Hello all again! Actually writing this from Bangkok but just to sum up Japan, we had a great time in Osaka and the people were probably the nicest we've come across in Japan! Using Osaka as a base and using the trusty Shinkensen bullet trains we visited the best preserved fortress in Japan in Himejji and the ancient capital of Nara.

Himeji was really beautiful and its amazing to think the castle is in the condition its in considering its hundreds of years old! The views from the top were pretty spectacular too and we got to see authentic Samurai armour and weaponry which obviously excited me more than Hannah! Once we had finished here we visited yet another Japanese garden which was very tranquil and housed hundres of coy carp in a whole variety of different colours through various waterways! A very beautiful setting to leave behind before making our way back to Osaka!

The following day we visited Nara and saw the world's biggest wooden building and Japan's biggest Buddha! The scale of these things was absolutely massive! It was a really beautiful place with a thousand or so tame deer wandering the park grounds. We even saw one with a hole in its side which looked deep enough to be a serious injury, yet the poor animal was still alive so we affectionately called him 'the undead deer'! Most of the temples in Nara had been there for centuries with the oldest ones built in the 8th century! It was amazing!

In Osaka itself we rode one of the worlds largest ferris wheels (it used to be the highest at one point) and got a great view of the city and the surrounding area. After this we visited the Aquarium which was a lot of fun and uniquely set out with a number of huge tanks themed on different parts of the world. Undoubtedly, the Pacific tank was the most impressive as it housed numerous small sharks, a manta ray and also a whale shark so you can imagine its size! Our final port of call in Osaka was the castle which is a reconstruction of the old one and has become a modern museum inside detailing Japan's samurai history with the Shogun's etc. It was really interesting but extremely busy and i even got to try on a Samurai helmet! Sadly this wasn't as exciting as i thought it would be because my meat head was blatantly far bigger than any of the Japanese guys it was designed for and the crowds meant i had a lot of eyes on me which i hated! See the photo and you'll see how ridiculous i looked. Lesson learned...don't get too involved. Anyway better go so will write again soon detailing some of the stuff we get up to in northern Thailand!

Love from us! x