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Photo Flashback – Kyoto: Geisha and Hanami

One year ago we were beginning our tour of Japan, one of the more expensive, yet most rewarding destinations we have visited.  It was Spring and we were there at this time by choice hoping to understand why cherry blossom season is such an important time of year in the Japanese calendar.  We had made [...]

Flashpacking Travels in Japan & Tokyo

We were woefully under prepared for our visit to Japan. Arriving from the Philippines, we’d spent our last day in Manila running round malls trying to extract as much cash as possible from as many different ATM’s to obtain our Japanese rail passes, cash only! We just about managed to pull it off, but it [...]

Yudanaka: Onsen, Ryokan and Snow Monkeys

We were getting a little travel weary from our Japanese explorations, not that we were bored, it’s just our ageing muscles we’re throbbing from the long hours of walking and hiking that we’d been enjoying.   We decided a couple of days recuperation and relaxation were in order, before we headed back to Tokyo to complete our visit [...]

Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Takayama

In our last travel blog post, we visited some amazing Japanese temples and experienced the annual cherry blossom spectacular. In this update, we decided to travel into the countryside so we set off  in direction of the Japanese Alps.   We would be traveling to Kanazawa by train then by local buses through the mountains to Shinikawa-go before ending up [...]

Japanese Kindness in Kyoto & Nara

Having looked at the price of accommodation in Kyoto and Nara (staying overnight in either of these places is nearly double the price of cheap digs available in Osaka) we decided that Osaka would be our base for the next few days as we explored a bit more of the Kansai region. With our Japan [...]

Hiroshima and Miyajima

Traveling from Osaka to Hiroshima Our first journey from Osaka took us to Hiroshima, and gave us our inaugural ride on the bullet train.   A mere hour and half after stepping on at Shin-Osaka we were in Hiroshima, 306km away.  We had hurtled there at over 180kmph through tunnels and along the Shinkansen high speed track. We [...]

Negombo Beach and Sightseeing

The change in weather had spoiled our plans to go diving and sunbathing on the south coast of Sri Lanka so we decided to head back to Negombo to give this place a second look (it was our first stop in Sri Lanka) and to see if the clouds would clear for us. We decided [...]

Sri Lanka Two to Three Week Itinerary

Sri Lanka is set to be one of the up and coming travel destinations over the coming decade now that the civil war and violence are a thing of the past.  Get planning your trip to this special country that for years has been overshadowed by its overbearing neighbour – India. Basics Sri l Lanka [...]

Getting to Mirissa from Ella

We had enjoyed the cool air and mountain views of Ella, but it was now time to get back to sea level and hopefully a bit of sun. Ella is in the centre of Sri Lanka high in the mountains and the journey down to the coast was going to take around five to six hours [...]

Visiting Galle in a Day

Visiting Galle in a day by bus from Mirissa (or Columbo) If you get fed up Mirissa beach (who would) or want a change of scenery there is plenty to occupy you within an hours bus ride of Mirissa.   We had mistakenly sunbathed sans protection the day before as the sky was filled with [...]

Sri Lanka: Mirissa Whale Watching

One of the main reasons to visit south Sri Lanka is for the Mirissa whale watching. Every guest house and shop on the main road will be able to sell you a boat tour, but it pays to shop around as whale watching experiences vary in price.  We found most wanted to charge 3000 -4000 LKR [...]

Sightseeing by Scooter in Ella

After our memorable train journey we got down to business in Ella and went in search of somewhere to stay and plan our Ella sightseeing itinerary.  Like most of the smaller places here in Sri Lanka there is absolutely no sense in booking ahead unless you are staying in one of the more expensive luxury [...]