Sleeping in South Korea and Jet-Set in Japan

Today's post is a 2-4-1 and comes express from Japan as I landed back in London less than 24 hours ago! This trip was my second solo trip this year (See Sri Lanka) and has reinvigorated my love for solo travel even more.

Using my coveted Avios points to book the flights with BA and their partner Cathay Pacific (transit through Hong Kong) meant that along with my flight from Seoul to Tokyo with AirSeoul (10/10 airline by the way) came to around £450 which is not bad considering I coincidentally ended up in Japan at the same time as the Rugby World Cup.

As I was doing this solo but still on a bit of a budget, while in Seoul I stayed at Hostel Haru (contact me for discount code) in the Insa-dong area of Seoul which made getting around the city really easy as it was right in the centre but also next to the Jonggak metro station and the tranquil Cheonggyecheon urban river. Although I had two full days in Seoul as my flight landed at 07:35, the 8-hour ahead jet lag made the first day a complete right off.

Seoul, South Korea

However, day 2 was more eventful as I had booked a tour to go to the DMZ - De-Militarised Zone, the buffer zone between the South Korean and North Korean. Just my luck meant that due to African swine fever fears the actual tours to the DMZ were cancelled but I persevered on an 'alternative DMZ' tour and at least got to visit an observatory from which I could see North Korea and learned about the troubles that still exist there as well as going to the Korean war memorial museum. As I knew next to nothing about the Korean war (as shameful as that is) I really relished the opportunity to learn - as well as try as many Koran sweet buns with red bean paste as possible!

North Korea!

(Note: Korea is not a veggie or vegan-friendly place so you will have limited options, but much cheaper than expected)

Hopping over to Japan, I flew into Tokyo and spent two days in the bright lights of the city at the beginning of my tour, visiting Shinjuku crossing, Harajuku, Asaka with its temple and markets along with a hedgehog cafe. Yes, apparently animal cafes (as well as maid cafes - google it) are a big thing in Japan.
I also made sure to catch the England vs OZ and Ireland vs NZ game whilst I was there at a British pub (typical) but what an atmosphere!

Bullet train to Takayama, a small town in the mountains of central Japan, unlocked the traditional side of the country as we stayed in a traditional Japanese inn, sampled ramen and visited an onsen (traditional hot spring baths...naked). I had never considered visiting this part of Japan before but it held so much history and beautiful scenery I would highly recommend it.

Last stop (again via bullet train) was to the old capital, Kyoto. Unlike Tokyo with its mad modern-ness, Kyoto is the capital with culture. Here I got to try spending a few nights in a capsule hotel (pretty good except for the lack of windows so you have no idea what time of day it is), visited Nijo-Castle, the Silver Pavillion (which is not actually silver), a bamboo forest and had a sushi lesson from a sensai.  Three days in Kyoto could have easily been 3 weeks as there is so much to do there!

The long flight back via Hong Kong was totally worth it too - Japan is in its heyday for tourism with the Rugby World Cup/Olympics and South Korea has so much to offer I'll just have to go back. I had no idea what to expect visiting these countries and unlike me did very little planning beforehand so I went in pretty blind but was blown away at how great these places are and I would completely recommend your next trip to be to Japan and South Korea!

Catch you next week for a post on South Africa (due from March!)

Have a good week my lovelies!

Lots of Love, Kate xxx

Serenity in Sri Lanka

So, I know I promised to start writing again probably about 2 months ago but - as always - life has gotten in the way! Back by no demand whatsoever, here is a very delayed post (which should have been done in January) all about Sri Lanka.

**Disclaimer: This trip was taken before the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka of Easter 2019**

Landing in Colombo after a 14-hour flight with a brief stopover in Qatar (Qatar Airways 5* airline, by the way, 10/10 would recommend),  and leaving the freezing cold January blues behind in rainy old England, the heat hit me like a wall.

For my exploration of the Lonely Planet's top place to visit in 2019, I was spending just over 10 days starting with one night in Colombo, then to Siguria with it's famous rock fortress and Dambulla cave temple and opportunity to do a jungle safari and see elephants (!) then all the way through the centre of Sri Lanka's hilly tea plantation region down to the coast at Hikkaduwa.

Temple of the Tooth, Kandy

Being in this wonderful country you could certainly feel that it was in its element and was on the cusp of exploding with tourists (unfortunately I think this will have been affected by the horrific terrorist attacks this year). Having mostly recovered from the civil war that raged on with the Tamil Tigers until 2009 and rebuilt its coastline after the devastating boxing day tsunami in 2004, Sri Lanka has been due its day and for good reason, I think the Sri Lankan people are some of the kindest I have ever met.

After a couple of days of relaxing in the countryside of Siguria, I moved on to Kandy - Sri Lanka's cultural capital - to the Temple of the Tooth which, as legend says, is the site of the last tooth of Buddha and brings hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. This place was beautifully calm and crazily busy with the number of people coming to worship at the same time. Be sure to get there at just before the time of the prayer ceremony to get a glimpse of the tooth!

The next stop was one of the most beautiful places on earth, the homestay at Tamarind Farm Gardens, a working farm that has many wonderful initiatives to support the local village to give the women a place to work away from the local dolomite mine. This beautiful place is incredibly peaceful and sits on the side of the hills, away from the madness of the city and is run by a Sri Lankan couple who returned to Sri Lanka from the UK and developed the land into a farm and enterprise.

Tamarind Farm Gardens, Digana

After this, I continued into the tea plantation hills of Nuwara Eliya which strangely might have been one of my favourite places (only partly due to the huge change in temperature, mainly because of the tea) but it is a town that time seems to have forgotten as very little has structurally changed since its colonial occupation with its original 1930s post office still in working order.

Ella Station, Ella

Moving on to Ella, I took the infamous train 🚂 that leaves when it likes and takes as long as it likes to get to this hilly town, not before pulling across the picture-postcard nine arch bridge. Here you can take a hike or a scramble up Little Adam's Peak or enjoy a cooking class to learn to make some traditional Sri Lankan curries - you can guess what I picked to do!

Train from Nuwara Eilyah to Ella

The last place on my visit was down to Galle/Hikkaduwa (via a stop at an elephant orphanage to see them at feeding time) to see the Dutch colonial town of Galle that has rebuilt itself after the tsunami and it's old town was the only part of the town that survived the force of the water due to its fortified walls.
As well as the colonial history and story of destruction, Sri Lanka's southern coast also has some of the most glorious beaches and opportunities for diving (although don't forget the suncream like I did!).

Mamas, Hikkaduwa Beach

All in all, a wonderful, amazing trip to one of my new favourite places in the world. I'm sure the attacks at Easter of this year will have had an effect on the number of visitors to Sri Lanka this year, but if you are considering a holiday don't cross this small but incredible islands off your list.

So that's it! I'm officially back - I'm not making any promises but I know I owe you all some more posts very soon - and next week I'm off to South Korea and Japan so I will be sure to keep you all updated.

Have a good week my lovelies!

Lots of Love, Kate xxx