Things didn't start too well here....our hotel wasn't quite what we were expecting and the area wasn't too great (basically a building site); wasted several hours in both of Beijing's HUGE railway stations trying to find the ticket offices (and failing to buy a soft-sleeper rail ticket); and getting ripped off by a taxi driver!! The next day didn't start too well either.....had decided to move to a hostel recommended by someone in Shanghai but couldn't find the ...

Again, like Nagasaki, the only reason really for coming here is because of The Bomb - there is the haunting A-Dome (the ruins of a building that was directly under the bomb when it exploded), as well as a memorial and museum about the events before and after. On a lighter note, I did enjoy Hiroshima a lot more than Nagasaki (perhaps simply because it is bigger with a bit more going on). We did get to visit a traditional Japanese castle, Carp Castle, which was g...

Oh the Mount Fuji experience!! When we arrived we couldn't even see the mountain due to the bad weather (and our plans to go up it were seriously put in jeopardy). However, the next day we were greeted with blue skies.....our hike up the mountain was back on! Now, as it was no longer officially climbing season, the number of buses that take you up to the 5th station (the highest point that you can drive to and the most common starting point for climbing) were ...

The home of one of the worlds biggest Ferris Wheels (Ali shat himself when we went up it), it is also home to an impressive aquarium (which contains the world's largest tank) which contains a whale shark. (At the risk of sounding like a snob, I would just like to point out that their whale shark wasn't as big as the one I swam with in Australia)!! The aquarium also has a chapel - we only know that because someone had just got married while we were there!!!!! O...

We had our first BIG night out since arriving in Japan (and we had only popped out for some food and "a couple of drinks")! Spent the whole of the next day lying in bed watching the GP on TV - didn't feel too guilty as it was pissing down with rain all day! Overall, Tokyo left me feeling a little unimpressed to be honest. I didn't feel that there were many things to actually visit - it was more a case of just going to different areas and having a bit...