Started today with a pretty good breakfast. Met our guide Nancy and started our tour at the Jewish Ghetto, at Ohel Moshe Synagogue. We toured the museum and learnt that China was one of the few countries that accepted Jewish refugees from Europe, mostly from Vienna. There were around 23,000 living in the ghetto between 1943-45. We walked around the neighborhood where the ghetto once existed, now mostly residential. A few of the buildings have been restored and are now cultural heritage sites. We moved onto The Bund area which is a large promenade along… Read Article →
After an early brekkie – with the Israeli’s hogging the toaster, we met Sally at 7am in the lobby. Off to the airport. Traffic here is crazy, no one seems to follow any rules, scooters everywhere going in any direction regardless, no helmets are worn and kids are randomly perched on the back or wherever, today covered in ponchos. Got to the airport in good time. Airport was really nice and clean with lots of affordable coffee and convenience shops etc. We boarded on time, settled in and five minutes after our departure time, we… Read Article →
Ok brekkie buffet, big group of Israelis there this morning. Sally our guide met us at 9am and we set of for the first stop – the Banpo Museum. Heavy fog and rain again today. Then on to the government run factory where they make replicas of the Terracotta Army, typical traditional lacquered furniture, pottery, jade jewelry etc. Additionally they show you how the figures are made, from local clay, and the process to final product, which of course they try and sell. Of course they ship anywhere in the world, and take credit cards! Next… Read Article →
Leaving for Xi-An today as the smog returns to Beijing. Crappy domestic airport terminal with no air conditioning and only a couple of very overpriced coffee shops. Our Airbus 321 is 85% empty, flight is straightforward. Sally our tour guide met us upon arrival in Xi-an and we were taken to our hotel. Not much visibility as there was fog and rain. Hotel is very spacious, all suites, two loos in our suite, no one speaks English at the front desk however. Bed was hard as nails, so not a good nights kip. Buffet dinner… Read Article →
Day 14 After an early night and a good night’s sleep, up at 6am, great breakfast, met Effi and John for the drive to Mutinyahu section of The Great Wall. As we’d made an early start, on the road at 7.30am, we got to our destination before the crowds. Wow and Wow. We went up to the wall by a ski type lift and then climbed to the highest point of that section, which according to my Fitbit as 66 floors! Breathtakingly spectacular. We went down in a toboggan type of slide and then off… Read Article →
It seems that Google is banned here along with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter No Facebook posts for a while, so if we miss your birthday, apologies! You’ll have to follow our blog and comment on it to keep in touch, you can text either of us also as we do have free texting with our T Mobile plan – yeh! Breakfast today was a amazing array of everything you could want fresh fruit,eggs, granola, etc. Our tour group in #Beijing is just us, our guide Effi and driver John. We set off for #TiananmenSquare which is one of the largest… Read Article →
We are now at Kansai International Airport (関西国際空港 on our way to Beijing, China. Kansai Kokusai is an international airport located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Ōsaka Station, located within three municipalities, including Izumisano ,Sennan and Tajiri in Osaka Prefecture, #Japan. The airport is off the Honshu shore and was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. The airport serves as an international hub for All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Nippon Cargo Airlines, and also serves as a hub for Peach, the first international low-cost… Read Article →
I – Caroline, have a disgusting cold and feel like crap – FYI, but in the British spirit, kept calm and carried on (with the help of cold meds and massive quantities of tissues!). Thankfully John seems to be OK. The only redeeming featuring about this hotel is that they have cheap and efficient laundry machines which we used last night while updating the blog and having a picnic of to go sashimi and real fresh fruit bought at a local grocery store without having to take out a loan! As we are repeating this now… Read Article →
Hotel this time was excellent, with a totally slamming Western and Japanese buffet with fresh fruit, tomatoes, omelette station, proper bread etc etc! And enough time to eat before our 8.20am departure. We all met Sumiko, our guide in the lobby, same group as yesterday and joined a handful of Japanese on a bus and walking tour of Kanazawa. The first stop was at a traditional #geishastreet Higashi-Chaya-District, a small area but there are still women employed as geishas today. The tradition of the geisha has changed a bit over the years but is essentially the same. Next we… Read Article →
Disappointing breakfast. On the bus with a couple of rather odorous folks sitting within nostril range. Stuck, can’t move for an hour or so. Our little group, James & Maryam, Les Québécois and East Finchley and our tour guide Sumiko are on a bus with other groups. The bus tour guide has been explaining where we are going and what we will see today for the past 25 minutes in English. We haven’t understood one word! Fortunately our guide is giving us a translation along with color photos ( “27 8×10 color photographs with a… Read Article →