Kel: Well after an amazing and knackering trip to Osaka we got to Kyoto. Although it is a city of traditional Japanese life, and therefore tourists, there is much less English written anywhere and therefore a little bit harder to make our way round (on buses no less). Our first stop was a wee cubby hole more budget hotel which was a fine stop over. We learnt that night that things weren't going so well back at our flat. The tenants were throwing a strop at our bo...

MATT: Couple of entries today as we have made it out of Tokyo to Osaka by bullet train. The public transport here is unreal...fast, clean and exactly on time. There is no question of delay or lack of information. Luckily most signage is in Japanese and English, and most everyone speaks enough English or is friendly and happy enough to point with us at maps and timetables so that we are understood. The Japanese people are, almost without exception, extremely frein...

Matt: Our first proper blog entry today after 4 days in Tokyo. It is an amazing city and is as surprising for it's similarities as it's differences to home. The trip out was pretty painless all in all - though it was weird to say goodbye to London (especially to our now completely empty flat) - but the plane was big with plenty of movies. But by the end we were delighted to get off. Getting from the airport to Tokyo city centre was actually fairly straightforwa...

After a few days chilling out in Farlayer http://www.farleyerlodge.co.uk/ and even managing to climb a mountain - we are back in Central Scotland getting our heads together and preparing for the start of our travels. The organising list is getting ticked off a wee bit at a time - and with every tick we are one step closer to kick off. The clock is counting down for real now....

The Blog has landed...Last day at work tomorrow and 4 weeks to go till departure. Can't wait...