Japan Things we will remember…….. Very polite and helpful people Amazingly clean streets despite there being almost no bins Ancient and modern together both in and out of the cities A brilliant and very efficient transport system - the bullet trains make Japan so accessible The "lost in translation" signs - hilarious! Vending machines - everywhere for everything Very few people other than Japanese people in Japan - unlike the UK They a...

So we got back to Tokyo and had an afternoon, an evening and a morning to fill. The main thing we wanted to do was to go and have a decent Japanese meal - whilst trying to avoid more noodles and rice! We made a decision to follow a recommendation we had been given and to head to Ginza in the evening to Andy's Izakaya. Before this we wanted to build up a bit of an appetite so we went to Ueno Park for more walking. This whole trip has been non-stop and I re...

Kyoto - temple-tastic Another bullet train to Kyoto: the only city to be spared from bombing during WW2 due to its historical and religious buildings.This city is quite a tourist trap and we only gave ourselves one afternoon and evening here so had to select a couple of sights to see.We walked up to the Silver (Ginkakuji) temple and ambled back down the 'path of philosophy' along the canal and stopped to visit the Nanzenji temple at the bottom.Most temples and s...

From Biggest Smiles to Dogs in Dinner Jackets! So, we left Osaka and got on another bullet train, damn these are impressive, so fast and bang on time, every time. This time we managed to get a non smoking carriage so it was a much more pleasent journey. The hospitality of the Japanese continued as we were trying to find an ATM to get the last of our money for Japan out. We went into a 7 Ereven again and whilst I was at the cash point pressing random buttons ...

Osaka - Grimey & Neon-tastic with great grub! So we set off to Osaka on a bullet train, our first experience of this which was amazing (despite being stuck in the smoking carriage) - over 200 miles in 2 hours isn't bad! (You can note the speed by the picture Sam tried to take where the train had already passed him as he pressed the button) Mountains and snow flying past out of the window but Sam wouldn't have noticed as he spent most of the journey obsessing...