Travel photos and journals from across Asia [1997-2025]
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 Sky’ tickets to the top…
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 under 300kph and you didn’t…
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, just like Gwangali, but the…
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 stunning views of the city…
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 Japan, we headed to Busan…
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 to cater for just the…
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 spirits to take back since…
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 there in force. The attraction…
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 select and the chef would…
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 airport I have ever been…
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 tourists it gets, but I’ve…
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 and its monumental urban sprawl…