China first impressions: Airport shiny, rest less so. Perhaps just a big contrast to Japan in terms of service, cleanliness and politeness and we haven't adjusted yet! Beijing is full of massive skyscrapers but loads of them are not finished, and there is quite a lot of dirt, pollution and rubbish everywhere. Its all a bit mad - in Japan they form an orderly queue if theres any more than one person waiting, here its a bit more hectic! Its a bit frighten...

So today we parted as I wanted more temples and Loz wanted more record shopping... I went to Nikko with Hannah and Christian who I met at the hostel. Strangely both of them had a social science background too so it was nice to talk about academia for a bit. We sat chatting on the Shinkansen and actually forgot to get off at our stop so ended up going about 150 miles too far... but nice conductor saw funny side and it was no hassle or money to get back. Nikko was ...

We have been in Tokyo for 4 nights now, and its been hectic. After Takayama with its quite one-lane roads, it was definitely a culture shock! It is so huge, and all the buildings are massive too, lots of flashing lights, people, cars etc - but people are still really friendly. If you are looking slightly lost (this has been quite often) people go out of their way to help　you. So, a recap... First night we just wandered round trying to acclimatise. We ended u...

(Em writing now). Today we are staying at Sumiyoshi Ryokan, which is very expensive at Y27,000 for both of us, dinner and breakfast included. Its full of antiques, and our hosts are so kind and smiling, literally walking halfway up the street to give directions! Theres lots of bowing, am getting the hang of it now. Anyway Loz's blog is so good and seeing as I am typing it anyway I feel like theres not much to add. The onsen complex was brilliant - this part of ...

Screen walls look great but you can hear everything that is happening in the rest of the building - every yawn, sneeze and fart! We had a nice day today (again). In the morning we took th ebus to Kur-Alp, an (indoor) hot-spring complex. At first glance it looked like any indoor swimming pool complex in the UK somewhere between Noel Street baths and Centre Parks but on top of a mountain. In a big open room with glass walls and overlooking the town of Takayama and...