asia

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4 Nights in Bangkok.

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It took me too many years to visit beautiful Thailand. Years ago Thailand used to be one of the most popular tourist destinations. This kept me from visiting Thailand. Nowadays it's gotta be Bali... everybody wants to visit Bali. So I thought: this gotta be it! Now is the right time to give that asian country a try. All I can tell after these few lines, Thailand hit me unlike any other travel-destination. I'm already planning to get back this year, for a second time.

Way too many people told me to skip or avoid the capital Bangkok. After all the photos i've checked out on google, the reviews and stories I read about Bangkok, I was so convinced that I would enjoy the busiest city of Thailand. 

One of the main reasons why my few days in Bangkok were worthwhile, had probably to do with the lovely human encounters I experienced. It all started with a simple thank you at the airport. This might sound pretty goofy, but I think the way thai-people are thanking you, with folding both hands together and rising them upfront to the face, is just the most sincere way for showing your gratitude.  After visiting quite a few asian countries, this was the first thing that I noticed at the airport: "Khob Khun Krup" (thank you for men). My first thought "ok, cool, that's a thai-thing".

Of course the taxi ride, struck my mind as well. It took me almost an hour to get to my hostel, because traffic is usually very busy in Bangkok. With a pretty good tip, the cab-ride cost me less than 10$/€. 

After checking in at the hostel, I noticed that all the guests had to take off their shoes, before entering the main areas of the hostels (bathroom, kitchen, garden, dorms...). It definitely felt like far away from home. 

I stayed 4 nights in Bangkok, and all I've seen was the main area, the pretty much touristic center surrounded by temples. Of course you do have many small alleys, where all the local people live or hang out. However I didn't manage to make it to the skyscraper area on the east side, or to the north the more rural area. 

Temples, temples ... and even more temples. It was obvious, like in Korea, Japan, Hong-Kong... I would do many temples, and after a while I would be bored by temples. The high & colorful "prangs" which are the most eye-catching parts of the temple, were pretty much fascinating. "WAT ARUN" and "WAT PHO" were the ones I enjoyed the most. While riding a tuc-tuc across the city, you will notice those diverse temples along the road. There are just too many temples in the city. 

Just a quick reminder! Taxis are way cheaper than tuc-tucs, because they're using the taxi meter. I wouldn't bargain or set a fix price, because the cabs in Bangkok are dirty cheap! Tuc-tuc driver don't even bother for the low-price rides, they'll just send you to the next driver.

The Grand Palace was definitely a very beautiful tourist attraction! The colors, the architecture, too much gold glitter, walls filled with precious stones, ... it's worth the visit! However the place was so crowded that I just left my camera in my bag, you couldn't get a descent shot of the place. And it was the only temple/building where I wouldn't get in with shorts. They're renting pants or you just can a buy cute elephant pants as a souvenir.

The "Golden Mountain" temple is worth checking out as well ! As you will have to climb up too many stairs, however at the end you will be rewarded with a beautiful view all over Bangkok.

Is there anything to do besides temple-hopping?

I was really looking forward for the floating market. The old ladies on their boats, the scents, the colors, the water... all that would have made a lovely photo shooting. However I was told that the floating market take place on weekends. The best ones would be outside of the city, approximately one hour driving. 

Chatuchak is the biggest weekend market in the city. I was visiting Chatuchak in the very early evening on a sunday, when some of the stalls were already closing. It's mostly about food & fashion. Sounds boring huh? Trust me it's very hip! I bought around 7 shirts & t-shirts. Most of them were around 2-7$ a piece. I really loved the design, you could sell them easily in Europe for triple the price. They had all kind of street food you could expect. I spent an hour at the market, and I enjoyed it a lot. I'd definitely go back on my next trip to Bangkok.

Very nearby was the "Camp - Vintage Market". That one was the cherry on top! Such a cool and hip place right in the center of Bangkok. I'd never expected to discover London's "Camden Town" in Thailand. Old trailers as coffee-bars, vintage cars with surfboards on it, cafe-racer shops, super trendy clothing stores. There was a live band playing soul-music. It was very beautiful place, less crowded and definitely more classy then London's twin-market.

Khao San Road.

Hate it or love... ? Ok, nope, you won't love the place, but you will definitely enjoy the place. "Khao San Road", also know as the "backpacker street", is the main party road in Bangkok. Why "backpacker street"? Well I have no clue, but I guess, because all the people look like surfers or backpackers. No fancy clothes... flip-flops, shorts, tanktops, that's all you see on Khao-San. 

I visited Khao San Road on my first night. And I did expected the worst! While walking through the party-mile totally sober, my first thought was to leave that place.  I reached the end of the road and fled towards the "Soi Ram Buttri", which is located only a couple of footsteps away. "Soi Ram Buttri" is the total opposite of Khao-San. It still feels backpacker-like, but it's a very quite street. The same alley will lead you to the main-road where you will find quite a few music bars. I went to "JAZZ HAPPENS". It was tiny charming jazz bar. The perfect spot to start the evening. I was the only caucasian at the bar, and I found it very welcoming that the band was switching from thai to english just because of me. Gotta love thai-people!

 After some greasy finger-food, and a couple of gin&tonics, I felt ready to get back to Khao-San road. I stepped inside a bar that had a japanese name. And that was the place where the madness instantly kicked in. The topless male bartender greeted me, asked my name, and gave me a free shot. The thai people next to me at the bar, didn't take long to start a conversation with me. I paid a shot, they paid a shot, the bartender gave another shot for free... After way too many drinks, I left the bar with a thai dude, and we headed to the nearest streetfood-grill. That's where I made new friends again... short after that I woke up in my hostel bed the day after. I had a hard time remembering how I got home.

The next evening I walked back to Khao San Road, because it was the closest place to my hostel, where life was happening at full speed. I passed by a group of thais who started smiling at me, a couple of girls and one guy. As I felt kind of not-ready, no drinks yet, I smiled back and moved on towards the end of the street. One of the girls started running after me, and said "Hey Frank!". I  asked her how she would know my name, and then she started laughing "You don't remember us ???". I gently replied with a "nooooope". I joined the group of people and got to know my thai friends for the second time within 24 hours. 

So if I gotta summarize my last paragraphs, give Khao San a chance. Even though you might bump into tons of rubbish people, i'm pretty sure everybody can have a blast, or at least a fun  night, in that street.

3 guys & 2 girls.

3 guys & 2 girls.

Canal Boat Ride.

If you wanna get away from the bustling city center, you can jump on a boat and get ride through the canals and along the river. It's not gonna be a beautiful boattrip! The water is pretty dirty, you will see a lot of wooden cabins, worn down houses of the locals, too many tourist boats crossing yours, and of course the floating market rip-off. One single person on a boat, approaching you to buy a souvenir or a beer for the boat-driver, is considered a "floating market". 

It's definitely not a must-do attraction. However I was glad I bought a ticket for the boat tour. I had a whole boat for myself. I managed to get a couple of descent shots on my camera, and you discover Bangkok from a different angle. After all, that wasn't how I expected Bangkok. Never thought I would ride a boat through several canals for almost an hour.

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Obviously I was checking out Bangkok at a slower pace this time. There's still so much left to discover. All I can tell, I wasn't disappointed at all !

I got to know quite a few lovely people in Bangkok. They told me that Thai people don't eat with chopstick except for the pad-thai dish, they introduced me to sticky-rice and to laughing gas.. so many unimportant things, that I still found it very interesting. And the thai people just loved my most stupid questions about Thailand, which seemed so obvious to them.

I will write a seperate post about the second city I visited in Thailand, Chiangmai! 

Chiangmai, was different, maybe better, but Bangkok was afterall a joy-ride.

 

 

 

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HANOI - Capital of Vietnam.

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The few things I learned within the first couple of hours in Hanoi, were that the center of the capital of Vietnam literally is a jungle of traffic, especially motor bikes and scooters. And so much more blooms out of that issue. Crossing the street, seems at first sight impossible or suicidal, because absolutely no one stops his vehicule to let you cross the street.

 

Walking on the side walk ? The scooter-drivers park their bikes on the sidewalk, so there's barely, or absolutely, no space for pedestrians. During my first hours in Hanoi, i checked out the neighbourhood by walking on the street lane with the locals, and paying so much attention to avoid getting hit by a vehicle.

As my plane landed in the early morning at Hanoi's international airport, most of the passangers had to kill time, before checking-in. Luckily the hotel managers, figured out that a lot of planes hit Vietnam on early hours, so most of the hotels I stayed at, allowed early check-ins, around 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.

Nevertheless, me and other passengers, were walking around the most popular and central lake called „Hoan Kiem“. It attracts a lot of locals in the early morning, who are down for yoga, dancing classes or just jogging around Hoan Kiem.

At the lake, I quickly got in touch with different vietnamese people, in a good and a bad way. I will come back to that later. I was told a couple of facts about the city, obviously about its traffic, and why there were so many motor bikes all across of Vietnam. There are around 90 millions of people living in Vietnam. Most of them can't afford cars and opt for a scooter instead. There are lots of narrow alleys in Hanoi, which aren't accessible by car, therefor the scooter wins again. And of course the gas. Scooters consume less gas, and is budget-wise more attractive for the vietnamese folks. Car-parking in Hanoi... forget about it. It's pretty obvious, that you ride a scooter when you're living in Hanoi.

I didn't feel like being in a country's capital, after I checked out the area nearby my hotel. Most of the touristic sights are within walking distances. As soon as you get out of the city's limits, it feels like being on the country side. However in Hanoi you will be introduced to the vietnamese culture without any doubt; food, clothes, pride, politics, Ho Chi Minh, work, history. You will turn back home wiser and with a total different approach towards Vietnam. I figured out, that I absolutely knew nothing about the country, prior my arrival. 

In the very center of Hanoi, nothing looks luxurious. The streets are packed with streetfood-stalls, the sidewalks are blocked by thousands of motorbikes, and a lot of locals are just waiting to hunt some tourists to offer them a service. I got really annoyed a couple of days, when just everybody seemed to get into small-talk with me and later it tourned out, that they were trying to get to the money. 

Once you get the vibe of the city, it feels so satisfying, being able to walk everywhere in the city. No need for public transportation. The locals on the scooters give you a ride for 1 to 3 us$ (30.000 – 60.000 viet. dongs). Most of them are good drivers, so no need to worry.

Actually I got asked by a traveler „Hey don't you think that the vietnamese are really good drivers“. At first, I totally disagreed, and then I realized that she was so right. Ok, they don't stop and let you cross the street. They honk ALL the time. Some ride their bikes without a helmet, some ride them bare-foot. But considering the fact that there are so many bikers on the street, thousands of them, surrounded by still a lot of cars and cabs, no one ever stops, and still there are barely no accidents. During my 2 weeks in Vietnam I witnessed only 1 single accident. Two bikes, 5 people, were involved in the crash. The police, and the military, witnessed the accident, but no one helped, and the involved drivers, just drove off, with bloody scratches on their faces. Crazy!

 

How to cross the street in Hanoi

Well enough said about the traffic, but I gotta add a couple of lines, about „how to“ cross the street, if it's your first time in Vietnam. Be respectful towards cars and taxis, let them go first. When crossing the street, always keep eye-contact with the closest biker or driver, and they'll do the same. They will try to pass around you, and you can tell that by having eye contact. Constantly walk, until you feel that it's wiser to stop in the middle of the street. Actually it's so easy, once you get used to it. Do as the locals, just walk!

 

The endless streetfood stalls

The first few days, I really didn't know what to think of the local street food. I have had vietnamese food before, but mostly at restaurants. The scent of cooking, the smell of seafood, invading the street corners, initially made me avoid those places. It's obvious that the locals aren't used to the hygiene standards of the western world. Maybe they don't have to, because their food seems to be a lot fresher than ours. You get the food straight from the plantations or from the locals farmers. The differents foods are chopped on the sidewalk, and cooked on the sidewalk. The locals enjoy their dishes on tiny, yes TINY, plastic stools. Nothing fancy at all. After a while you start enjoying those little tables that look like kiddie's toys.

Everything in Hanoi, seemed to be totally different, from what I've experienced on my previous asian tavels in Japan or Hong Kong. Everything is simpler, and no one really gives a shit what it looks or smells like. The locals just want to enjoy delicious food, and the exquisite coffee. Quickly I figured out that „pho“ soup isn't pronounced „fo“ but „fa“, and that pho soup is rather a breakfast dish, than lunch food. The vietnamese spring-rolls wrapped in rice-paper are healthier than the chinese spring rolls, and got a lot more of flavour. „Bun Cha“ and „Banh Mi“ are very popular among the locals. „Bun Cha“ are pork meat-balls served in a broth, with rice-noodels aside. The „Banh Mi“ is the local sandwich, stuffed with different kind of meats and pickled veggies. 4 vietnamese spring rolls cost around 1$, the banh-mi was around 1$ as well, and the dinner I had for two people, 2 dishes for each of us, plus a bottle of water, cost around 5$ (for the whole kiddie table). Food is cheap in Vietnam, for as long as you don't go to the fancy places.

Oh yes, their coffee is so good. I couldn't stop mentioning that to my friends, that the vietnamese have such great coffee. On my bus ride to Halong Bay I was told that 90% of Vietnam's coffee are mostly „robusta“ beans, and not the popular arabica coffee, that is sold all over Europe. Robusta coffee is know for being stronger, containing more caffeine, but lacking the wide-range flavours of arabica coffee. As for myself, I love the strong taste of their coffee, and I don't agree that it lacks of flavours. I brought back home so many bags of different vietnamese coffee, and I am already trying to figure out, how I can import coffee from Vietnam. Another fact, that was unknown to me, that Vietnam is the second biggest coffee producer in the world.

 

Must-sees in Hanoi

What are my recommendations of Hanoi? I wouldn't say that Hanoi is THE city for touristic attractions. Surely there are lots of different spots and corners to check out in the capital, however it didn't feel like a capital trip to me. My favorite place to hang out for sunset, was the Hoan Kiem lake, close to most hotels, and right in the heart of the city.

During my stay in Hanoi I walked twice to the Long Bien bridge, known for its eye-catching architecture. From the middle of the bridge you get a beautiful view over a river, plantations, green fields, and you get a peep of what the country side of vietnamese suburbs look like. Only motorbikes, bicycles and pedestriants are allowed on the side-lanes of the bridge. No cars or trucks! The main middle lane of the bridge is used for train traffic. Walking from the lake towards the Long Bien bridge, you'll witness the traffic chaos on the main roads, and you'll walk across small typical Hanoi alleys where you will bump into the locals.

Below the Long Bien bridge is a daily food market, that mainly attracts vietnamese people, and barely no tourists. It's a lovely place for taking photographs, such a colorful place.

From that food market, walk westbound, and you'll get onto the West Lake, which is the biggest lake in the capital of Vietnam. Is it a pretty lake? Not really ... South of the West Lake lies the Ba Đình Square, where Ho Chi Minh declared the independance of Vietnam. Just next to the HCM Mausoleum, is the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the One Pillar Pagoda.

You get plenties of museums in Hanoi: the War-Museum, Hoa Lo Prison Museum, Hanoi Police Museum, Women's Museum, B52 Victory Museum, Hanoi Citadel Gate. I'm really not attracted by museums, however when i'm really in a tourist-mood, I try to check out one or two in the city. I was positively surprised by the police museum; reading the history of Hanoi's police force, they rather reminded me of a militia fighting the different secret services of France and the United States.

On the westside of the city, you can visit the Huu Tiep lake (B52 lake), which is a small pond, in which a B25 bomber crashed, after being shot down by vietnamese soldiers. It's actually not that impressive either.

Not far away from the popular Old Quarter, is the only remaining city gate. All others were destroyed during the war times.

You can do all the main city attractions withins 2 full days. Tons of tourist offices offer you day trips outside of the city, by motorbike or shuttle. 

What I liked most about Hanoi, was its atmosphere. Like i already mentioned above, it's not about the tourist-attractions or historic buildings. To me it was more about the vibe, moving with the locals, going through the traffic, savouring a delicious cup of coffee, sitting on a plastic chair and enjoying my spring-rolls or pho soup. Hearing stories of the bad times and good times of the country, getting in touch with the vietnamese culture ... being part of the vietnamese daily life. The locals showed me how to brew coffee in the vietnamese way, and how to prepare the dips for my spring rolls. That's what I loved about the city, and what i brought back home with me. It was a wonderful experience!

 

How to get a Visa

Prior your departure for Vietnam, check if your citizenship requires a travel visa. A couple of european countries, don't need to apply for a visa. As for myself, I needed to fill out a couple of documents, before starting my journey. So I used the website „Vietnam-Evisa.org“. Before landing in Hanoi, I had to get a „letter of approval“ before applying for VOA (Visa On Arrival).

Through the mentioned website, you'll get a letter of approval, through e-mail. It costs 19 US$, and it took about 2 to 3 days to get the email. The online company will send you a handwritten letter, with your name on it (including the names of other travelers). Print that letter out. At the airport, you'll have to hand out that letter of approval, 2 passport-photographs, and 25 US$ per person.

On the Vietnam-Evisa.org website, you can choose full package option, which apparently gives you the priority, and you won't have to wait in line. Of course you gotta pay extra for that! My plane landed around 6:30 a.m. and I only had to wait for about 10 minutes on a bench, til the officer handed me out my travel visa, which allowed me to travel through Vietnam for a whole month. In my case, I'm glad I didn't pay for the express option. As soon as you're passport is ready, they'll show your photograph on a screen. So pay attention to that screen, the officers won't call out your name.  

 

Useful informations

  • At the airport most of the ATMs only allow you to withdraw 2.000.000 dongs (80 euro, about 70-80 US$). They'll refuse your credit card, if you're trying to get more cash out of the ATM.
  • The taxi-ride costs 350.000 – 400.000 dongs, and it will take about 40 minutes to get to the Old Quarter in Hanoi, all depending on the traffic. I advise you, like in any other country, to avoid the cab drivers, who get in touch with you inside the airport building. It's been the first time, for a long time, that I fell right into the tourist trap again, and followed an unofficial cab-driver. He told me it would only cost 15 US$ to get to Hanoi. A couple of minutes later, the Hanoi police showed up, and they locked his car. Already in trouble after being half an hour in Hanoi. On my last day, my hotel called a private driver to bring me back to the airport, and it only cost around 250.000, cheaper than a taxi. Trust the hotels, but don't trust the fake cab drivers at the airport. 
  • While in Vietnam, the company „WAY2GO“, offers you a vietnamese sim-card for your mobile phone, which allows you to use a 3G connection, for unlimited mobile internet, during 15 days, all across the country. The sim-card costs 350.000 dongs (15 euro, 12-14 US$). Definitely worth it! The connection works pretty well in most areas, so that you get fluent skype calls and facetime chats. No need to look for a free-wifi spot anymore!
  • If you plan on booking train tickets, for the night-sleeper train, do that through your hotel. You'll get better rates and you surely won't get any surprises. Most of the vietnamese people aren't that fluent in english, and therefor it's always better, if a local can help you out, to avoid any misunderstandings.
  • In most parts of Vietnam, you can pay in U.S. Dollars or Vietnamese Dongs. If you're asking for the price, the vietnamese will mostly tell you the price in US$.
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Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong was the first city I visited on the asian continent. Those were my first steps in a country, in which i couldnt read a sign, and maybe the first time i felt a culture shock. I really liked it though.

Most people I know prefer visting Thailand, Japan or Indonesia. But i gotta tell you, that Hong Kong has A LOT to offer! We spent 5 or 6 nights in HK, and those 6 days kept as busy for every single second.

Here are my favorite spots I'd recommend to everyone who visits Hong Kong for the first time:

• Victoria Peak
The classic skyline from the top of a mountain. From that viewing point you get a look all over Hong Kong, the bay and all of Kowloon. Everything else besides the view feels very touristic, the restaurants, the crowds, and the waiting line for the escalator. Go up there, take some photos, enjoy the skyline, and get off again.:)

• Lantau Island
Lantau Island is famous for its Big Buddha, and the way to reach the island is a pretty adeventurous one as well. You can hike all the way up to the Buddha which will take you a couple hours i guess, or you take the hanging cable-car, which still takes around 10 to 15 minutes to reach the touristic area. But expect a huge waiting line to reach the lift. Next time i'm gonna visit HK, i will plan a whole day on hiking the Lantau Isaland. If you're afraid of heights, it will be a fun ride. I had to close my eyes a couple times. ;) Once you passed the souvenir-shops & the food village, you can walk your way up a hundred of stairs til you reach the Big Buddha statue. From up there you get a breathtaking view of the Island. Expect lots of tourists though...but still.. totally worth the trip!

• Lei Yue Mun
Lei Yue Mun isn't the hippest or cleanest area of Hong Kong, but it's a great place to take authentic photos of HK. Actually it's a big fish market, surrounded by boat houses, and tons of fisher boats. Most people you will meet over there are locals. The day we visited Lei Yue Mun, we were pretty much the only tourists.

• Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery
This walk uphill was one of the most memorable moments I had in HK. You can feel the serenety while walking up those the thousands of stairs til you reach the monastry. You're surrounded by nature, and it takes you away from the busy city life you mostly experience in Hong Kong. It's en exhausting path for sure, and it feels like an endless path. The monastery itself isn't that impressiv at all, but it's rather the path with the then thousands buddha statues in line who will lead you to the top of the mountain.

• Victoria Harbour
Trust me that the skyline of Hong Kong you will see from the Kowloon bay at Victoria Harbour, is far more impressive than then one you know from Brooklyn of Manhattan. I remember that we walked towards the bay after sunset, feeling a light wind, and hearing the sound of the waves, and the huge concrete jungle ahead of us felt like a blast that moment. Every evening there's a laser show, which actually is the cheesy part of the game. Lots of people meet up at the Victora Harbour to observe that laser show. Forget about the laser show, and enjoy the HK skyline!

• Lan Kwai Fong
Lan Kwai Fong is a big block on the Hong Kong Island where nightlife happens. Bad thing about it, it's filled with expats and tourists. The only asian people you are going to meet, might be tourists from other countries. The good thing is, it's easy to find, it's always busy: every night! There's a daily happy hour, where you pay 5 euro [7$] for 2 gin&tonics. All the bars are grouped within one block, so you never get lost, no matter how drunk you get. Just above Lan Kwai Fong, there's Wyndham Street, and Hollywood Road. Those two streets are packed with restaurants and bars as well. One of the popular clubs called "Dragon-I" is located on that road. 

There are plenties of temples all around the city. Same counts for shopping areas, expect infinite shopping in HK. I love the right mix of modern buildings, vivid city life, and still keeping traditional buildings & markets inside the city.

Food and drinks are pretty cheap, and the food is really delicious if you avoid the touristic hotspots. The flight from Luxembourg to Hong-Kong and our 5-nights at fancy hotel totally cost around 800 euro. I haven't visited HK since then, but i'm pretty sure I'm heading back very soon. We visited HK in November and it still felt like summer time. If you're looking for a nice winter/fall destination, check out Hong Kong Island! 




Why JAPAN ?

I will dedicate my first travel blog-post to the beautiful country of the rising sun called JAPAN.

I first visited Japan in May 2014, and after a very short 5-day-journey across the Kansei region, I instantly fell in love with that beautiful country.

 

5 days only? Isn't that too short?

Well, I felt a little bit insecure visiting a country, where it wouldn't be easy to communicate with the people around me. I wouldn't be able to talk to most people, and couldn't read their letters and signs. I was on a budget as well. The 5 nights in Japan [2 in Kyoto, and 3 in Osaka] and the flight cost me around 750 euro [830 US$], bargain!, wasn't it? 

I had the maximum of a japanese experience i could have expected on that short trip, from delicious japanese food, to the geishas at the Gion area in Kyoto, to a traveler meet-up with locals and gaijins [foreigners] all dressed up in traditional Kimonos. 

photo by Frank Desiront

 

KANSEI AREA!

As soon as i left Japan, I knew i'd turn back very soon, for a long trip and of course visiting its capital Tokyo. I turned back in April 2015 for the sakura season [cherry blossoms], and started my trip in Tokyo. From Tokyo I moved on towards Kansei, and visited my friends in Osaka again. From Osaka you're pretty close to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, and plenty of other smaller cities. It's just right in the middle of the country, and it only takes you 3 hours to reach Tokyo by Shinkansen [super-fast bullettrain], and 3 hours to reach Fukuoka on the west-side of the island. A 200 euro [230 US$] Japan-Rail Pass will give you access to infinite train-rides for a whole week. It is expensive for a one-week ticket. But as soon as you figure out that a one-way ticket from Tokyo to Osaka costs half the price [around 100 euro] of the JR Pass, you will notice that it's worth every cent. 

After having experienced the 2 most famous cities of Japan, Tokyo and Osaka. I'd definitely recommend the Kansei area for those who are planing their first adventure in Japan. Why? Well, it's just a totally different vibe than Tokyo. Less crowded, less busyer, more smiling people, and a lot more of cultural and traditional  sights. By the way Kyoto is considered the most cultural city of whole Japan. The city of Kyoto owns the most temples per city in Japan. 

If you plan on doing both cities on the same trip. I'd recommend visiting Tokyo on the first days of your journey. In case you'd start your trip in Kansei, you might get disappointed with Tokyo. Don't get me wrong! Tokyo is an a-m-a-z-i-n-g city! But it's just too busy, and it takes you forever to move around with public transportation.

All the clichees you've seen and heard about Japan, you will experience all of them in Osaka and Kyoto... except for the concrete jungle that Tokyo is best known for.

After my second trip to Japan, I'm already planning to turn back for a second time this year. But only visiting Tokyo for 5-6 days. It's such a huge city, that i've only discovered a tiny part of it on my first 5-days in Tokyo. 

I could go on, and write about Japan for a couple of hours, and fill pages with tons of words and photos. In the next weeks I will try to add single reviews to this blog, and more precise recommendations of the different areas I discovered in Japan.

 

Is it easy to get along without understanding a word ?

To be honest, japanese people [well most of them] are very bad in english! Once you start learning japanese, you will understand why they're so bad. It's just a total different grammar, the order of the subjects, verbs, objects are totally different, than most of the languages we are used to. They got 3 different alphabets [hiragana, katakana, and an endless huge symbol-alphabet called kanji]. Let's get to the point! It's very easy to move around Japan. Most menus have photos next to their common meals. A lot of restaurants have english menus, and all you need to do, is to point with your finger on what you want to eat. Your finger will be the most important tool in Japan.

The subway and railway stations have the english station-names on their rail-map. Most employees at the maininformation-desk speak english. The check-in staff at the hotels mostly communicate in broken-english, but they will understand anything you'll ask them.

Once you start going  out in japan around midnight, after a couple of drinks, lots of japanese people will overcome their shyness, and will try to communicate in english with you.

Everyone i've met in japan was super-friendly und very helpful. You will never feel lost in Japan... maybe just for a couple of minutes ;), til someone reaches out to help you.