Chris Dyson's Travel Blog

Raining once again as I left Tokyo transferring to the airport. I had used transfers in all 3 different countries to and from the airport, all of them were on time with no issues. Tokyo Airport I used my last few Yen coins trying some limited edition Japanese mint flavoured kit-kat which were very nice. I would be flying with Aeroflot for both of the flights back to London. Soon after we boarded we were informed that the in-flight entertainment system was broken, which was not ideal for a 10 hour flight. We were offered several drink refills, 2 meals and a yoghurt/ice-cream throughout the flight tho which was nice. Aeroflot plane Moscow Airport I had a 3 hour connection here, so I grabbed a few croissants and tried to grab some rest in the corner somewhere. The next onward flight to London would be 4 hours but it was OK as I had enough leg room on this flight. Heathrow Airport I arrived into London and cleared border control around 21:30pm. I would be staying overn...

The rain had unfortunately greeted me for my last full day in Japan. But I was determined to get the 3 things I had planned at home for today completed. Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine The first of which was Inari Shrine which is just 2 stops on the JR Nara line from Kyoto station. This took just 5 minutes to get there and cost only ¥140Yen (£1). The trains run every 15 minutes and the admission for this popular shrine is free. I arrived around 9am so it was just starting to get busy but it is actually open 24 hours a day. To walk all the way up to the top is around 4 kilometres. I chose to walk to point 6/7 on the map as it had a good viewing point of Kyoto. I then walked back to Inari station for the journey to Saga-Arashiyama station. This cost ¥240Yen (£1.60) and requires a change at Kyoto. Torii gate leading up the trails Iwatayama Monkey Park 6 stops later on the JR Sagano Line and I had arrived, it took 16 minutes in total. After walking for 15 minutes I was at the en...

Nijo Castle Our first stop of the day was Nijo Castle. We had to take our shoes off before entering the building and no photographs were allowed inside. This castle is one of 17 ancient buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. We then went a bit further north west to the Kinkakuji Temple, which is more commonly known as the Golden Pavilion. Kinkakuji Temple(Golden Pavilion) As soon as we arrived at the Golden Pavilion everybody was keen to take photos straight away. Once again we had a clear day despite the recent poor weather in Japan from Typhoon 21. With the clear water and autumnal colours surrounding the building this is one of the top sights in Kyoto for sure. It was completed in 1397. Golden Pavilion Kyoto Imperial Palace Our final stop pf the morning was at Kyoto Imperial palace. Most of the functions of the palace stopped after the capital of Japan was moved to Tokyo in 1869. There are lots of different architecture to be seen here and various build...

Mount Fuji We made the drive to Mount Fuji starting at 8am and the weather was one of the best days in October the guide said. It had also snowed in the early hours of the morning so it looked exactly how I had seen in pictures online before travelling to Japan. We were allowed to travel up to the 5th station at midday and is one of the most popular viewing points as its open all year round pending heavy snowfall in the winter. Mount Fuji Lake Ashi In the afternoon we took a 15 minute cruise on Lake Ashi, which is in the Hakone area of Kanagawa Prefecture. The boat was very spacious and relaxing just looking around the beautiful scenery in the distance. Disembarking the cruise on Lake Ashi The destination took us to Hakone cable car ropeway which was next on the agenda. Hakone Ropeway The cable car runs every 10 minutes, and I took the 15:50 up and the 16:30 back down. In total it takes around 7 minutes each way and as soon as it starts to move the view is fan...

I left my luggage at the hotel as it was still too early to check-in and made my way onto Tokyo Metro ready to explore. Ueno Park My first stop of the day was in Ueno Park. When I originally left home I wasn't planning on coming here so it was a last minute decision. There was also some light rain in the air but that wasn't going to deter me. I saw a small baseball park inside which looked very well maintained as I understand it is one of Japan's most popular sports. From here I went back to the metro and headed towards the Tokyo Skytree. Tokyo Skytree As soon as I arrived in the area departing the metro I saw a group of people who had rented some Mario like go karts. From what I understand the company is called Maricar and you will need a driving license if you want to do this while in Tokyo. The Skytree tower itself was just in the distance and is an observation deck, broadcasting and restaurant tower. In 2010 it was the tallest structure in the world but has si...

DMZ Tour My pickup time was around 07:30am and the coach was full. You may be surprised but these tours are very popular. We made the drive north to the border and made a rest stop at Imjingak Park. Imjingak Park Entering Imjingak Park is the last stop before you enter inside the DMZ area properly. Here there are memorials of the Korean War as well as Freedom Bridge in the distance. This is where prisoners of war would be sent from the North back into their own country in the South. Freedom Bridge 3rd Infiltration Tunnel The next stop was the 3rd infiltration tunnel. The Third Infiltration Tunnel is one of four known tunnels under the border between North and South Korea. It is just 44km from Seoul and was discovered in October 1978. I had a walk half way down but turned back as the head space started to diminish, unfortunately no photos are allowed here. Dorasan Observatory Here you can get a great view of the border and see the North Korean city of Kaesong. You ...

I was picked up at the hotel for my transfer to the airport. Today I was leaving China and making my way to South Korea. It was a couple of hours on the flight from Shanghai to Seoul. Gyeongbokgung Palace After transferring to my hotel in Seoul it was around 4pm and I knew the sunlight was fading. I dropped off the suitcase in the room and walked around the corner to the metro and went to the palace straight away. I needed to make sure I made the last admission time of 5pm or I couldn't get in at all because it would be closed tomorrow and I was only in South Korea for 2 days. This palace was build in 1395 and was part of the Joseon dynasty. It is the biggest of 5 palaces that were built around that period of time. I then made my way back to the hotel after closing time as I needed to do some laundry at the hotel. I packed for around 11-12 days worth of clothes and I was in Asia for 16-17 so this was the best time to do it as I had seen the hotel had a coin operated laundry...

Shanghai Museum We started the day by visiting the Shanghai museum. The queue was only 15 minutes long to enter and I had a power hour walk around. I don't normally enjoy museums too much but the 4th floor had some interesting stuff such as furniture and clothing. There are over 120,00 items on show inside this museum which opened in 1996. Furniture on the 4th floor. Nanjing Road After the museum we drove to near Nanjing Road where we were dropped off. Nanjing Road is the main shopping street in Shanghai. It is 5.5km long and runs from East to West. It attracts up to 1 million visitors per day and is one of the busiest shopping areas in the world. The Bund Towards the east end of nanjing Road is 'The Bund'. This is where you can see Shanghai's skyline view across the Huangpu river in the Pudong area. There was some low cloud but the mist added an extra effect to the photos. Yuyang Garden  Our final stop of the day was Yuyang Garden wh...

Chengdu Airport After a lie in we were picked up for our transfer back to Chengdu airport. We boarded the plane and travelled just over 2.5 hours east to the city of Shanghai. We were then greeted and driven to our hotels in the city of Shanghai. I Checked in to the hotel and rested in my room for an hour before I used the metro to the Shanghai Circus World area. Shanghai Circus World The show titled "ERA Intersection of Time" was just under 2 hours long with a 10 minute intermission and was fantastic from start to finish. It had the audience hooked from the beginning and there was never a dull moment. There was acrobatics, several people on a bicycles and the finale of motorbikes inside a globe. I would recommend anybody who has a free evening in Shanghai to do this. The start time was 19:30pm. My video from this day can be found here:   Next Day: Shanghai City Tour including Shanghai Museum, The Bund, Nanjing Road, and Yuyuan Gardens.

Chengdu Panda Research Base We drove across Chengdu to the panda research base. We noticed a huge school trip waiting outside so we made a swift walk to make sure we were ahead of them. Pandas diet is 99% bamboo and is pretty much all they eat. They will often eat between 9-18kg per day and sleep for 8-12 hours. We also saw some Red panda, they are listed as an endangered species as there are less than 10,000 in the wild and their population is in decline. We were also lucky enough to see some baby pandas resting inside. Jinli street We made our way back across Chengdu into the cities Jinli street. The buildings are in the style of the Qing Dynasty and is around 550 metres long in total. It is full of local bars and snacking shops which hosts around 18 million visitors per year. I managed find a tub of chips with some seasoning for lunch. In the afternoon we would visit some more of Chengdu's famous alleys. Entrance area to Jinli Street Kuan & Zhai Alleys ...

The main group had now split into smaller groups as we were doing separate tours after today. Our group was down to 8 as we made our way to the Xi'an City Wall. Xi'an City Wall To walk the full wall it is around 14km in length. I walked a small section of it and some of the others on my tour choose to bike ride a section of it. It was built in the 14th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of moat on the outside was under renovation but I managed to walk far enough round to get a photo before it was time to head back to the coach. On the Xi'an City Wall Muslim Quarter The next place we visited was the Muslin quarter and to the Great Mosque. Xi'an has around 50,000 Hui Muslims living there. We would also visit the Muslim street whilst here, where there was a variety of meats on offer. This was our last thing to do in Xi'an as we made our way to the Airport. The Great Mosque Xi'an Airport We drove to the airport and the gr...

Terracotta Warriors We started the day with a long drive across Xi'an to the Terracotta Army site. The figures which were made around the 3rd century were discovered by a farmer in 1974. Estimates suggest that there are at least 8,000 models across the various pits ranging in size depending on the rank of the soldier. There are many models here that have been repaired and continue to be repaired. This is probably one of the most popular tourist sites to visit outside of Beijing. Terracotta Warriors in Pit 1 Xi'an Museum We drove back across Xi'an to the city to visit the Xi'an museum. It is believed that there are around 130,000 pieces of work inside this museum on show. The museum is open from 09:00am until 18:00pm (17:30 Winter) and is near Nanshaomen Station on metro line 2. Small Wild Goose Pagoda A quick walk around the corner and we would visit the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. The Small Pagoda was built between 707–709AD and was unfortunately damaged...

Today we would be leaving Beijing but we had one last thing on the itinerary to visit and that was the Temple of Heaven. Temple of Heaven Located in the south east part of Beijing, The Temple of Heaven was visited by Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for prayer of good harvest. We also saw elderly playing cards, chatting and practising their musical instruments together as we walked through the park garden area. It was constructed in 1406 to 1420 at the same time as the Forbidden City and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. The park is accessible by Subway Line number 5 near Tiantandongmen Station. Hall of Prayer Xi'an Bullet Train We were then transferred to Beijing West train station where we could grab some lunch before boarding the bullet train to Xi'an. This station has 14 waiting rooms and looks very busy on arrival but the rooms do clear quite a lot as the trains start to board around 30 minutes before departure. The train would take around...

We all gathered on the coach knowing that we had a long drive ahead of us. Walking the great wall of China is on the bucket list of most people that like to travel and today was the day. Mutianyu Great Wall There are several parts of the wall to visit with Badaling seemingly been the most popular. For that very reason we were taken to the Mutianyu section as it was less busy with tourists. On arrival there was still plenty of people, but it was only really noticeable when going through the watchtowers to the next part of the wall. We took the cable car to Tower 14 and I walked up to the area around tower 19/20. I walked uphill rather than downhill as I felt that would give me the best photo opportunities. Again you could spend a full day here, bring some food with you and have a picnic on the wall if you wanted to. If you walk down the hill in the other direction towards gate 6 there is a toboggan ride you can take as an alternative back to the ground. Olympic Park After l...

I waited in the lobby to meet half of the group, and we joined the other half already on the coach making 17 of us in total. We made the very short trip from our hotel around the corner to start the day at Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square Within the first 10 minutes I had already had my first photo taken because of my height. The square is one of the biggest squares in the world and is perhaps most famous for the 1989 protests. On the square you will find Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. We slowly walked around the square making our way across the road via the underpass to the Forbidden City.  Forbidden City The sheer size of this place is amazing, there are around 980 buildings to explore you could spend all day here if you wanted to. We were guided through some of the most important buildings as we learned more about them through local knowledge. In total I think we spen...

I arrived in China around 1 hour late but I didn't mind too much as it was a full free day to myself. Hopefully the guide wasn't waiting too long as I landed around 07:20am. I filled out my arrival card and made my way through immigration to collect my suitcase. We made the transfer from the airport to my hotel in Beijing. It was located inside the first ring road which is very convenient for getting around. I only had to wait around 30-45 minutes in the lobby area before I was allowed to check-in early which was a bonus. After dropping my suitcase off in the room and packing my backpack, I set off to explore a couple of sights that were not on the itinerary in the coming days.  Jingshan Park  View of the Forbbiden City from Jingshan Park. A slow 30 minute walk later I found myself at Jingshan Park. This is located to the north of the Forbidden City near the exit, and provides a great view back down after a quick walk up the hill. The entry fee is just 2 Yuan(25pence...