Before we left the UK, one major excursion we planned was to spend some of the journey up Vietnam on the back of motorbikes. A particularly scenic stretch of the country that a lot of people choose to motorbike up is between Hoi An and Hué, roughly midway up the side of the country. We set off with all of our luggage safely strapped to the motorbikes at around 8am. Although I suffered from some discomfort with my legs cramped by the size of the bikes, this was ...

We arrived at Da Nang airport in the afternoon and we're greeting with rain, again. Driving through this coastal city, it appeared very modernized and it was obvious that the emphasis of construction was geared towards tourism, with several new, large, western styled hotels and a brand new theme park. Our accomodation was a homestay situated just outside the "old town" of Hoi An. With a succulent and ample selection of fresh fruit for breakfast and a pool it mad...

I arrived in Vietnam after 17 hours in transit to the hustle and bustle of Tan Son Nhat airport in Vietnam's biggest city. I was hit immediately by two things, the heat was palpable and draining as well as the amount of locals trying to sell me taxi journey or otherwise journeys into the city. Turning down all of these pesky invitations proved fairly draining but I managed to make it to my bus and headed into the city. The bus cost around 24p which was the firs...

The final place I was staying in Japan was Mine, a tiny town on the outskirts of Yamaguchi. Here I was staying with the Collins' in a converted cow-shed in rural Japan. This was quite a change from the hustle and bustle of all of the big cities I had been to before this, I could see stars in the night sky again! The crop most often seen growing in Japan is still rice and there were a few paddy fields around this area with clever drainage systems.  The variety o...

My last journey in Japan was to the island of Kyushu, visiting Fukuoka, Huis Ten Bosch and Nagasaki. Kyushu is Japan's third largest island and is closer to Korea than it is to Tokyo, which allows for strong trade links to the Asian mainland. On our way to Kyushu we took a scenic route along the coast of Japan and stopped at a picturesque lighthouse, the jagged coastline reminded me of the West coast of New Zealand and was very stunning especially with the sun se...