then 160kmh. I still cant get over how fast the last one is, didn’t even see it. I did have intentions of finding a pub with the football on though didn’t fancy it in the end, I was tired from my day and had spent my beer money in the batting cage. I got back to the hostel around half 10, chatted to a proper sound bloke from Brisbane called Saul who’s in his last year of being an (doctor) resident over here for a week holiday before hitting the hay.

day 156, Fukuoka

Spent yesterday evening chilling out watching the film Unknown as wasn’t in the mood to plan out what to do tomorrow and where to go as I was pretty damn tired. Had an amazing sleep then went down to the kitchen area to plan out where to go next. It was a toss up between fukuoka and Matsuyama, Fukuoka won via easier bus links (I need to get right back across to Tokyo by bus which are limited) plus the fact that they have two rugby teams in Fukuoka, a massive baseball team and I read that they have a sumo tournament in November. There are quite a few bus companies in japan and the company running the bus I wanted didn’t have an English site, so after a bit of google-fu I managed to hunt down the schedule. By this time it were half 10 and they ran at 11:33 or the next one being at 15:33. I hurriedly checked out and ran to the tram, which sat there for 4 minutes before taking the 27 stops I needed. By the time I reached the bus station (which was situated on the 3rd floor of a mall(!) it was 11:39, bollocks. Bought a ticket for the next one and walked to the hostel I stayed at for two days, dumped my bag and got on the internet to sort out some accommodation and other bits and pieces. Turns out the baseball league is in the off season, the sumo tournament doesn’t start till the 13th, but I still have hopes on the rugby. Whittled away the 4 hours, got some food and got on the bus. A quite interesting bus ride, going through countryside, sounds very ignorant though I was very unaware how much countryside japan possessed. Arrived in Fukuoka and found the hostel pretty easily, as it’s late and dark just got some dinner in and catching up a bit and chatting away. There’s a bloke here that somehow engaged me in conversation and he is an utter cock. And who knew it he’s from Southampton. A hoohah henry who behaves like he’s adam ant, refers to his different jobs as ‘gigs’ (one of his ’gigs’ was working as a rep for PogoPlug, he told me he went into John Lewis Southampton, really liked it there however this nerdy guy in his own cave out in the stock room gave him a bit of a hard time, I’d never been so proud of you nick!) and he randomly changes the volume of his voice and half sings his speech. Though he did get some sake and is sharing it around so he isn’t all awful. I asked the hostel receptionist about the rugby, Fukuoka has two teams and they are both playing away this weekend! Grr.

day 155, Miyajima

Last night called my good mate Jason for a catch up then to bed, got up early-ish to head out to Miyajimi, got the tram there and found my hostel which is next door pretty much to the ferry port. I dropped off Michele, got given a map of Miyajima (I should add that Miyajima is a small island just 10mins ferry away and I’m staying right by the ferry port for convenience) and headed for the ferry. I’m getting into a bad habit of having breakfast and lunch at the same time, though I did that again and I felt grand. I got told the coal walking festival was between 11-3, and the high tide was around 4ish in order to see the O-torii gate ‘float’, so I spent a couple of hours walking around, stopping off at Daishoin Temple which was a very cool place, and reading a new book I picked up, the Virgin Suicides. I stumbled upon the festival (to be fair it’s more of a Buddhist ceremony, 8 monks were in the middle of a cordoned off area,  all dressed up, this coffin shaped thing covered in green leafs all over it. They were chanting, a drum was banging and a couple of them were blowing horns of some description. There was a bloke with a longbow going to different places and shooting sticks very tamely into the crowd after a long chant. After that was done with they set about lighting the middle thing which slowly caught light, emitting tonnes of smoke. After just slowly smoking fire erupted, soon all the greenery was gone and it was considerably less then boxy. The monks then got out boxes of what looked like spatulas with writing on and started blessing these and then throwing them on the fire. There were thousands of these things and they were doing 10-20 at a time and took ages. Once it was starting to die down 2 monks took a small tree with handles nailed into either end and started flattening and arranging the hot coals, then added thin strips of charcoal which quickly caught light, and then to everyone’s surprise the main monk got a sword from somewhere, the rest of the monks followed him and lined up at the coals when the fire was still going some and the flames about a metre high, chanted something and then all 8 of them rushed through it. The flames quickly died, it was flattened and arranged again, then the spectators were let a go, with being blessed before  and after. I got in the queue and did it. I was surprised at how long the queue was and took about 35 mins, there were all sorts queuing, from an almost ancient couple in front of me to a family with young children behind me. When my turn came the monks blessed me and tapped me on the back with this bell contraption and nudged me onto the coals. They were hot though not burning since you were not on them long enough. When I reached the end another monk repeated the procedure and I followed the line into the shrine in front of the Buddha and back out into the yard. The ceremony was coming to an end so I went to the water front to wait out for high tide around 4, read a bit of my book then made my way to O-torii Gate, a gate in the orange Japanese style which is said to ’float’ and was voted one of the three best views in japan. It was good to see though wouldn’t go that far, though no doubt when that was written (it’s taken from a book that was written in 1643 titled ’Observations about the remains of Japan’s civil affairs’ by Shunsai Hayashi) that the surroundings and ambience was completely different. Deciding to make a move to beat the fading light I didn’t see it at true high tide, I walked through Momijidani Park, following a small river and crossing numerous deer and beautifully landscaped areas and walked up Mt Misen. The views there were stunning, as it was late in the day there was hardly anyone around and could see for miles and noticed the size of Miyajima. I then walked down a different way, stopping for 10mins to sit on a massive boulder to watch the sunset which was stunning, and carried on down in near darkness. Got the ferry back to the hostel having had a brilliant day, am very relaxed and happy, in a lovely position where I can work out where I am going to next.

day 154, Hiroshima

Set no alarm as knackered from the bus. Much refreshed and with little plans for the day, I read a bit of advice for the area and went to the supermarket to get breakfast around half 12. Got a platter of sushi which was divine, ate by the river, then walked back to the supermarket and got lunch which was also a belter, ate by the river again. It wasn’t that great a day so followed the river for a bit aiming for no-where, past a park, onto a bank where I stopped to read a new book I picked up and read it all in the afternoon, ‘American Youth’ which was very good, about a American kid who's friend accidentally shoots his brother and it documents the consequences, both legally and emotionally, then walked around for a bit, back to the hostel, got a litre of milk in, met up with lauren and did a veg pasta which was very good, chilled the evening away. Sorted out tomorrow, going to a coal walking festival!

day 153, Hiroshima

When I arrived it was pretty cold as was before 7, so I put on my trackies and got the tram to my hostel. I found it easily enough and though I read that the door was locked till 9 it were open, no-one around so I dumped my bag in a cupboard and crashed on a makeshift bed of cushions in the common room. I got woken up by a Japanese cleaner so thought I better let them know who I was, couldn’t check in till 3 though took a shower and changed and headed off to the memorial park which was just round the corner. I walked round the park reading all the information, past the A-Dome  (a building which was the target for the bomb, it exploded just under 600m above the dome and yet it was one of the few buildings to remain standing), the cenotaph and several memorial statues. As the day went on more and more schoolchildren came, with teachers leading them round the different sites where they would then sing a song/play the recorder then move onto the next one. After walking round the park I headed off to get some lunch from the supermarket and ate it by a river, it was a glorious day so read my book and had a kip by the bank. When the sun had gone down I headed into the memorial museum which was very interesting and informative, it included the history of Hiroshima before the atomic bomb was dropped, background information of the history atomic warfare and the decisions that made it happen, the actual event, the direct aftermath, the ongoing aftermath, the rebuilding process, the health effect, then Hiroshima’s role in the protest for nuclear disarm armament. The museum was very well laid out and sourcefully rich, and after leaving I walked round the park re-evaluating everything. Back at the hostel I met an aussie woman called Lauren and had dinner together. Japanese food, as nice as it is, is lacking in fruit and vegetables, sorry that’s not strictly fair, Japanese fast food which I can afford is lacking in fruit and veg, so we went to the supermarket, picked up loads of veggies and lauren did a stir fry and it was divine, I could feel my body being happier already. Spent the evening chatting away to a brazillian couple then finished ‘a certain justic’ and bed.

day 152, kyoto then the bus

Got bored of the F1 as it wasn’t the best race so went to bed halfway through, had to leave the dorm by 10 though could leave my stuff and chill in the hostel for the rest of the day. I went out and had a walk, going along the river, around the imperial park again and was equally impressed by it’s size and tranquillity as before, read more of ‘ a certain justice’ then made my way back to the hostel when it got dark. My bus was at 22:50 so had quite a few hours to fill so watched the dark knight on the hostel’s tv as it were the only dvd they had. When it were time I walked to the train station with my headphones in, found my bus, let them know I was there then went off for some food, cleaned my teeth on the street and got in the bus. The bus is a ‘relax’ bus where the seats are bigger and singular, like a business class bus, though they weren’t big enough to stretch out or small enough to curl up and it was also bloody hot. I drifted in and out of sleep with my ipod on a really low volume. At about 4 in the morning the lights came on and the bus driver started talking over the PA really loudly, and everyone got up and went off the bus. I followed but it were just a service station, then back on the bus for another couple of hours and arrived in Hiroshima

day 151, Kyoto

With no plans for the day I had nothing to get up for, so didn’t really. The weather wasn’t particularly great, pretty bleak so spent the  late morning trying to figure out what to do. Spent far too long attempting to find out if the F1 was on tv, then got sidetracked reading f1 blogs and articles about Japanese tv in general which found really interesting. Around midday thought it was time to leave the hostel so went in search of the bus stop  that I need to get to tomorrow evening to catch the bus to Hiroshima, which found after a little too-ing and fro-ing. It started to piss it down so went into this mall which was head to toe in all the Japanese stereotypes, whole floors of Namco land, arcades and bright colours everywhere. They even had a baby race just like off dick and dom which was equally hilarious, especially as they insisted on interviewing each baby for several minutes who couldn’t speak. I went into a electronics shop and was amazed to what they had in there, stuff I didn’t know existed, 3 aisles of tablets from people I didn’t know made tablets, was really interesting. Decided to bite the bullet and get a portable hard drive for photos and things, plus a headset for skype. Walked back to the hostel in the pissing rain, did some washing, read my book then watched die hard 4 on tv, got some dinner, bit of skype and now watching the f1.