Feeling rough, Kyoto tomorrow

Oh my days, I am not in a good state. Grant, if you're wondering, no we are not feeling clever. Was in Roppongi last night, which is basically where muppets who don't really know Tokyo go for a night out to get ripped off. We started by drinking a half bottle of vodka with coke - it was like being school kids again - under a giant spider statue because we could not afford bar prices all night. But this only increased later drunkeness and I spent loads anyway. It's all a bit of a blur but I got in at 9am, was woke up at noon - one hour after I was meant to check out - and generally haven't been the same since.
I am aware the blogs have been a bit rubbish of late, I've been a bit more ponderess in general - exacerbated right now by a monster hangover - and maybe have a touch of travel fatigue. This is odd in itself as, although I miss friends and family, I don't want to go home. Have been starting to snap out of it, but like I say, hangover, etc.
Anyway, thoughts on Tokyo... This is a great city where I definitely would like to live although it's expensive and you appear to have to live in a shoebox-sized flat or the sticks outside.
The people are really cute, unbelieveably fashion-conscious and stylish, and forever falling asleep on the underground, seemingly because they work excessively long hours, but my mate reckons also because they like to go for a few cheeky drinks after work.
Roppongi is the late-night disco area, Shibuya is one of the built up shopping centres (where they filmed famous scenes from Lost in Translation, and Shijuku is, well, another.
I don't really know what else to say, I'll collect my thoughts and get back to you with something altogether a little more coherent.

Tokyo

Tokyo is great, but expensive. My budget plans have taken a battering in recent weeks and Japan has really been the final nail in the coffin. The weak pound has also done for me - not that long ago you would get 250 yen to the pound, now it's down to 144.
I'm spending six days in Asakusa - Tokyo is hugely spread out and appears to be broken down into little communities. Asakusa is quite a family-orientated place, with lots of great temples (after three months in Asia I know a good temple when I see it) and less of the business and shopping craziness of areas like Shibuya. I then plan to take a bus to Kyoto, before going to Osaka, Kobe and maybe Hiroshima, then back up here.
I really like Tokyo and would definitely consider living here but it is pretty clear you need money to do so. I went to see a friend from university last night, he is teaching English to university students. His area of the city is also great and lively, but his entire flat would fit in my livingroom in Edinburgh with space to spare, and yet his rent is the same as my mortgage. But still, it's something to think about (and he gets six months off a year!) I've actually no idea what I'll do when I finish travelling, almost every place I visit I wonder whether I would like to live there, but I'm no closer to an answer.
The hostel is cool, but I'm having to change to another nearby tomorrow as they're booked up. It goes to show how many backpackers there are about, but Tokyo doesn't feel like a backpacker haunt, even less so than Beijing.
I'm sorry about the lack of pictures of late, they're on my camera but I've not been able to download them onto a computer, which may mean my disc has problems. Hopefully I'll be able to sort it soon.

Beijing at 1am

Strange day today, by travelling standards, arrived in Beijing about 8am and after pansying about was bunkered in hostel by 10ish. Brought very little warm weather gear as my only period of coldness is now and Japan - and doing laundy has meant freezing my **** off in shorts and T-shirt for most of the day. Met great people though, and loads to hook up with in Japan, not to mention tips on South America. I wish I could have spent more time in China, I don't feel like I've got to know it at all. I hope I get chance to do it properly - maybe a month wondering through, then take up an offer to stay in Mongolia, then journey through Russia. Anyway, I'll be in Japan in 18 hours, sake and sushi here we come...

A boy named Qin and the pottery boys

Well the Terracotta Army was far better than expected, with terrific level of detail on the soldiers. A lot of travellers talk it down, but for me this was a real high point. It's amazing, that some nut-job emporer persuaded people to build 8000 6ft-plus toy soldiers then bury them underground so they would help him rule from behind the grave (he wasn't that nice to them living by all accounts). Qin was quite the boy. He built (not personally obviously) the first Great Wall and, while I can't confirm this and it's a bit of a guess, I think the country is named after him as Qi sounds Chi when spoken by Chinese. He also unified the country if you're interested, which you're probably not, but then why are you still reading? You must be used to this drivel.
The other main attraction about Xi'an, China's former capital and third city, is the Muslim quarter, a great little maze of market stalls and real atmosphere.
This may be my last post from China, so I guess I should make some kind of judgement. One thing that has struck me is how - when travelling by train from city to city - you pass what in the UK would be a hamlet, a small community in the wilderness, but here it is a clutch of high rise flats, a pointer maybe to the massive population.
And I was walking down a Xi'an street today when a few traders started to panic and tried to flee. Suddenly this guy - who looked more of an Army general than police - strode across and started kicking their tables and stock about. If they were doing something illegal, no-one got arrested. It looked like weight being thrown around. I don't know if China already is or will be the new super-power, but I'm not at all convinced they are ready or will be as good as the US, even with all its faults.

A city, a teashop, a wall and Beijing duck

Woke up today to glorious sunshine, the last two days in Beijing were bitterly cold, so it was a pleasant surprise. I started my time here with a visit to the Forbidden City, a sprawling campus of palaces that was home to the emporers for about 500 years and is so-called because ordinary people were forbidden from entering. The emporer lived there with his emporess and concubines. According to the audio guide it was a hot-pot of scheming, murder, abuse and general high drama. On leaving I met two Chinese girls who blindsided me with Oriental beauty and - like the gullible idiot I am - led me to a Chinese teahouse where I was ripped off, though not too badly. Yesterday was the Great Wall - a stretch north of Beijing called Mutianyu, or something like that. It was great to see, although it's one of these things which is so well filmed and photographed that it holds no surprises. It was a freezing day and misty so the pics, which I promise to add soon, could have been better, but as it's autumn here, the leaves were golden brown and falling so it was particularly scenic. And there was a tobogan ride down, which was a laugh. In the evening I went for Beijing Duck with a friend of a friend who lives out here, and her friends. (Jane you were right) it was brilliant to meet someone local. We drank this horrifically potent clear spirit and by the end of the night I was nicely hammered. Xi'an on an overnight train in a few hours, Terracotta Army, etc. China is harder to navigate than south-east Asia, very few people seem to speak English (except when they want money) and that's in Beijing, but like India it is probably more rewarding for that.

Japanese oddities

I love Japan, apart from the cold and the cost, which is prohibitive, but what I love most is the craziness, such as the Manga comic book culture, that even grown ups read, and the all night internet cafes where you can sleep over. If you get lost and ask someone for directions, rather than point they will insist on walking you to where you are trying to get to, and if they don't know themselves they will ask someone else who will then also walk with you. There was four of us trapsing around trying to find a bus pick up point the other day. Anyway here's some mad stuff...

Geishas. One of my friends back home said she wants to be a Geisha, but to be honest they freak me out. They're like female clowns with the white faces and shoes that they can't wear properly reducing them to walking with a waddle. There were loads of them in Kyoto - and Meikas, Geishas in training - wondering around, surrounded by photographers, staring misty-eyed into the distance as if they were stoned.

They're not as freaky as Nampas though. Young guys who look like boyband rejects, and hang around Osaka city centre, trying to tempt girls into bars where they're on commission. We stood on the bridge, drinking lager and taking the piss out of them. Every other country I've been it's the other way round with bargirls trying to tempt male punters, so I guess this is one for women's equality, though judging by the reactions of the girls on the bridge not one they particularly want.

I almost got into a bit of trouble in Kobe. It's a nice place but I ended up spending four days there which was too long as it's quite quiet. Anyway, one day I went for a walk up the mountains, turned a corner, only to be confronted by a warthog. I've never trusted pigs since reading Animal Farm and Hannibal, and promptly legged it. When I got back and was chatting to the hostel owner he told me they're actually very dangerous, with a tendency to gore, and the city has to employ rangers to keep them under control!

Beijing baby

Great journey up to Beijing, never has 24 hours stuck in a train been so much fun. Started with a cat-fight between two mother and daughter combos over a seating mix up. The funny thing was they spoke Mandarin until it got really heated between the daughters then they slipped into English - "F*** your mother, a******!" to be precise. Nice to know we've given this country something. This was followed by chats with an American student, a Hong Kong-Australian family, and a former Mongolian soldier. With beer and food plentiful a good time was had by all.
When I first arrived in Beijing I was a little stuck. My own fault, I had not written down an address and phone no for the hotel, and no-one seemed to know it. Very few people speak English, particularly taxi drivers, but I managed to find an internet cafe, worked out a route and found it myself.
I've stayed in some great hotels, supposedly among the finest in Asia, but this is something else. The Opposite House has just opened. It is 6-star, of Japanese design, and ultra modern. Plus the mini-bar is free, wahey! Sadly the Chinese authorities had the last laugh and when my visa came back, with no warning, they had limited my stay to just eight days. Hopefully my travel agents can bring my flight to Japan forward, and I will spend longer there. But it's a shame, cause I think I really like China. My plan is to cram in the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and Xian and its Terracotta Army. I'll miss Shanghai though. And I will add pics soon promise, sorry.

Hong Kong

I leave Hong Kong tomorrow. Have had a great time here. I stayed in Kowloon for a few nights and am now in Hong Kong itself. The city is very cool if a little souless, its basically all skyscrapers and shopping. Most of my time has been booked up with travel journalism trips, although a couple of the tours failed to pick me up, but this at least gave me time to explore the city properly. One of the trips was a champagne night cruise of the harbour, which was a press launch, and was funny because everyone on it were just like Hong Kong versions of us lot back home whenever we went on a similar press freebie. They all seemed to have a love-hate relationship with Hong Kong - it's exciting and very happening, but it can also be quite claustraphobic.
The one tour out of Hong Kong really illustrated how the city is expanding. We saw a floating village used by the families of fishermen, who would have been there for generations, but will soon be forced to leave as a gaudy estate of multi-million pound homes - called The Beverly Hills - is being erected nearby and they want somewgere for the people to store their yaughts. All really sad.
Anyway China tomorrow and after one free stay in Beijing it will be a return to good old fashioned backpacking. Looking forward to China. I don't really know what to expect, which is what it's all about. Hopefully I'll still be able to blog as they do have some internet restrictions.

Halong Bay to Hong Kong

Forrest Gump: "One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath."

Hanoi's just had the worst rain for 35 years, and I copped it. Last time it was that bad was probably when Forrest himself was there. It stayed relatively dry for the trip to Halong Bay though - about three hours from Hanoi - more than a thousand large rocks jutting out the ocean, some with stunning caves inside. Legend has it they were created by a swish of a dragon's tale, which may or may not be true. It was too good to be crap, but the tour company did their best. The guide, rather than knowing the first thing about the islands, caves and their history, spent the whole time pointing out rocks which looked like things (or often didn't). 'Over here is big lion, and there see, little lion.' When he pointed to a rock which he thought looked like a phallic penis - which he called 'manpower' - most of the group disbanded leaving the sleazy little idiot giggling away at his own joke.
My first attempt to get to Hong Kong was a fiasco. Acting on advice from the Chinese Embassy in London and the travel agent in Hanoi I got a bus without a Chinese visa and was promptly sent back from the border by polite but unbudging - even in the face of bribes - Chinese officials. I went back to Hanoi, gave the travel agent merry hell, and got a discounted flight.
As I've said in previous posts, I've got a couple of free hotel stays in Hong Kong. I'm currently in a flash suite with a harbour view. I've had a free massage and they're taking me on champagne cruise along the river, but I'll need to remortgage the flat before I so much as breathe on the minibar. I am to travel writing what Lovejoy was to antiques, a ludicrous chancer with bad hair and worse jokes who spends most his time getting in and out of scrapes. Anyway, I'll add photos next chance I get.