Hi Everyone, Just a quick blog this time as we've got a bit of free interweb in the coffee place where we've just had a light lunch. It's good to be enjoying a bit of western cuisine in Hong Kong after a fortnight of Chinese food so I'm having panini and coffee! Our hotel is in a great spot, a small room, but excellently kitted out and newly decorated so still a pleasure to stay in. I am writing this right next to a window at the peak looking out over the whole...

Hello! Just uploading some more photos again, making the most of the free but still a bit slow internet in Yangshou. We are getting an overnight train to Guangzhou which is our last stop on the tour, though all of the group are also going on to Hong Kong afterwards. The cooking was brilliant, I think possibly the highlight of the trip so far, though it has been so varied it is hard to choose. I lobbied to do lemon chicken and so glad I did, it was great to fin...

We are now over half way through our tour of China. Have been to Beijing and walked the Great Wall of China, watched amazing acrobatics in Shanghai, visited the Terracotta Warriors at Xi'an and have been to see the Giant and Red Pandas in Chengdu this morning. China is a fascinating place, lots of people, vehicles, temples, and most importantly for a culinary tour, lots of delicious food! Was hoping to upload some more photos, but having a little trouble, so you ...

So here we are; it's late morning on our final day in Japan. Last night we were trying to work out how to cram a bunch of attractions we still had left to see into this last day. But what with trying to get ready for our early start tomorrow, and getting packed up and ready for China it all got a bit much, so we have decided to stay close to the hotel and chill out. Tokyo and Japan are so filled with interesting things we could stay another week, and most like...

Well here we are in Tokyo! Helsinki made a good stop-over to help us get in to the swing of things; quite a small city and seemed quiet for a capital, but very pleasant and relatively easy to get around. We picked up a few Finnish phrases but until the tram ride to the airport to leave, everyone spoke very good English. We had a great time at the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, probably the best attraction Helsinki has to offer. We spent a good few hours on the six isl...