Ah, back to some resemblance of civilisation - the difference between here and mainland China is remarkable! No more spitting, they drive on the correct side of the road, they have a metro system that is the envy of the world, and they even have double-decker buses (just like the one's at home)!Splendid!Getting here wasn't much fun though. We opted for the sleeper bus (although any association with sleep or sleeping is tenuous at best)! Yes, these buses actually ...

From Guilin we took a boat ride along the Li River, through some stunning scenery (not unlike Halong Bay in Vietnam). This is a VERY popular trip - lots of boats and people - but definitely worth it.Initial impressions about Yangshuo weren't great - when you get off the boat you are almost assaulted by people trying to sell you things! Then you have to walk along a few narrow streets that have nothing but shops selling the usual tourist stuff, little Western-styl...

This is an area just outside of Guilin that is famous for it's rice terraces. Being the independent travellers that we are, we decided against going on an organised tour. Instead, we decided to make our own way there by using public transport.I still question this decision to this day!!It took us over 4 hours to get there! The first bus circled around Guilin until it was full - that was one hour! Then we missed our stop (but luckily got on another bus coming the...

The Lonely Planet describes this as a place that you DO NOT want to stay in for long - "go straight to Yangshou". A place where touts and taxi drivers will aggressively harass you at every opportunity - even the noticeboard at our hostel seemed to confirm this (with warning messages from other travellers)!We quite liked the place! We weren't harassed (certainly no more than any other city) and there was enough to do to keep us busy for a few days.There...

Our first experience of Japan without the help of John and Carely, and although we occasionally stumbled when it came to eating (usually opting for something a little more Western), we quickly settled into the Japanese way of things. Admittedly, if it hadn't been for the fact that Nagasaki had been the victim of the world's 2nd nuclear bomb (a fact that Ali didn't know much to my surprise), then I wouldn't recommend coming here as there isn't a huge amount to se...