On Yer Bike

We've finally come to the end of our too short trip to Japan. The last leg of the journey was a real race; we had to go from Hiroshima all the way to Tokyo in one day, so we could pick up our passports with our Indian visas. Just to make it even more of a challenge Elaine's back went so I had to carry both our rucksacks, so now my legs are like tree-trunks! We got two bullet-trains to Tokyo and after dropping our stuff into our hostel in Tokyo – with the smallest room ever – we made a mad dash to the visa center before it closed and made it with a whole 2 minutes to spare.

We stuck around in Tokyo for a couple of days, staying in a traditional Japanese ryokan. Elaine's back got a little better so we had a gander around some of the parts we'd missed the first time. Harajuku is a bit mad and hectic, it's where all the cool kids in Tokyo go to hang out and shop. It's pretty hectic even on a Wednesday afternoon, so we headed to the peace and quite of the nearby Mejii Shrine. It's a lovely wooded area with temple complex in the middle, filled with monks and maidens, which was a nice break from the rampant consumerism just a few hundred metres away.

Our next stop is Singapore, but to get there we had to go via Bangkok, which meant a night in Bangkok airport. Leaving Japan is a bit tough, especially with 24 hours of traveling to do. Hopefully I'll get to come back some day and see more of one of the most amazing countries i've been lucky enough to visit. As ever photos on Flickr, so check em out!

The engine only stalled a few times during the flight

So we're off to Laos. None of this torturous 30 hour bus journey malarky for us, we're flying! We went with Laos Airlines, which was interesting, to say the least. I've really enjoyed Vietnam, it got a lot better the further north we went, maybe that's just because we got used to the abuse. Anyway Laos should be interesting and I've got a load of good stories and memories from Vietnam.

Chocks away!

So I'm coming to the end of a month in Cambodia and it's been one of the best places we've been so far. I haven't blogged in a while as I've been too busy enjoying myself! We've probably spent a bit longer than first thought in Cambodia, but it's a great country with loads to see and do. Case in point; Elaine and myself were only supposed to spend about 3 nights in Siem Reap,the jumping off point for visiting Angkor Wat and the other temples, but we ended up staying for 10 days! The temples in Angkor where absolutely amazing, we had a great tuk tuk driver called Mr. Bunna who brought us around for three days to some amazing sights. It was hot and dry and sweaty but it was so worth it. Saying that though, we didn't hit the main biggy of Angkor Wat until late in our second day of touring and by then we had seen temples that were (for me) less crowded and just as interesting to visit, so I was a little underwhelmed by its swarms of Chinese tourists and blocked off areas.

Some of the highlights were getting blessed by a monk, he tied some cord around mine and Elaine's wrist and we thought maybe he was marrying us, but it was just for good luck; being followed down from a hill-top temple by a gaggle of kids whose only English was "you give me 1 dollar!"; seeing the amazing detail and artistry in Banteay Srei and getting a dose of some much needed rain. I liked Angkor so much I cycled in on my own one day and spent the day snooping at the bas reliefs in Ankgor Wat which we had kind of missed the first time and getting looks from the locals at the mad whitey cycling a bike in 40° heat. We also got to see part of Khmer New Year and on our last day in Siem Reap we did a cooking class. Mmmm Khmer curry...

From there we went to Battambang and I got an invite from my moto driver to go to a Khmer wedding, which was insane! All the old guys kept coming over to me and toasting with the hair-on-your chest 7% beer on the tables and I had to do about 20 "bottoms up!", so I was very merry in a short space of time. From there we went to Sihanoukville, which was a bit of a kip really, but it was handy to get our Vietnam visas.

Cambodia has been great, a real mix of experiences, some happy, some horrifying and some surreal, but all very worth it. Also someone leave some comments, I can't tell if anyone is reading this bloody thing!

More photos on Flickr.

After a very hectic few weeks we're leaving the land down-under. Apologies about the lack of posts since we got here, as I said it's been quite a busy period.

After leaving Sydney and the madness of Mardi Gras (and the strangely small seeming Opera House) we headed to Melbourne where my mate Mick was getting married! It was  bit of a shock to arrive and be launched straight into a mad Goon fuelled stag night but it was deadly. As a note I did not drink any Goon, it has fish in it. Wine should only have grapes in it. No Fish!

We hung around in Melbourne a few days and the wedding was an absolutely beautiful affair in a pavilion in the city's Botnaic Gardens. After that we flew up to Brisbane – 2 hour flight vs. 16 hour bus? No contest – which is a really nice laid back and arty kind of town. Lots of wandering around markets, galleries and an odd beach right in the middle of the city. Also it had the heaviest rain I've ever seen, it was jumping 6" back of the ground when in fell.

We've been in Byron Bay for the past week, soaking up the sun and generally getting into the whole surfer/hippy vibe that permeates through the town. I've been to a yoga class, had a massage and spent an hour in a flotation tank (which was a bit of a mad trip, I started to have weird lucid dreams about aboriginal people dressed in black with purple faces). The surfing has been pretty cool too, I did a bit of body-boarding yesterday, the waves were perfect. The beach we're on was also "clothing optional" and there was one free spirit dancing around in the nip, which was quite funny. Sorry lads, no photos.

Anyhoo, we're off to South-East Asia for a few months, I think the whole California/New Zealand/Australia leg has started to blend into one big blob. I know a few of you will start giving out syaing "you've only been in Oz for like 3 weeks!" but in fairness, most people come here to (A) work, which we're not doing and (B) get drunk, which I can do a lot cheaper in Asia and (C) there's too many Irish people around, which I tend to avoid back in Ireland… ;) Talk to ye in Asia.

PS Come on Ireland for the Grand Slam!

We're off on the first part of our trip. I love free wifi! Hope everything is nice back in Ireland, we'll post soon from the good ol' USA.

Marcus&Elaine

Had a mad night out on Saturday. Thanks to everyone for coming out and special thanks to Glen for the massive tunes. Hopefully I'll talk you all soon, and I'll be seeing Ray in Oz. YAAAAARRRR!!!!

More photos on Facespace.