Armed with our usual fistful of maps we caught the train to Nara, a trip recommended to us by Tony from Bar Freedom. Nara was the site of the capital of Japan from 710 to 784 and there are many temples and historic monuments, also a famous deer park. It was quite a way on the train and we arrived round about lunch time. We found a covered mall near the station and chose a small restaurant for a setto lunch which turned out to be one rice and one noodles each, ve...

We walked out of our hotel directly into the labyrinthine subway below. Armed with a fistful of maps and instructions we set about trying to get ourselves over to the other side of Osaka for our Duck Tour. We nearly fell at the first hurdle, as we were trying to get our tickets in the railway station hall when we should have been a couple of floors down in the subway station hall but we found the right place eventually. Having successfully negotiated buying the c...

After delays to the flight we arrived in Osaka much later than intended. We caught the train to Namba where our hotel was conveniently situated just above. We checked in and found our room and felt in need of a nap. I think the very boozy lunch on board our flight had something to do with it! We woke up late in the evening but were determined to go out and not miss a Saturday evening on our first day in Osaka. We wrapped up warm because it was bitterly cold and...

We have spent an amazing week at Club Med Sahoro on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. Simon, Sonia and myself (Amanda) have had such fun! On the slopes we have experienced all weathers and conditions from blue skies and sunshine and crisp, crunchy snow to swirling arctic storms and two feet of powder. We have benefited from having excellent lessons from many different instructors, skiing for Simon and Amanda, and snowboarding for Sonia, and with their help we have...

After a wonderful trip all round, today was our last day on the mountain. We were feeling just a little bit jaded after too much socialising round the bar the night before but still ready to go out and enjoy the snow. We kitted up in all the gear and headed for the gondola accompanied by our new friend Olivier who was having a day off. The snow was coming down and when we reached the top the wind was howling and the visibility was almost nil! Amanda soon realise...