And then it was over.

I have finally returned after 180 days of (mostly) sun and (occasional) sand, wearing shorts and thongs, carrying heavy bags, navigating the metro systems and streets of the biggest cities in the world, 74 hours on ferries (in San Francisco, Niagara Falls, New York. English Channel, Adratic Sea, Agaean Sea, Strait of Gilbraltar, Miyajima), 10 languages, 18 countries (one every 10 days), and 4 continents (5 if you include Australia)!

Kyoto was incredible and had far too many temples and shrines, and yet for some reason I attempted to visit most of them in 2 days. This involved rather a lot of hiking and photos. However, they were invariably beautiful, as were the surrounding gardens and bush.

A day trip to Nara consisted of more temples and hiking but was great, and the day in Osaka, a massive metropolis similar to Tokyo, was a welcome change with bizarre modern Japan on show.

Osaka's America-Mura is a huge sprawling shopping/commercial district consisting of American obsessed and inspired clothing/entertainment/food shops more confronting than any such area I saw in America or anywhere else for that matter.
The huge strip of electronics shops in Den-Den Town stretching a kilometre down the main road rivalled Akihabara (the equivalent and no less incredible Electronics district in Tokyo).

After 5 nights in Kyoto, I headed down to Hiroshima on the Shinkansen and swiftly made my way on the steetcar to the Peace Memorial Park in the centre of town, which unsurprisingly was a powerful experience.

To disembark a tram in a modern looking city and suddenly be confronted with the A-Bomb Dome, the standing symbol of what had happened 60 years ago, is hard to explain.

The other memorials and museums at the site were equally moving, and particularly relevant just a week or so after the North Korean Nuclear Test.

There was an exhibit in the museum with a wall of letters from the mayor of Hiroshima sent to countries each time they conduct a nuclear test.

Surrounded by such sadness and devastation, the names of the recipients of the last two letters were perhaps the saddest part: Kim Jong-Il on the 10 October and George W. Bush on the 30 August.

From probably the saddest place in Japan to perhaps the most beautiful: Miyajima, the island just off the coast of Hiroshima,
with its famously stunning red, half submerged Torii Shrine entrance gate.

I spent the afternoon there hiking the mountains and spending 2 hours as the sun set looking at one of the most
beautiful scenes of my entire trip (and I've seen a few).

From Hiroshima, I returned to Tokyo on my last day, via a half day in Himeji, the site of the most famous castle in Japan.
Maybe it was because I was castled out (as I mentioned previously), but I wasn't that impressed with Himeji Castle,
but by this stage I was probably sub-concsiously on the way home.

And so, the next day I boarded the Qantas flight to the sounds of some appropriately patriotic music (Tenterfield Saddler)
and a welcome quality entertainment system (Shame on you Lufthansa and United).

And then it was over.


Some Top 5ish Lists I thought might be interesting:


Countries (by time spent in....)

1. USA
2. England
3. Spain
4. Italy
5. Morocco
6. Japan
7. Greece
8. France
=9. Germany, Canada
=11. Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic
=14. Portugal, Belgium
16. Monaco
17. Vatican
18. Mexico


Countries (by Excitement about....)

1. Japan
2. Morocco
3. Spain
4. Greece
5. Italy



Big Cities

1. New York
2. Tokyo
3. Paris
4. Rome
5. Prague
6. Barcelona
7. Kyoto
8. Amsterdam
9. Chicago
10. Munich



Islands

1. Miyajima, Japan
2. Capri, Italy
3. Ios, Greece
4. Paros, Greece
5. Alcatraz, San Francisco


Hikes

1. Cinque Terre, Italy
2. Nevada Falls. Yosemite National Park, California, USA
3. Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
4. Wachau Valley, Austria
5. Todra Gorge, Morocco


Beaches

1. Mediterranean Sea between Barcelona and Valencia, Spain
2. El Saler, Valencia, Spain
3. San Sebastian (would have been higher if it wasn't cold and wet), Spain
4. Essaouira, Morocco
5. Paradise Beach, Mykonos, Greece

Interesting Meals

1. Escargot, Paris
2. Pigeon, Morocco
3. Fatburger, USA (Where else? A nice contrast with 'Freshness' Burger in Japan)


Best Meals

1. Moussaka, Athens
2. Swordfish, Paros
3. Roast Lamb, Madrid
4. Okonomi-Yaki, Japan
5. Paella, Valencia


Beers/Beer Halls

1. Augustiner Keller Beer Garden/Hall, Munich
2. Hofbrauhaus, Munich
3. Most in Prague
4. Bush, Brugges, Belgium
5. Everywhere else in Munich!


Bizarre Places

1. Tokyo
2. Marrakech
3. Las Vegas
4. Monaco/Cannes
5. Location shoot of Bourne Ultimatum, Tanger, Morocco


Natural Scenes

1. Sahara Desert, Morocco
2. Grand Canyon, USA
3. Rocky Mountains, Canada/USA
4. Amalfi Coast, Italy
5. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
6. Austrian Alps

Ancient Structures/Cities

1. Acropolis, Athens
2. Colosseum, Rome
3. Pompeii, Italy
4. Alhambra, Granada, Spain
5. Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto


Modern Structures (since 1800)

1. Eiffel Tower, Paris
2. Statue of Liberty, New York
3. Big Ben, London
4. Empire State Building, New York
5. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
6. Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota
7. Berlin Wall, Berlin


Memorials

1. Memorial to the Murdered Jews, Berlin
2. Dachau Concentration Camp, Munich
3. Peace Park, Hiroshima
4. World Trade Center Site, New York


Palaces

1. Versailles
2. Madrid
3. Buckingham


Museums

1. British Museum, London
2. Musee D'Louvre, Paris
3. National Archaelogical Museum, Athens
4. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
5. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
6. Vatican Museums, Vatican City
7. Museo del Prado, Madrid
8. National Gallery, London
9. Tate Modern, London
10. Musee D'Orsay, Paris
11. Getty Center, Los Angeles



Churches / Temples

1. St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
2. La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
3. Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto
4. Kiomizudera, Kyoto
5. Notre Dame, Paris
6. Daibutsu-den, Nara, Japan
7. Duomo. Florence



Activities

1. Camel Trek, Sahara Desert, Morocco
2. Grape Grazing Tour (Wineries, Hike, Bike Tour, Swim in Danube), Wachau Valley, Austria
3. Night Bike Tour, Paris
4. Dinner at Sunset, Cinque Terre
5. Kingston Mines Blues Club, Chicago
6. Rodeo, Cody, Wyoming (and Bar afterwards)
7. Karaoke, Tokyo
8. Gondola Ride, Venice
9. Berlin Pub Crawl10. Wine and Cheese at Sacre Couer by night, Paris
11. Bullfight, Seville, Spain
12. Munich Beer Crawl

Hostels

1. Gojo Guesthouse, Kyoto
2. Oasis, Granada
3. Sir Toby's, Prague
4. Wombat's, Vienna
5. Citystay, Berlin


Worst Hostel

1. Hans Brinker, Amsterdam... That is all.


Festivals I went to

1. La Tomatina, Bunol, Spain

Festivals I just missed

1. Il Palio, Siena, Italy
2. Love Parade, Berlin


Beautiful Scenes

1. Eiffel Tower by Night
2. Louvre by Sunset
3. Sahara Sunrise
4. Sunset in Greek Islands
5. Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima at Sunset/night
6. Colloseum at Sunset
7. Acropolis at Night
8. Grand Canal, Venice


Best Places to Ride Naked in an Elevator

1. Shomen Onsen, Kyoto



Adrenalin Rushes

1. Dragster, Cedar Point, Ohio, USA
2. Rock Climbing, Todra Gorge, Morocco
3. Driving on Mykonos


Traffic Jams

1. Arc D'Triomphe, Paris
2. 4am in Madrid
3. Amalfi Coast

Tram Systems

1. Amsterdam
2. San Francisco
3. Vienna
4. Berlin
5. Hiroshima


Most Expensive Cities

1. London
2. New York
3. Paris
4. Vienna
5. Florence


Least Expensive

1. Marrakech
2. Prague



Places I want to go to now

1. Inca Trail, South America
2. Eastern Europe
3. Asia
4. Africa

Made it to Japan and survived the first week!

spent the first day in tokyo, having forced my various belongings (now including my Morroccan tam-tams wrapped in plastic and packed in a dodgy Walkers Chip box found in the loading bay of Heathrow Terminal 1) into a few coin lockers.

Was rather tired by the time I met up with my friend Fumi at 8.30pm having been up since 11.30am the previous day. nevertheless i soldiered on and had a nice dinner in Shibuya.

Fumi's house is south of Central Tokyo which is in a quieter area, although no less built up.

Ive managed to get the full range of experiences in a short period of time - 6 million vending machines, incredible shopping and entertainment districts like Shinjuku and Shibuya (the department stores are unbelievably large and overstaffed with over-friendly.. ahem.. staff). i was even very excited to be squashed onto a train and i mean squashed more than La Tomatina (although with considerably less water, Roma tomatoes, amd nudity).

It brought to mind one of many contradictions about Japan.

Everyone is so damned polite and friendly all the time (a nice change from service in Italy, Spain etc.) but have apparently have no issue with pushing into people with all their weight like a rugby scrum to get onto a train.
This was one of the last trains on that particular line at 12.45am!

Fumi has also taken me to some nice restaurants soive had a few local specialties such as okonomi-yaki, the DIY pancake-like dish from Osaka, and Awamori, the grain liquor from Okinawa.

And weve been to a rather large Karaoke bar with his friend Yukari.

I now find myself in Kyoto, after the 2.5 hr Shinkansen (another japanese experience of course) ride down from Tokyo. The Japan rail pass i bought in London gives me free unlimited travel for 2 weeks on JR trains and buses and most of the Shinkansen.

So ill be getting the shinkansen down to Osaka in a few days (15 mins) and then a few days later down further to Hirosima and Miyajima and back via Himeji.


By the end (which is steadily approaching both depressingly and thankfully),
I shall never wish to see another Church, castle, palace, shrine, temple, gallery, or museum ever again! ever.

Mind you, i dont think theres many more important ones that i havent seen anywhere in the world!

Finally back in London after 3 incredible months of fun and excitement.

Had one final day in Paris on the way back, during which I headed out to Versailles, and then back to Musee D'Orsay, before finishing Europe beneath the sparkling Eiffel Tower once more, having returned to the Sacre Coeur the previous night.

Now, apart from catching up with various people, I've also managed to put alot of Europe photos up on the web. See the link on the left: 'New Updated Travel Photos'.

Only 4 days until I head to Tokyo, and then another 2 weeks before I return to the real world.

I think I might enjoy it while it lasts!

Finally returned from Morocco after 2 and a bit weeks of incredibleness (sic):

or How I went to Morocco and ended up in a Hollywood Movie.


After the impressive Alhambra, I left for Algeciras on the early train before catching the ferry over to Tangier and continent number 3.

The first night was spent in the rather luxurious Tarik Hotel before starting the tour the next morning. I was rather interested to discover the Production offices of the Bourne Ultimatum housed on the first 2 levels of the hotel, but thought no more about it as our group of 25 left in a big truck for Chefchaouen, our first stop in the hills inland.


It was a cool little town, literally, because of the white and blue painted buildings.

It was our first taste of Moroccan culture (aside from the predictably dodgy characters at the port in Tangier) and we saw some handmade blanket and rug shops, whence the rest of Morocco and the world imports.

After a night camping there, we swiftly moved on to historic Fes (via Volubilis, the ruins of the farthest outpost of the Roman empire)

Passing the very well located McDonalds, we moved into the Medina, where we were guided through the maze of 9600 alleyways by a local guide, experiencing the sights and perhaps more significantly the smells of narrow covered alleys filled with donkeys.

We were taken to the dye pits where the leather is produced (and sat around in the leather store while 20 girls looked at and bought various leather goods).

That night we dressed up and went into town for a night of meals and 'traditional Morccan entertainment' (clearly designed for tourists as everyone there was clearly a tourist). Still a lot of fun nevertheless.

After 2 nights in Fes, we moved on through the Moyan Atlas to the Meski Oasis, where we camped the night surrounded by beautiful scenery deserts, oases and old ruined medinas. Oh and I bought some Moroccan drums (Berber Tam-Tams made of ceramic)

From there, we drove further out to the edge of the Sahara, where we all rode in a caravan (of Camels of course) out to our desert camp as the sun set, and then we slept under the stars, chilling out with shisha and drums.

Getting up for sunrise, we then returned on our camels, and continued our way over to Todra Gorge, where we once again chose to sleep under the stars, pulling the mattresses out from our rooms in the hotel to sleep on the terrace.
Just stunning scenery.

The next morn, we did some real rock climbing up the gorge (there's a first time for everything), and surviving relatively unscathed (just a few cuts and bruises), a few of us started hiking up the gorge in the afternoon, for more stunning views and a bit of a workout (my thongs by this stage were nearing their demise, particularly after a 4 hour hike down the dry river beds through the gorge)

Moving on from Todra, we drove through the High Atlas, climbing the Tizi-n-Tichka pass, en-route to Marrakech.

Marrakech was at times exciting, colourful, stinky, dodgy, and friendly.

the Djemaa El-Fna (main square) was pulsating at night with hundreds of open air food stalls, performers, snake charmers, and mazes of souks off the square.

By day, it was no less busy, with 40 or so fresh orange juice stalls all next to each other. Most our free day was spent shopping, or rather haggling, which I found great enjoyment doing, often for other people, as I wasnt buying that much myself, and when surrounded by 15-20 girls, somehow you end up going shopping a fair bit...


The second week of our trip happened to coincide with the start of Ramadan, which created a few issues, and some people got shouted at for eating or drinking before sunset. And the people in the shops were less willing to haggle as they tired later in the day.

I did go to a Hammam (arabic bath) where i was scrubbed down and stepped on by a skinny little Moroccan man who looked a lot like Gandhi. So that was nice...


From Marrakech, we headed towards the coast via the Film Studios where we looked around the Castle set built for Kingdom of Heaven.

From there, we made it to Essaouira the fishing town on the atlantic coast, with another incredible medina with so many souks, and great surf beaches.

There was also the Castle made of Sand where Jimi Hendrix lived for a while further up the coast a bit.

We hugged the coast from here, up to Asilah and then Cap Spartal where we had our final night party and bonfire (grilled pigeon anyone?)

And then it was all over....


We were returned to the hotel to pick up our stuff, and as fortune would have it, i had decided to stay another night in luxury at the Tarik Hotel rather than getting the ferry over to Algeciras.

Because on my return to the Hotel from the port, Bianca who had stayed there,
informed me that the Casting director for the Bourne Ultimatum wanted 5 backpackers to feature in the movie!

So with 2 other girls from the 7 day tour and a random english guy who had just rocked up, we suddenly were signing contracts and hanging round in Tangier for another 2 days.

And so we left the hotel at 5am and were taken down to the port where we had an amazing breakfast, and then jumped on a ferry for 7 hours, most of which was shooting this one scene from the movie which required me and bianca to walk directly in front of the camera past Matt Damon and Julia Stiles, and join the others in the background of this scene. All of this while wearing very very warm winter clothes with very very warm summer weather.

After about 15 takes from various angles we returned for an amazing lunch, and waited around while they shot another scene in immigration, before we swiftly were paid and we rushed back to the hotel to get our stuff and return to port where 2 of us just made a ferry back to Spain and then only just made the night train to Madrid and then the day train to San Sebastian where i am sitting typing this increasingly lengthy blog entry right now....

Somehow managed to miss a flamenco show and the cathedral in Seville!

Nevertheless, got to the alcazar and the other main sights in very very hot temperatures. It was 43 when i got off the bus from madrid and was 34 at midnight walking around the city!

From Seville, I headed to country number 17, Portugal where i headed to the southern coast on the Atlantic and the coastal town of Lagos, seemingly occupied by middle aged english tourists and young aussies. Stayed at the aptly named 'Cameltoe' Hostel not to be confused with the equally aptly named ´Rising Cock´. Pretty much just the beach and partying, and a very welcome if not particularly tasty meat pie and sauce.

On an hours or so sleep, I caught the early 6.30am bus back to Seville, and then another bus over to Granada, where today it was actually very cold - only 21!!
Went out of town to Guijar and the Sierra Nevada which was nice.

Tomorrow ill be rising early to line up for the Alhambra, the must see sight in Granada, before heading down to Morocco for my 2 week camping tour!!

Forgot to mention that i´ve finally managed to get a few photos up on the web so click the ´More Travel Photos link´ on the left to have a look

Now in Seville after a few nights in barcelona and valencia (again) and 4 in madrid.

barcelona was a very busy, exciting city, and i probably needed more than 2 days but nevertheless, i managed to go to a tapas night and flamenco show, and see a lot of the gaudi architecture all around the city.

Returning to Valencia, i deliberately relaxed a little more, chilling out on the hostel terrace, watching a rather amusing and interesting paella cooking demonstration, followed of course by the consumption of said paella, and some sangria.

I haven´t really liked the sangria that much for some reason (too sweet i think), but everyone else seems to be enjoying it.

But Valencia is the home of paella, so it was nice to have some while i was there.

From there, it was inland to Madrid, with hotter weather and friendly local prostitutes standing outside the door to the hostel.

Madrid had some beautiful parks, palaces and museums. Despite telling myself not to go to anymore museums (ever again...ever), i ended up going to the Prado and Reina Sofia museums for a bit of spanish and modern art, and they were relatively cheap and probably worth it (my valid (but not really) student card doing the trick once again).

On one day, Meredith (who I´ve been travelling on and off with since Greece) and I did a day trip to Toledo.


And today I ventured out on my own for the first time in a while, leaving the tender loving care of Busabout and making my own way to the south of Spain for a week before I head to Morrocco.

Looking forward to a bit more Flamenco here in Seville where it originated.