Travel update - Tokyo to Kyoto

Alright folks, although we're currently in Nagasaki, we're running a few days behind on updating the blog (which I'm guessing will be standard). So for now here's an update on our travels in Tokyo and Kyoto...

Tokyo was as always an attack on the senses. We stayed at the Khaosan Smile hostel in the Asakusa area of the city. The hostel was okay although we did have to swap rooms on our second night which was located in a different building entirely. Asakusa is a pretty chilled out part of the city; one landmark that seemed to have everyone excited is the new Tower Sky Tree; a being built nearby which will eventually reach 2080ft. As its only half done at the moment it seemed a little strange to see literally hundreds of people taking pictures of the thing.

Other Tokyo highlights include Tokyo Tower, which also houses a very funny wax museum (some of the figures are hilarious) and a few other cool exibits. At night we managed to visit the Shibuya area with its famous crossing - see the video below :)



Check out our full gallery of photos from Tokyo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/globefest/sets/72157623756716811/

After Tokyo we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto where we stayed at Kyoto Tomato Hostel where we met a Japanese guy called Yoshiyuki. Despite him only speaking about five words of English and us only knowing limited Japanese we invited him out with us to exxplore the city. At first it was a little awkward with the lack of communication, but by the time we'd reached Maruyamacho park, bought some hot street food and had a beer, we were talking fluent gibberish to one another. As the Sakura (cherry blossom) is in full bloom here, everyone is having Hanami parties. Basically groups of friends go to the park and sit under a Cheery tree with food and drink. It makes for an awesome atmosphere.

After taking in some more sights we headed back to the hostel with some drinks before heading out to a local izakaya for some delicious chicken elbow. The following videos will explain all!!





That's all for now folks but there is much more to come!!

The journey begins!

I'm very glad to report that both Shad and I have arrived safely in Tokyo! The flight over was very long and tiring and we were awake for over 24 hours but it is all worth it. To be strolling around Tokyo on a warm spring day, taking in the sights, sounds and pongy smells, when only hours ago we were in rainy Scotland, is an awesome feeling. It was even better when we stopped in at a nice outdoor cafe to enjoy a cool glass of Asahi.

Anyway I'll keep this short, there's a lot of exploring to be done. For now here are a few photographs of the sights so far...