Articles from this Category
22 March 2024
Morning wander Having decided not to go the volcanic geopark outside of town, we spent the day largely exploring the old town. We started breakfast at a cheap eatery that sold steamed and baked dimsum items. They sold coffee, possibly Vietnamese style, very strong and sweet. Once we had slightly over-eaten, we repeated the walk […]
21 March 2024
Flying to Haikou Today we return to Haikou to begin our stay in Hainan Island. There’s a gap in the airline’s schedule with either somewhat early morning flights or one mid-afternoon. We had chosen an 0840 departure and had to wake at 0500. The Didi driver ordered by the hotel for 0600 was super-friendly. He […]
20 March 2024
Guangzhou Metro Today, we explored the sights of Guangzhou that were further afield, requiring some form of transport. I had set up my WeChat to include Guangzhou metro and to my great surprise, it worked perfectly! I only had to scan the metro sub-app barcode at the turnstile and I was let in (and out). […]
19 March 2024
Yongqingfang area I woke around 0700 and I met the others around 0800 to go around the corner to a “hole in the wall” place to get some dimsum items for breakfast. We ate them in the hotel lobby, accompanied by complimentary coffee. We set off around 0900 to explore the Yongqingfang old area near […]
18 March 2024
Arriving and transit in Haikou We arrived 15 mins ahead of the scheduled time of 0500 into Haikou. Immigration didn’t take too long and we were in the quiet landside area around 0530. I had a note in Google Translate explaining to the immigration officer that I needed the 15 day “All China” visa exemption […]
29 November 2023
Today was our last day in Japan. We both felt that we had done and seen so much that it wasn’t necessary to go exploring. We would go for wanders before and after lunch and dinner, and let serendipity take its course. We lazed in our rooms after our 0830 udon and rice triangle breakfast, […]
28 November 2023
Aso Nakadake Crater The hotel room came with an awesome buffet breakfast of hot and cold items. Of particular note was the tempura beef slices and a yuzu jelly. I had planned for a departure at 0900 but we managed to push off at 0830 driving to Aso Nakadake Crater as our first stop. The […]
27 November 2023
Moving to Kyushu Today we make an interisland rail trip from Hiroshima to Fukuokka (or strictly speaking Hakata) to begin our Kyushu road trip. We left the hotel around 0820 for our 0905 train. The interisland crossing by tunnel was so short, I must have blinked and missed it completely. Arriving at 1011 at Hakata, […]
26 November 2023
We had opted for an early start in the hope of catching Miyajima Island’s iconic torii at full tide. We left our rooms at 0730 and got to the boat at the Atomic Bomb Dome by bus in time for the 0815 departure. Our arrival at Miyajima at 0900 was perfectly timed for the high […]
25 November 2023
Peace Memorial Park Many people know Hiroshima for only one thing: the atom bomb that was dropped during WWII. It’s such a big part of the city’s history I decided we would start our visit there and work north towards the castle. Alice and I left the hotel at 0915 by bus. Arriving at the […]