Travel photos and journals from across Asia [1997-2024]
For our final day in Seoul and of this epic road trip we headed over to the Lotte World Tower, the fifth tallest building in the world at 555 meters according to Google. Being a Monday morning, there were no epic queues or crowding which made a nice change. ‘Seoul…
Read more
It was another transit day and we checked out and walked a couple of blocks to the bus stop to grab the 41 to Busan station. The connection and KTX (bullet train) ride to Seoul took around three hours and went without a hitch. The train maxed out at just…
Read more
The weather looked pretty dire this morning but the forecast was for it to clear by 11am. Since our original plan was scuppered by non-functioning Korean websites, we decided on Busan’s third main beach – Haeundae Beach – instead which was a short bus ride away. The beach was pristine,…
Read more
From Gamcheon it was another bus to Songdo Beach for a ride on the ‘Busan Air Cruise’ cable car. Just like in Japan, there is no dual pricing in Korea and attractions are cheaper to enter than Thailand with this ride costing just 13,000 won. The sky ride gave us…
Read more
The first objective of the day was to secure tickets for the bullet train (KTX) to Seoul in a couple of days. However, we were bamboozled by technology yet again with the Korea Rail website telling us everything was full when we tried to book online. As we did in…
Read more
Today was a transit day with a 6am start to take a train to Kansai airport which is on an artificial island about an hour out of Osaka. The airport transfer was one of the fastest I have done though there was very little in the departure lounge which appeared…
Read more
Day thirteen Our final day in Japan was dedicated to shopping so we headed over to the Don Qui supermarket to get lost in the warren of tiny aisles where everything from designer handbags to four-litre bottles of whisky to wasabi paste was for sale. We were looking for some…
Read more
With the long weekend finally over, we thought it would be a good time to head out to Nara and the famous deer park. A 45-minute train ride later we emerged from Kintetsu-Nara station to realise that it made no difference to crowd levels as the Chinese tour groups were…
Read more
Day twelve Today we were heading one stop up the subway line to the Korobon Ichiba Market, Osaka’s famous seafood market. Every kind of aquatic lifeform imaginable from puffer fish to seaweed was on display here for consumption. We started with something safe, Kobe and Wagyu beef which we could…
Read more
Hotel check-out times are early in Japan so we were on the road to Tamachi station by 10am to grab a train into Tokyo Central for our Shinkansen connection. Being a public holiday meant more people and this sprawling transport hub was absolutely rammed. It was busier than the busiest…
Read more
Day nine Today was our only full day in Tokyo so we had a lot to pack in. The first stop was the city’s top attraction – its oldest Buddhist temple, Sensō-ji. About a million tourists had the same idea and the place was rammed. Thailand often touts how many…
Read more
Day 8 Our week with the van was up and it was time to return it to Tokyo. The quickest route was on the expensive toll roads, but going over the mountains would consume more fuel and take longer so we followed Google’s instructions this time. Navigating through the city…
Read more
Day 7 Today would be our last full day with the van so we had to start heading back towards Tokyo. We woke to a cold ‘pea souper’ which for the non-Brits is a thick fog. A couple of coffees later and it had started to clear so we set…
Read more
Day 6 Today’s adventure had been meticulously planned by Da who had been watching Thai YouTubers travelling in Japan. The Alpine Route as it is known is a very popular tourist attraction though a little hard to get to. Our first encounter at 06.30 was the car park attendant telling…
Read more
Day 5 Today we headed for Matsumoto Castle, touted as one of Japan’s national treasures. Entry fees for attractions in Japan are much cheaper than in Thailand and there is no dual pricing which is a refreshing trait of a first-world country. It cost us 700 yen, or around 175…
Read more