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Our world tour is nearing its end, with Dubai chosen to be the final destination. (Truth be known we do actually have a final final stop, but as part of our round the world trip , Dubai is our last awesome adventure). I knew in advance that we were heading to Dubai in the worst possible month, July, average temperatures in the high 40s, and that these bunnies were going to cook, but that couldn`t be avoided. Not sure however if I was prepared for the cost of Dubai.... With the temperature scale hitting record numbers I decided that touring Dubai would not be an option. Just the thought of getting taxis or buses here there and everywhere made me hot, tired and grumpy. I had to weigh up seeing the the sights of Dubai in punishing heat, or keeping it simple and ticking off the just the biggest icons. And what is bigger than the Burj Khalifa? We had hoped to add the Dubai Frame and the fountain show to our itinerary, but not every plan comes to fruition. Picked up from the airport by Uber, we set off for the most spectacularly stunning, hottest ride to date. Personally this bunny had eyes on stalks looking out of every window to catch the first sight of the Burj Khalifa. I knew we were only around twenty minutes from the airport, so surely I must be able to see the worlds tallest building without too much trouble? I was wrong. I am not entirely certain the last time I was surrounded by so many architecturally beautiful and amazing looking, tall buildings. Oh my golly gosh who designs such buildings! To say Dubai is almost futuristic would be an understatement. Then to my right I saw it, but how can it be? Surely it was bigger than that? Why does that little building resemble the Burj, nooooo! this cannot be! Turns out it can. We were surrounded by so many buildings of such incredible heights, the beautiful Burj could quietly dodge and hide at every turn. Even turning into our stunning apartment complex knowing the Burj was walking distance away, it still refused to present itself to us. To be as close to the Burj Khalifa as possible I had found the bunnies the most spectacular little bunny pad imaginable. Bookingdotcom could you possibly, just this once, live up to every photo with supreme accuracy? Yes, Yes you can, and even better, just once, excelled as well. This stunning little...little?...probably bigger than my own bunny pad in the UK truth be known, was situated on the 42nd floor (yikes) of two identical towers quite literally within walking distance of the Burj. Oh my goodness did we strike gold or oil, or what! This stunning apartment was on a corner and had the most breath taking panoramic views. Two balconies with grass underfoot and comfortable chairs, and there, right there, no neck craning, leaning, or obstruction, stood the Burj Khalifa in all its stunning glory. The Burj Khalifa stands majestically within its own area. Once you enter its domain it is only then you can appreciate the sheer size and scale of this monumental iconic structure. From the ground it quietly hides, biding its time until you reach the spot where you just stand in pure wonder and awe. Even the large mostly unobtrusive walls go unnoticed for a while, until the moment you realise, the fountains were being refurbished. Oh, we were gutted. We had chosen not to look too much at Dubai wanting to see it with our own eyes, but we did know that these fountains are amongst the best, if not the best, in the world. And closed. Our disappointment rapidly dissipated however as we entered the Mall, and the public entrance to the Burj. (We had already been quietly and politely turned around by security as we accidentally wandered the grounds of the private residential entrance, maybe the odd Ferrari or two roaring up the drive should have alerted us sooner..) The Dubai Mall, situated underneath the Burj is unbelievable. We thought we had been in some special buildings, but goodness me, this was just stunningly beautiful. We chose not to venture too high, as with all the best will in the world, these bunnies were not quite ready for the pure elegance, style and opulence that so many of the patrons exuded with little effort. Three bunny backpackers, just didn`t quite fit the mould. We did however purchase ourselves some sneakily reduced priced tickets to enter the lift to the next world. Standing on our apartment balcony on the 42nd floor, we were so high. Our next lift ride would stop at level 124. With surprising speed we were raised to the viewing point, and stepped out into space. Mrs Bunny who doesn`t generally have a head for heights, took several moments of gluing herself to the building, before the wobbly bunny butt subsided and she was able to hop forward towards the balcony edge for a better look. The platform was open to the elements, but the glass walls surrounding the platform were clearly extraordinarily substantial. 124 floors above ground level, yet looking up, there was still another 40 plus floors above us. With a 360` degree view, we could walk around the whole platform. We looked for, and found, our incredibly tall apartment block, which now resembled the size of a child`s Lego brick. And my first impression of the Burj Khalifa was that it was smaller than I thought?? Ha ! With all our photographs taken, and memories stored, once more we returned, almost literally back to earth. To the men and women who designed and built this building. I salute you. As I said earlier in my blog, we had planned to visit the Frame next. Truthfully, after standing on top of the world looking down, way way down on said Frame, we suddenly didn`t feel the need to see it any closer. Our next hotel has a bit of a back story. Many months ago I remembered about a certain amazing hotel in Dubai. We were actually in KL at the time. I showed it Mr B with a certain degree of trepidation and hope, and knowing it would make a fabulous end of trip stay, together we made the decision to cash in the chips so they say, and booked ourselves a 4 night stay, in `that hotel`. We kept little B in the dark, since I know that from being a very small bunny she had longed to stay at said hotel, same name, different destination. We still gave little B her chance to do the what and where of Dubai, keeping up pretences, but coming to the end of the trip I made noises about keeping things free, or as cheap as possible (in Dubai? chance was a fine thing) Time and time again she dropped hints and suggestions about `that hotel`, we could just visit the lobby? They have a waterpark? It took this mummy bunny real strength of character trying to keep a poker face. As we were to check out of our 42nd floor apartment at 10am, Mr and Mrs B embarked on a rambling conversation of how long we would have to sit in reception, that our new room was very different (hum te tum) to this one, and not everywhere has luggage storage. Oh we played the game of `Keep the Secret` so very well. Mr and Mrs B then suggested to little B, that whilst we had 5 hours to kill, did she fancy going to `That Hotel` and having a look around in the public spaces...... Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai. We duly called a taxi, loaded up all our bags and headed off to Atlantis. Mr and Mrs B were just so excited, little B was equally excited but for very different reasons. And then ARGHHH!! the taxi pulled up, and security guard stuck his head through the car window and requested our room numbers. Room number Sir! Room number? This was not how we planned to drop the bombshell on little B, so we said, No, no room number, we are just visiting. Our taxi driver huffed and puffed, saying Not staying? you didn`t say, visitor entrance is not here. He duly drove us round the corner, and dumping our bags on the pavement left us at the visitor entrance. We entered this jaw dropping hotel with all our bags, and instantly knew we had made the right decision. Atlantis is utterly stunning. Even this general area for day visitors was a vision to behold. With sparkling eyes, little B got out her go pro and started filming. This, that, down there, grabbing as much video as she possibly could. We knew we couldn`t keep the secret much longer. At a corner of the most beautiful hotel corridor you have ever seen, she raised her go pro once more, but this time Mummy Bunny gently placed her bunny paw on the camera, and whispered, `You don`t need to film it all now, you have 4 days, this is our next hotel. Together Mr B and I had pulled off the best kept secret ever, and the tears flowed copiously. With the secret now free to share, I admit that we are staying at the Atlantis Hotel, The Palm, Dubai. Bags in hand we headed for reception and couldn`t stop grinning. Our room is located in the west wing, and on the 12th floor. The view is just amazing, and the room, I know to some of the clientele staying here, it just another hotel, but for 3 bunnies who have endured just about every kind of room and accommodation going, this was, and is, very very special. Atlantis is without doubt the most amazing hotel we have seen, and we do admit to having stuck our bunny noses in several good looking hotels around the world. The attention to detail is just exquisite. Themed within an inch of its life around the lost underwater world of Atlantis, this hotel just exudes rich detail. My descriptions couldn`t begin do it justice, so I hope a few photos will help. Splendid or not, what we hadn`t expected were the prices. Yes, we knew it was going to be expensive, but there is expensive, then there is `you are kidding`. We assumed by the number of Ferraris parked at the front, Russian guests weighed down by gold chains, and handsome Sheiks in their pristine Abaya, that to them a price list was a mere token of information, whilst to these 3 budget conscious bunnies, choosing a bottle of water for £8 each because it was the cheapest drink made our eyes water. Breakfast is around £15 each, for a bowl of granola. Coffee is £8.50 per cup, as is tea. An average no frills meal for 3 at the most `average` restaurant ran up a bill of £100. We declined the dessert at £13 per portion. Three drinks tot up to £30 per round. With the average daily temperatures reaching the high 40s, the need to drink copiously is essential, thankfully the room water is free, and our flasks were purchased to serve a purpose. We don`t wish to be frugal bunnies, but at the end of a very long trip, the prices here are a little eye watering. There are quite a number of shops here at Atlantis, they are located in an area called the Avenues. Tiffany is one of them. Need I say more? We spotted a well known UK shop brand, WH Smith, and had a giggle. It stocked a tiny portion of well known English chocolate brands, such as Mars bars, but at £5 each, the need for a chocolate fix rapidly diminished. With four days to relax and explore the joys of Atlantis, I feel we have tried our best to enjoy the most relaxing areas of the hotel, aka, the free bits. We could have chosen to dine at any one of the exquisite Michelin starred restaurants, of which there are a few, but alas, our frugal wardrobes did not contain items to match the desired dress code of ` elegant and smart` darn.... Then there were the spa treatments, nails, eyebrows, massage we understood and dithered about booking but we drew a very firm line at `IV Treatments` the Underwater Yoga classes, Face Art Botox sessions , the Red Light Laser Bed and Microneedling whatever that heck that may be. I think these three bunnies are a little more down to earth enjoying life as it comes, not as pampered spoilt bunnybrats. Aquaventure World. Labelled as the worlds largest waterpark, this was a favourite of ours. We are entitled to enter free as guests of the hotel, but the park itself is open to paying day guests. With daytime temperatures akin to a hot oven, we relaxed on the lazy river on large rubber rings. Whilst enjoyable, the occasional rise up a moving ramp lowering slowly down the other side into rapids was fun, it was also brief. The water flow was a little too slow moving at times and more than once we found ourselves exerting more energy than we could spare trying to move our floats along. Mr B and little B managed to hoist their little butts up the tower to ride the tube rafts, but both felt that the constant flow of Fast Pass riders made the wait times tediously slow. At a different time of year I feel this could be a really good waterpark, but the incredible heat coupled with pathways on which you could have fried eggs was a little overwhelming for us. The cooler, deeper pool near the hotel beckoned us day on day. The Lost Chambers Aquarium. An Aquarium like no other. Day guests can see part of the aquarium wall, but hotel guests are able to view the most stunning glass wall to an undersea world of epic proportions. Like every inch of the hotel, the glass is spotless. All day long an endless stream of children and adults alike place their hands on the glass to feel a part of the ocean in front of them, and not a single fingerprint remains. That glass is cleaned inside and out quite possibly as many time as the floors are. The bunnies are well used to grubby glass and poor cleanliness of Busch Gardens and similar, but here? Nothing is left marked. This pristine window offers an unblemished scene of underwater fish life, from sharks to rays, from eels to shoals of serious looking silver fish. Then you have the actual aquarium. Now, this bunny can name less fish than birds, so please accept my apologies when I say the fish are big, small, colourful, still, fast, sat on shelves, tiny with orange stripes with little blue ones darting about nearby and just about everything else in between. There are no information boards to mar the ambience, just a beautiful vista of the joys of the underwater world. There was also a large tank of bouncing jelly fish that were quite mesmerising. With an exceptionally large budget, a luxury wardrobe, a penchant for all things expensive, a gourmet palate, the desire to be pampered to the extreme, and a flair for adventure (Balloon rides, Helicopter, Jet Bikes) then Atlantis is the most perfect destination hotel, a playground for the rich, a showground for those who want to be seen. For the more discerning and budget conscious bunnies, Atlantis is here for you as well. Three nights, or even two, would be more than enough time to give you the chance to experience this very special hotel. Research the restaurants thoroughly, decide on your preferred cuisine, and with a little hindsight you too could dip your little bunny toes into the life of the hotel Atlantis, the Palm, Dubai. Now is the time to say goodbye. The three bunnies have completed their Round the World trip and alas home beckons us once more. There are more adventures planned for the future, including one just days away. The three bunnies will be venturing forth together for one last blast of Disney fun lasting a whole month, and I shall endeavour to write about what we get up to there in the near future. On our return however, little bunny will return to work, whilst Mr Bunny and I figure out how to balance a life of retirement and travel. To the readers who have followed my bunny blog, I do hope I have inspired you, hopefully made you laugh or even just given you ideas. Thank you for sticking with us.

Welcome to Sri Lanka, an island that has been on Mr B`s bunny list forever. Of all the places we knew we may or may not visit Sri Lanka was a constant. Oddly enough though, it was the one destination of all the multitudes of You Tubes that we watched, that we researched the least. As I sit here typing this blog, more fool us.... Sigiriya From the offset we always knew that we were going to tour Sri Lanka by rented TukTuk. Mr B made all the necessary arrangements to acquire himself a Sri Lankan Driving Permit, but unfortunately a last minute hitch occurred when he realised that his International Permit was only valid for 12 months, and had expired. The excellent company from where we hired the TukTuk (tuk-tukrentals @Negombo) aided us in acquiring a new one. Abu -The Tuk Tuk Day one, leaving Singapore/landing into Sri Lanka. The adventure began before we even left the airport at Singapore. A WhatsApp message came through from our first hotel, would we like a driver to pick us up at the airport and bring us to the hotel? Always a huge help, we confirmed immediately, Yes Please! ` Excellent` was the reply, followed immediately with `Do you mind doing me a favour and purchase me 4 bottles of whiskey from the duty free for my birthday next week, and I shall pay you on arrival?` Mrs Bunny always and forever suspicious was all for saying absolutely not no way, but on Mr B`s insistence that this could actually help us, we said Yes. Let me hasten to add, the Duty Free shop was through the immigration and just prior to leaving the airport on the Sri Lanka side. We duly landed into Sri Lanka which I personally found to be quite a stressful and slightly intimidating airport, purchased the whisky (@$240!!!) and judging by the numerous people doing the same, realised it was the norm, then we could not see/find our driver. Not a single sign had our name on it. Mrs Bunny asked a guard if she could leave the airport to find the driver outside, only to have a jobsworth armed security guard scream at me that I could not return back into the airport! I kept gesturing that my family was still inside, but he was quite loud and insistent, that I was moving no further. Lucky for me, Mr B and little B, wandered towards me, and I towards them, until we met in the middle and the first guard waved jobsworth away. Reunited, we walked out together and paraded the length of this most chaotic, loud, bustling, hassling airport concourse until our driver finally made an appearance. Yes he paid us for the whiskey. Sri Lanka you are a challenge. Taxi to the Tuk Tuk office please. We booked a large car, a Mini arrived ! There are no mini`s anywhere we have travelled, yet we manage to hire one here and now. Having divided up our luggage into smaller bags in preparation for our long trip in a tuk tuk with the tiniest amount of storage space, yet also needing to transport our biggest bags for storage, this little tiny car appeared when we had nine pieces of luggage plus Little Blue (our food bag) to relocate. With everything plus ourselves squeezed into a car the approximate size of a small fridge, we consoled ourselves that at least the office was only a mile away and our discomfort wouldn`t last. Ha! We must have had the only taxi driver in Negombo who couldn`t find the office of the biggest TukTuk rental company in Sri Lanka. 30 minutes and three very hot cross bunnies later we were finally evicted from this hot box on wheels with a curt, `just down there`. Never have 3 bunnies been more grateful for a kind face and those three little words, `want a drink`? The fun begins. Only Mr Bunny has the driving permit, (not that he would have allowed either of the other bunnies to drive anyway) and so it was Mr Bunny who was lead away to be taught how to drive a tuk tuk, by a woman whom I personally think had more knowledge of driving a toaster. Mr Bunny is a careful, considerate attentive little bunny who strives to do exactly as he is told, and whom quite clearly listened diligently to his driving instructor. After leaving the compound with the two other bunnies huddled in the back, it didn`t take Mrs BackseatBunny long to beg the question, `who taught you to drive, a woman?!!` (sorry fellow lady drivers, but in the heat of moment it was the best I could think of) I have a hunch that my lovely bunny will chuck me out of the bunny hutch tonight as I put pen to paper and say that the first few hours of a passenger in that tuk tuk where the longest in my life. Mr Bunny followed those driving instructions to the letter, as we clonked, jumped, juddered, screamed, kangarooed and darn near killed the gearbox before we had even left the city. Seated like a prim banker, a grip like a rings gymnast and the ignorance of a tone deaf pianist, my lovely bunny who can drive a car with the most exisite driving skills, proceeded to torture our poor little tuk tuk for the next three hours as he got to grips with newly learned skills. The panic was evident, the terror palpable and the scarefest was real. Launching a newly qualified tuktuk driver straight onto the streets of Sri Lanka was scarier than anyone could have imagined. Quite frankly the traffic is horrendous, with the worst culprits being the numerous coaches with drivers who are quite probably taught to drive during a demolition derby, then put on the streets with the instruction, just do the same out there and you will be fine. No lines, no traffic lights, overtaking on both sides, stop where you want, whenever you want, no indicators, bicycles, pedestrians, cows, kids and my brake lights don`t work so what? In my defence, my nerves were a little strained due to the fact that I drove a motorbike for several years, and every part of my wrists and fingers were itching to grab the gear change and change gears a lot sooner than Mr B. Hence the `who taught you to drive question`. Sticking rigidly to his script, Mr B did 10mph in first, reaching twenty change up, thirty and into third and so on. With every part of the tuktuk feeling like a motorbike, it took all my strength and a whole lot of lip biting, to refrain from yelling Change Up!! no no no, don`t change yet! and a very tense grip knowing that the tuktuk was about to lurch due to a mistimed or clumsy gear change. In defence of Mr B, the gear shift was temperamental, the ratios a little bizarre and the gearbox a snooty little madam. Several hundred kilometres later, Mr B grasped the feel of Abu (our tuktuk) and our journeys though still fraught, are at least a little smoother. Just need to address the actual width of Abu now and all will be good in the world. The journey begins. Whilst we could not change the dates of our visit, we could change the destinations. July is monsoon season in the west of the island, and we were advised that the east coast would be far drier and nicer. We had originally planned to head straight down the west coast, then north, maybe as far as Sigiriya, then back to Negombo. This would be the most touristic route, but hey, we can adapt. Stop one was at small hotel on a lake edge. No frills, just an old colonial house, single story, used to be English owned, but now owned by the present host's grandfather. Like many of our stops around Sri Lanka, this was just a one night stay breaking up a long journey. We ate at a nearby restaurant and started our learning about the nuances of Sri Lanka. Men for instance, are everywhere, but woman are few and far between. Our entire restaurant was male, with Mrs and Little B the only females onsite. We observed our first Chipmunk. We had our second cold fried eggs for breakfast, the first we thought was our two minute tardy lateness to the table, but a second time? Day two saw us heading to the sacred area of Sigiriya, where we landed and immediately found the key to the room of our previous hotel. Groan. Aside this, what a lovely little place Sigiriya is. Little bunny learned that big scary monkeys invade balconies, whilst Mr and Mrs B had a tree house type bunny hutch with an outdoor bathroom. Showering whilst looking up at the clouds was a little odd, not to mention being observed on the loo by a friendly local bird. Our host teased us by saying elephants were known to wander in the fields just behind the tree house, but to our chagrin we couldn`t even see the nearby fence by night never mind spot an elephant. Bah! Sigiriya is a huge mountain of rock with a temple on its flat summit. It is a sacred area, and it is treated with respect. Little Bunny paid her respects by climbing to the summit up its 1200 steps, while Mr and Mrs B toasted the temple gods with glasses of cold milkshake from the bottom. We were taken on a tuktuk tour around Sigiriya with a guide who drove our little Abu, (without grinding the gears or kangaroo hops, just saying....) as only the official guides were allowed to drive onsite. It was interesting to a point, but quite frankly my practical bunny brain just wanted to rewind the clock several thousand years and say to the numpty who thought that building a temple on top of a huge rock was a good idea, `you do know you are being a bit of a pompous twit`?. Sigiriya is long gone relic of old, only stones and stories remain. The food in the town was quite pleasant, but once again, a mostly cold hotel breakfast was served. Our lesson for Sigiriya was learned far too late. The reason for all the elephant safaris? Elephants are mainly found in the north. Darn. This bunny was planning a southerly jaunt to Yala, from a coastal stay nearby but that`s a lesson for later. East coast adventures. Following a very straight road all the way to the coast, we landed at the town of Trincomalee and the first of many challenging stays. With Booking.com never having let us down before, I was to quickly learn that here in Sri Lanka, `fab location` means miles out of town `amazing hosts` refers to pushy but pleasant hotel owners. `Superb` means better than a tent. With each destination requiring two bunny hutches, I always aim to acquire similar with great reviews. Baby Bunny hutch number one on Trincomalee turned out to be in the very centre of town and far from anything even remotely `touristic`. The description of her hotel was tenuously accurate. Yes, it was on the beach, but a fishing boat beach. Yes, it did have a `good location`, if local shops selling new buckets or raw fish was on your wish list. Whilst non of us mind this, life is so much easier when we can at least read a menu, and perhaps even have half a chance of something a little easier on the palate. With the second bunny hutch located 3km away on the main beach, a proper tourist beach with sunbeds, little B moved closer on the second night and normal serviced resumed. As both properties had had disappointing first impressions, we very nearly moved on after just one night, but decided to stay instead and see if we liked being beach bums for a few days. Turns out we did. The beach was clean and easy, the sea was nice, the beds were free and the beach bar and its staff close and attentive. Our lesson here was to know that the grass isn`t greener down the coast. We did tour the town a couple of times by tuktuk, I forgot to mention this. Our hosts kept suggesting we should go see the Fort, the Deer park, maybe Marble Beach or even a temple...please No! No more temples. We did visit these places, but our enthusiasm for these places was as extensive as this paragraph. Yes, thats a beach. That is a deer. Are those the walls of the Fort? (entry £12 each, lets not bother) Pasikuda/Kalkuda Looking forward to more of the same in the coastal town of Kalkuda, we again had two supposedly perfect new hutches, both in` excellent locations`, and again this was proven to be incorrect. Bunny hutch number one was so far out of town she would have needed to catch a taxi to reach the nearest shop and an organised tour to visit the beach. We didn`t even pause to glance inside such was the remote location and instead zoomed right past to hutch number two. This pleasant little pad was on glance so much nicer, but unfortunately full all except for the cutest little room with an amazing view over the beach and sea. (why was it empty we wondered) To cut a long story short, whilst the hotel was actually quite lovely, little B earned herself a new name, Snow White. If it moved, it paid her a visit. The chipmunk was cute, but alas everything else was less than. Possibly the reason the room was still empty on arrival? Mr Bunny was renamed Grumpy after spotting a rather large, and fortunately non poisonous snake right opposite our ground floor balcony. It took me a little while to understand why Mr B was so agitated as for quite some time the only words he uttered had 4 letters and began with F. Mr B does not approve of snakes. Beach life here was a little more challenging than at Trincomalee, the beach next to our hotel was utterly beautiful, but had zero shade and no facilities. It was refreshing to see such a beautiful long beach unspoilt by a blight of hotels, but for bunnies wanting a touch of shade and relaxation, maybe a hint of being spoilt this was not the beach for us. Grateful for having our own transport, we sought directions and found the public beach further afield. With no amenities or shade again we took a quick scoot to the left, offered the pool lifeguard a sneaky `bribe`, and secured the bunnies three comfortable sunbeds with towels and use of the pool in a rather nice, quiet hotel complex. Three days there and we were on the move again. Arugam Bay After driving for what felt like an eternity of nothing but tiny fishing villages, local towns and incredible landscapes, we knew we were arriving into somewhere very different when the tiny shops selling fruit, crisps and potatoes morphed into gaudy shops selling Surfboards?? Surfer dudes, board shorts, bare feet, bare chests, skinny girls in barely there bikinis, blue faces? Never quite got the blue face thing, I can only assume its a type of heavy duty sun protection, but suddenly, after driving through endless lovely little localised villages, this little town of Arugam Bay had a totally different vibe to anywhere else we had been. Gone were the amazing and wonderful beaming smiles of the delightful Sri Lankan people, and instead we were in a town of miserable faced young pale skinned people, with their know it all demeaner and bragging attitudes. (endless overheard conversations are always in the vein of been there, done that, seen, it.....at 25?) Guys, girls, seriously, you are just starting out, give it a rest! The Sri Lankan people are the friendliest people we have encountered anywhere on our travels. They beam at you with faces that light up with pure joy as you wave and shout `hello` , but tourists? Good grief people, Smile for heavens sake! Time and time again we meet the most frosty faced people, all with one thing in common. Tourist. We bunnies smile at everyone, we say Hi, we wave, we try hard to be polite and accommodating to the lovely, but occasionally pushy restaurant owners, but other tourists, most especially the younger end? Rude. Ignorant. Is it really so hard to just smile, say hello or thank you, but no thank you? Truth be known it has been the norm for most of Asia. But against a backdrop of the most wonderful friendly people, the rudeness and blatant disregard of culture and modesty is both embarrassing and shameful. Arugam Bay is a long singular street catering purely for tourism, not too many t.s shops I was glad to note, but many many restaurants and drinking establishments interspersed with accommodations, hotels and hostels of every kind. The food wasn`t particularly exciting, mostly simple offerings, but we managed. Nutella was available everywhere, not that we partook of any. We spent most days at the pool of a local hotel, paying them for the privilege. The beach was tried once to ease the financial burden of overpriced drinks and cold food offerings, but we quickly came to the conclusion that it was better to pay pool prices, than be swarmed by the aggressive crows that haunted the beach areas. Yala National Park. A lesson learned too late. Yala was a long, long way away. It was expensive, and the chance of seeing wild elephants was slim. Our host informed us that we could go to Yala and maybe see the Water Buffalo (of which we have seen plenty) birds..(not our thing) maybe leopards (possible, maybe) but his enthusiasm for us seeing the wild elephant was meh. We chose to decline in the hope of seeing elephants, as per a friends personal video sent to us during our time there, on the way to Ella, our next destination, our next lesson to learn the hard way. After 14 days enjoying the wonderful east coast with its lovely weather, endless sunny days and blue skies, it was time to start our journey across country back to the west coast. Remember I said that I didn`t do a lot of research? And that lessons were learned? Turns out not appreciating the geography of Sri Lanka was also a big mistake. On the map we had earmarked endless waterfalls, and scenic places., and had plans to visit as many as possible. First stop Ella. Yet another booking.com failure. Let down again. 9,1 rating? how can we have possibly arrived Mr B? This is a run down roadside restaurant, empty fridges, piled up chairs, no visible food, halfway up one heck of a steep mountain road. Yep, that`s the place. Two days we spent driving up and down that very beautifully scenic road, but no matter how nice the views, it was a road driven by crazy bus drivers, too many lorries, endless tuk tuks, and was incredibly stressful. If we wanted to eat, we had to drive. The `restaurant` owner offered to cook, but having spent 15 minutes of our arrival time looking straight into the `kitchen` whilst waiting for the room to be prepped, was enough for a polite but firm refusal. Ella. The town itself came as a big surprise. It was a lot bigger than we were expecting, and clearly a long established tourist town. A very multi cultural and mixed age town, quite unlike the young surfer type of Arugam Bay. A singular long winding uphill street filled with a multitude of all things tourist. The whole area of Ella centres around one thing, and one thing only, the stunning 9 Arches Bridge. Surprisingly easy to reach by tuk tuk, we set off very early on morning two to catch the passing of the 9.45 train as it crossed the bridge. We could if so wanted, have caught the train, and the rental company would have relocated the tuk tuk for us, but the train prices were a little steep, and insider info informed that the road criss crossed the railway taking virtually the same route, at least for a few miles. I think for a little while yet, the paths to view the train crossing will remain cute, rustic and challenging, but I predict that the rapid growth of tourism will spoil the charm as more and more people visit, demanding better roads, parking, ts shops and viewpoint restaurants. The trend is already there, but for the moment they are mostly unobtrusive. Onwards and upwards, quite literally to Nuwara Eliya. Lots of lessons learned the hard way again as we made our way to the town. We climbed the mountain, and climbed some more. We didn`t stop climbing until we reached an altitude of almost 1800metres asl. As we climbed these extremely steep roads, higher and higher, we started to notice trousers...a hat...a coat..a fleecy jumper....and still we climbed. These three unprepared bunnies, shivered our bunny butts off as we started to venture into the clouds. Did we know that the centre of Sri Lanka has mountainous regions? Did we heck! When we finally arrived at the town of Nuwara Eliya, we were frozen and attracting some very strange looks, sat huddled in the back of a tuk tuk in our shorts and t shirts. Sunscreen at 10am, furry blankets by 3. We wish we could have spent more time in this town, because as we drove through it, we may just as well have been in the Lake District (Cumbria, UK). Large stone built hotels, boating lake, pony rides, cafes, many English place names, eg The Blackpool Hotel, Langdale, Edinburgh, it was surreal, even had the correct weather! But we were frozen, ill prepared, and with zero warm clothing. Naturally little cold fish bunny had brought leggings and a fleece, but the two older bunnies had nothing. We parked at our out of town hotel, begged some blankets, and retired to our beds with hot tea and netflix. We left the next day, still wet, still foggy, still cold, and headed next to a hotel that from the day I first booked it, i was so excited to be staying at. Please. Please booking dot com, please let it live up to the expectations. Located at Hatton, which thankfully was at a lot lower altitude and just a touch warmer, this hotel was pure joy. Situated at the top of a valley, looking across at the tea plantations, this superb hotel was everything we could have hoped for. (Tea Hills Bungalow) The two bunnies had the most wonderful room with two double four poster beds with duvets, real cosy duvets, furniture (let me elaborate, we had a dressing table with stool, a larger table with mirror, a chaise lounge with the squishiest mattress topper, so comfortable, a mirrored glasses cabinet, three high stools, a couple of other smaller tables for baggage and a wardrobe.) The bathroom had a shower cubicle with mat, and a fluffy foot mat, a separate sink, and joy, a bath! A real bath, with hot water a plenty. Huge wrap around towels, and scented toiletries, oh wow, such a contrast to our previous rooms of late, and barely any more expensive. If that sounds good, well little B had it better! She really did win the room this time. On a higher floor, little B got a little palace room, with a single four poster bed, gold drapes, beautiful wooden furniture, stunning view, and a bathroom made for a queen. Standalone roll top bath, with gold free standing taps. Cue, one soggy bunny for the next 4 hours as she revelled in not just one hot bath, but treated herself to a second later that evening. Such was her enjoyment of said bath, she didn`t even mind when I knocked on her door, getting out of said bath, to accept the chocolate that I had been carrying, and which had finally hardened. Oh what we would have given for a second night here. We did try, but alas our little Abu had to be back in his own bed much too soon. Waving goodbye to a perfect hotel after just one night, we continued down the mountain, until we finally reached sea level once more, and the town of Kitugala . Bye bye nice cosy duvets, hello again you miserable single flappy sheet and air con. Talk about down to earth with a bump! The hotel served a purpose, and was clearly a local favourite, despite the fact that we were the only guests for the night, The entire reception area and restaurant, was very smartly decorated for a wedding party they were expecting the following morning, and the bustle of arriving caterers, food preparations and flowers kept the staff busy. We debated about staying and seeing the bridal party, but in the end the pull of the road and the need to get going made us leave prior to their arrival. Negombo. Our final destination for Sri Lanka. We dropped off Abu, reunited with our big bags and set off for our last hotel. I cannot comment about the town of Negombo as to be quite honest the batteries of these three tired bunnies are very, very flat. The hotel serves a base. We have no plans to go anywhere, or do anything. Catch up with You Tube, Blog and sleep. Play cards and just stop to catch our breath. Sri Lanka has been amazing. Challenging, but amazing. Elephants. We never did get to see a proper wild, free elephant. Our hearts did a jump in Sigirya as we spotted one walking towards us. With a fat tourist sat on top. I decline to comment, but said tourist got the gist of my anger, and I hope they felt guilt or fell off, I care not. Elephants are not tourist playthings. Our second elephant stood patiently in some ones garden. Tied to a stake. No friends. No herd. Wrong on every level. Was he rescued at birth and lovingly restored to health? I know not his story, but tied to a post? So sad. We next saw two elephants walking through a town. We were so excited until we realised the elephant number one had chains around his feet. Elephant number two was made to bow in front of the temple. His feet were free, but he had rows of massive chains around his neck. Again, without knowledge or understanding, we were saddened. Why are elephants so revered, they feature in all the temples, but are then bound in chains? Our last host gave us some insight, and partially renewed our faith that at least some elephants do live a free type of life. He explained that the elephant is so special, and where an elephant is required to participate in a festival, he is kept in a free roaming area until he is required to parade. The parade can be stressful, and to prevent the elephant getting angry and frustrated, he is chained for safety, and the weights slow his movements. We cannot deny that the atmosphere in that village was electric. They clearly loved that elephant, chained or not. It is not our culture or religion, we have to respect that. We were all glad to hear some evidence from a local, just how special the elephant is. These are not the Elephants paraded around for tourists money as per Thailand. Here it is just a little different. Dogs. There is a dog factory in Sri Lanka, somewhere. There has to be! Dogs, one size only are everywhere! You cannot move or drive anywhere without seeing Muttley walking, sleeping, lying, dodging traffic, sat on scooters, pavements, doorsteps and hotels. He is everywhere. They come in every colour, but only one shape and size. We never got to see the dog factory, but I swear its out there somewhere! Our time in this beautiful country has come to an end. Sri Lanka, you have the most amazing people, never before have we come across a nation of people who have made us feel more welcome. Thank you so much for your kind hospitality. One day, in the right season, we shall return. (with a jumper just in case....)

I did mention in my previous blog that we had to return to Malaysia to pass time before heading off to our next big destination. Singapore was our destination of choice. Yes, we have been before, and not that long ago, but there were just a few things we wanted to see again or visit for the first time having missed the opportunity first time around. The Zoo. Pretty sure you went to the zoo last time I hear you say...yes, yes we did, but Singapore Zoo is huge, and separated into many different components. It turned out to be a misunderstanding on my behalf that I thought we had missed the biggest part of the zoo first time around, as we seemed to wander the zoo in no time at all leaving me to think maybe we did see almost everything first time? We did see a few super cute animals, and for the first time in our zoo travels came face to face, (almost literally), as she wandered onto an external viewing platform for feeding time, a tree kangaroo. This may sound a little bizarre, but the tree kangaroo really is the cutest little thing you will ever see. Think oversized squirrel, crossed with a wallaby, and et voila. A tree kangaroo. We said hello to a rather matter of fact orangutan, but other than that we just wandered this very pleasant and lush green zoo until it was our own feeding time, when we sat eating watching the almost free roaming gibbons watching us as we ate. Universal Studios. Situated on Sentosa Island, we really wanted to visit Universal Studios first time around, but time was not on our side then and choices had to made. Not this time however. We booked our tickets and to Sentosa we headed. We travelled directly there by taxi, rather than duplicating our previous mode of transport, the cable car and arrived as the gates were starting to open. We were a little concerned by the sheer number of people heading through the gates, but like smoke they all but vanished. Vanished to where we do not know, but poof, and they were gone. Being old hats at popular theme parks, we marched with the crowd to the newest ride in the newest land. Minions. This part of the park was due to open the week after we left on our first visit, so everything was brand new to visitors and locals alike. Not being a fan of motion simulator rides, this was a no no for Mrs Bunny, who chose instead to ride the carousel. Between the ride queue for Minions, 20 mins, and the carousel, 10 mins, you would think that we ticked off two rides within the first hour. Wrong. You have never encountered a more disorganised system for getting people on and off rides, ever. Big bunny and little bunny despaired at the ride attendants who couldn`t fill ride carts, with the simple phrase, you two line 2, you two line 3. Oh no! Their description of Asian tourists waiting until the very last second to decide who was riding with who, but I want to ride with them, and I don`t want to ride alone, kept me amused for several minutes as we all recalled the superb efficiency, no prisoners, (you will sit there) of the Florida theme parks. By return, they listened with jaws dropped, as I explained that despite every pink or purple `bug` horse on the Carousel having a do not use sticker, at least 3 people per carousel round made a bee line for said `bug` having to be turfed off and lengthy explanations given. The long queue got longer by the minute, and every carousel turn went around with more than half the `horses` (bugs) empty, due to the lack of organizational skills of the operator. We knew then that it was going to be a long day. Resigned to this fact, we backtracked to the most ordinary cafe/coffee place we could find which just so happened to be Starbucks, and had a pleasant relaxing breakfast watching the crowds. Refreshed and fed, we set off once more to see what Universal Studios Singapore had to offer. After Minions land, we came to Shrek, and far far away. Was so odd finding a whole area devoted to Shrek and Puss in Boots, when the exact same ride in Florida has been removed due to lack of interest. (changed to Minions funny enough) Exact same ride. IYKYK. "Please continue to the end of the row filling all seats" fell on deaf ears. Perhaps people didn`t understand English?, but when the entire film is in English...... again we despaired. I cant remember many ride names, but `Puss in Boots` suspended rollercoaster next. Queued for one hour. ride lasted 15 seconds, my have pushed to 20, but I kid you not, up, across, round, down, stop. Barely higher than your average 5 storey building maybe, and people were screaming! Tame? just a bit. Universal Studios Singapore occupies the tiniest footprint of any park we have been to and we found that rides we recognised had been adapted to take up a much smaller area. Eg The Mummy. Same elements, half the ride. One wild and twisting rollercoaster turned out to be two, think duelling dragons, but downsize to duelling pocket snake. They ran as two separate rides, but intertwined with each other. Quite a clever design if you ask me. Maybe one exception was the Jurassic Park Water ride. That did feel like a full size ride with some very good elements. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our full day at Universal. Yes, its tame compared to Florida, everything is much smaller, the food is very much Asian orientated, so don`t be thinking your going to get a break from Asian cuisine into park food junk food, your not. The American Diner had elements of burgery things, but still with the Asian twist. For a tiny park we managed to fill a whole day. Walking a different path, we took to the waters edge on day three. We previously missed seeing the Merlion, the iconic symbol of Singapore, so this was our chance to try again. We had actually started our day at Battle Box as recommended by Daddy Bunny, a history buff, but alas we should have booked a slot prior to arrival, and as such we were only left with a short 2.30 tour or nothing, given that it was 10am, nothing is what we chose. One overpriced bakery breakfast later at the bottom of the hill from Battle Box, we then walked the river banks to see the Merlion. We took all the silly photos as you do, water in the mouth, catching the water etc, then continued along the riverside in the direction of the Gardens by the Bay. Along this walkway are some rather nice hotels, in front of one of which is a statue dedicated to Ghandi, whose ashes were partially scattered at the point in the river. Prior to entering the Gardens we walked once more through the beautiful, air conditioned, mall of The Marina Bay Sands Hotel. As malls go, this one is pretty special. Pretty special priced shops as well, so unless Gucci or Chanel is your go to everyday shop, then I would probably say its a window shopping type mall. Gardens by the Bay. So beautiful we just had to come again. We chose not to visit the Cloud dome and the Flower dome again having been there done that to both on our previous visit, but we did want to see the light show again. After a meal at the Nest cafe, we purchased tickets for the main Tree, and headed to the top to watch the sunset over Singapore, and then viewed the light show from our elevated position. Whilst not quite as good as watching from the ground, due to the fact that you cannot see the lights of the biggest tree whilst standing on it, it was a great visually entertaining show looking down. On our last day we headed for the area of Orchard Road, this is the shopping area and has many malls. Oddly enough though non of us seemed to be in any mood to wander through yet more shops. Our bags are full to bursting, too heavy, and at this point in the trip we want for nothing. We did find a great underpass that took us along a very long air conditioned road out of town, but coming back to the surface all the bunnies were tired hot batteries burned bunnies. We had done Singapore and all the major sights pretty well on our first visit, and without wanting to spend copious amounts of money finding yet another trip or sight, or taxi, we decided a room picnic in an air conditioned hotel room ticked all our boxes. We had some planning to do for our August adventure, and picnic /planning suited us all. We love Singapore. It is clean, smart, (expensive) and very enjoyable. Will we come back?, maybe not for quite some time, but yes, one day we will. Two short stays. Two short blogs. Normal service resumes next month :-)

Langkawi was never meant to feature so prominently on our list of must see places. Our original plan for Thailand was to hop progressively down the country to the south, enjoy fabulous food, weather and scenery, take a huge leap, well a decent size bunny bound at least across the sea to the beautiful island of Ko Lipe, finish off what was meant to be an awesome trip to Thailand on a special island described as a mini Maldives, and from there take a short bunny hop across the sea to the island of Langkawi with our bunny butts refreshed and exhilarated to buy some time in Malaysia prior to heading off to our next bucket list destination. This next place only allows us a 30 days visa, so a few days on Langkawi, a Malaysian island conveniently situated very close to Ko Lipe would tick that box very nicely. As per my previous blog describing our less than fulfilling trip to Thailand, our travelling bunny batteries felt more than just a little deflated as we landed into Langkawi from Ao Nang, rather than the planned Maldives like island of Ko Lipe. Langkawi Island. This is the bit where I type and type and type about how beautiful this island is, all the wonderful sights, the places to visit, the things to do and see, and how excited we were to be here after being disappointed and disillusioned by Thailand. Alas, with bunny batteries at an all time low, may I be forgiven for not feeling overwhelmed with excitement? Langkawi was quiet. Very, very, very quiet. The resort in which I had chosen for us to stay, close to the airport for convenience, was like a town running on out of season left overs. There was very little there to see or do, at least not without spending copious amounts of money on long winded tours to the far side of the island. Chocolate supermarkets? plenty of those. Cafes? very few. Nice looking restaurants? does Subway or Mcdonalds count? TS shops, meh, there were a few but only the usual tat. Now don`t get me wrong, if we had transport and a degree of motivation, I suppose we could have gone and explored this very green and lush island, but we had neither. We know that little B took herself off to a couple of places, but even she didn`t come back gushing with excitement. Out of season?, Yes. Out of bunny battery power? Possibly. A little tired of same grumpy weather different location? More than likely. Even the most beautiful island, with its pristine clean beaches, fresh air and palm trees failed to rouse these two tired bunnies. It served to remind us which parts of travel we love, and what doesn`t float our boat. Not just us either, in the apartment next to us was a young English couple, staying for 5 days, and even they asked me, what is there to do here? It was as though there was a certain apathy about the place. The motel host was the oddest man. He grinned at us regularly as he walked by our apartment, but it was a mouth movement, the smile was fake, the gesture was false, his eyes never showed any emotion. Almost mechanical. The housekeeper left us fruit on the table, we asked for a knife and got the same mechanical smile. A knife never arrived. The trips were very expensive. Jet boats on the beach would have cost more than our 4 night stay for an hours fun. Langkawi hides its secrets well. Be brave, go with body batteries fully charged, hire the scooter, rent the car, you will not be disappointed. We enjoyed Langkawi because it got us away from Thailand, with its inflated prices, constant stink of weed, and the endless stream of silly people constantly taking photos. Would we return? Quite possibly, I think Langkawi is a genuine jewel in the ocean. An oyster protecting its pearl. We perused the shell, without finding the time or energy to peruse the inner depths. Until we meet again.

Where do you start? That was the big question. Every reel and You Tube video says the same thing, `you haven`t seen Thailand if you miss here, here, here, here , here and here.` I could start to name a few, but they would be words on a page unless you plan to go. Blue skies, palm trees, secluded islands, quiet beautiful beaches. A million must sees. Best food in the world. Nicest people. The list of reasons to come to Thailand are endless. And Elephants. Must not forget the Elephants. Bangkok When ridiculously cheap flights from Siem Reap to Chiang Mai added another £180 to the cost of the flight purely for luggage, we quickly jumped to Plan B and caught a very nice bus to Bangkok instead. (very nice bus, comfort stops, nice clean roomy bathroom on board free coffee, wifi and exceptionally comfortable seats) we were very happy on this occasion to bus not fly. Having been swayed by yet another endless stream of Instagram (curse you) videos, showing a sparkling wonderful bright lights big city, interspersed with beautiful temples and must see iconic places, I have to say I was struck. Now, where to stay? Bangkok is huge, and incidentally if Google is to be believed, the most visited city in the world. Sukhumvit area came recommended and there I chose. Turns out even Sukhumvit has many different areas and quite frankly our area was in the middle of sod all. Desperate for a little bit of decent home cooked bunny fodder I was severely challenged by Mr Bunny requesting a kitchen, another reason our chosen apartment with fully fitted kitchen was picked. Supermarket nearby turned out to be local corner shop. Fully fitted meant I had 2 spoons, 2 forks, and a large spoon. A singular pan and a frying pan, with a spatula and knife being added by the caretaker on request. Compared to some places I dare say this flat would have been someone`s dream home, but, and I apologise for sounding a little bit snobbish, 2 pans, appalling wifi (a necessary curse) microwave and settee 12" from a tv that did not have Netflix, does not a home make. With a one and half hours trip on public transport to get anywhere even close to central, we managed one night only and checked out. Prior to leaving we spent several hours researching exactly where we wanted to be and what we desired. It came down to a choice of two, with an executive decision made by Mrs B, that Chillax Hotel was the place to be. An hour later in the most horrific traffic you have ever seen, we finally arrived in the area of Khao San road. Any review would tell you this is backpacker central with seedy bars interspersed with real gems. We need to confirm that we are out of season, its monsoon rainy weather, much quieter than usual, and our hotel was `on the outskirts of` and not in the middle of, Khao San road. Not a single backpacking hippie did we see. Apart from the bedroom being separated from the bathroom by a very large double bath and a curtain (quite bizarre) we really did land ourselves a very nice hotel. A minor grrr, when the hotel manager asked from where we had just come and I said Sukhumvit his response of `oh, such a lovely place, beautiful shops, fabulous restaurants` very nearly earned him a whack on the nose. When I added `71` he (phew) quickly added,` Ahhh, that`s quite a long way out` I forgave him and his nose remained intact. The reality of Bangkok. Traffic. We found out too late that the traffic in Bangkok is just horrendous. Barely moving and stationary traffic is a thing. You go nowhere fast. Even mopeds and scooters get held up with the sheer volume of vehicles on the road. No matter how nice that Temple is, how stunning the park is, unless you want to battle both the heat and the traffic, the temptation to avoid both is understandable. Our trip has been long and our patience for temples and the endless taking your shoes on and off all day long is just plain tedious. Also, and I know my opinion will annoy too many people, but quite frankly once you have seen one really nice temple, they quickly look very samey samey. We are both physically challenged, and therefore wear secure shoes not flip flops. We fully understand why just about everyone in Asia wears slip on shoes, or shoes with broken backs, we get it, but we cant, and the constant on and off, is beginning to irk us. Bangkok does have, or at least I have been told, a very good metro system. With a lot more time, patience and a willingness to look, we could probably have seen a lot more using both the metro and the river boats. Jim Thompson House. Doesn`t this sound odd and out of place? A must see place in the centre of Bangkok. This was one of only a few places that we pulled out all the stops to see. It came not just highly recommended, but recommended by a young Canadian guy who was quite in raptures over it. Lucky for us, it was easily accessible using the waterway. We walked the canal, crossed the 6 lane highway to the river, and caught the river boat that whizzed up the canal at quite an alarming speed, dropping us off almost at the door of Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American, very clearly wealthy and well educated, who was sent to Thailand during the war years. He loved what he saw, decided to build his house there, and along with it introduced the world to the beautiful silks of Thailand. The house he had built is just beautiful. Made of wood, and filled with some of the most unique ornaments, it is quite a joy to wander around. A cross between Thai living and western comforts, the house is quite simply a stunning wooden home. All three bunnies felt like all it needed was an invitation to stay, and the invitation would have been accepted there and then. Jim Thomson however did not leave the house voluntarily, nor did it become a museum due to his death. He disappeared during a trip to Malaysia in 1967, and was never heard of again. His only distant relatives felt the house was too much of a burden to maintain, and handed it over to equivalent of the Thailand National Trust to become a living museum. The silks that his factory produced captured the eye of a film producer, and were the garments worn in the original film The King and I, with the legendary Yul Brynner. Next on our list was the Gold Buddha. I could tell you which temple, but I wont, as the temple itself is nothing special, but the story of the gold Buddha is. In a nut shell, a large Buddha was built, worshipped for many years, then during a temple refit, a large chunk of the plaster buddha was broken off revealing what appeared to be another Buddha underneath this shell. On closer inspection, and with all the plaster removed, they found a solid gold 5.5 tonne Buddha underneath. We had to see for ourselves what a 5.5 tonne solid gold Buddha looked like. Not sure why I was expecting security like Fort Knox, I mean seriously, its not like you can stick five and half tonnes of gold under your arm and walk out. I did however expect a little more than a security camera and a grumpy old woman who screeched at anyone who dared take a photo whilst seated on the mat in front of said Buddha. She said nothing to a hundred tourists taking photo whilst not on the carpet, but on the carpet? whoa big trouble. This Buddha has earned itself a mention in the Guiness Book of Records as an objective of intrinsic value. Siam One/One Siam, a shopping mall. Our taxi driver told us about the malls as we came from the airport. He asked if we had come to shop because Bangkok is obsessed (oh how I hate that over used silly word, but it was his word) with Malls. Not hard to see why. Little Bunny spent time at Paragon, whilst we loved the Siam One that was nearer to us. What an utterly stunning, multi level, with mini levels and mezzanines, shopping Mall. If you believe Instagram hype, the waterfall is a must see. Its a water feature, whoopy do. There are bigger and better anywhere and everywhere. Just once take it from me, its not worth the hype or the fuss. Yes, its nice, but so what. As we don`t particularly need or want anything from Gucci or Balenciaga at this moment in time, we spent most of time wandering around the lower floors and the food halls. Here you find the best clean street food, made in clean sterile pans, with fridges in use. There are also all the nice arty stalls with handmade objects that are a little more tasteful than the usual t.s. I have struggled badly with the food in Asia, and these stalls suited me. I was able to find more simple dishes such as the Bao Buns, Gyozas, Egg buns, pineapple rice and the mango sticky rice ( saw, didn`t try) There was also a stall that sold fried bugs and scorpions on skewers, and hey guess what! I walked away of course! I did have a momentary stop at the rotisserie crocodile stall, pausing just long enough to take a photo and left well alone. I have very odd views of what should or should not be eaten. I can just about live with cow, chicken, pig and lamb, but other meats such as crocodile, horse, rabbit and anything at all with either more than 4 legs or non at all don`t sit very well with me. Not that I actually eat meat at the best of times, I hasten to add that whilst I am not vegetarian, I do prefer anything without meat, but if you add well cooked parts of white meat of chicken, I wont refuse. Our last visit in Bangkok, and the visit that finished off my patience, was our walk to Bangkok Palace. Even now as I write this, my heckles are rising. We walked towards the palace knowing it wasn`t far. I even said to Mr B, I bet we get told its closed, being repainted, closed for lunch, closed on Sundays, or any other excuses. I said it!! I said it out loud. While amiably wandering on the road, we got approached. "are you going to the Palace?" yes. `"its over there, you need to cross at the junction and walk down towards the left" sounds about right, so we thanked him and proceeded to walk. "Sorry,guys," he shouts, I should have told you, It is closed on Sunday for the Buddhists Monks to Pray, and it opens at 1pm" Why oh why oh why did my inner me not smell a rat? My Bunny, always a little too happy to be pleasant and accommodating, listened to the spiel, to the fact that the palace was definitely open later, only government run tuk tuks have yellow number plates, and they are the ones that are paid for by the government and therefore cost the least money, so any trip should cost 100 baht only and why don`t we pass a little time by going to x y and z temples first? He wrote the temples down on a list, in very scruffy writing, and hailed us a yellow number plated tuk tuk who just so happened to be driving past......(please tell me you smell a rat!) and Yes, we got in. The moment we got into the seat, and the pleasantries started, that rat appeared under my nose. Yes, we absolutely did go to a temple, with absolutely no other tourists in sight. A sure sign its not a temple of interest. Second stop? A bloody silk shop! We had fallen foul again of the tuktuk scam of `its a tour`,but one that you don`t mind that I am going to take you to either a silk shop, or jewellery shop, where you will be expected to spend between 6 and 10 mins minimum` before we go to any other place of interest. This time Mrs B pulled no punches and told both shop owner and driver that we had no intention in spending time or money in a shop `just because` Those bunny ears were flapping and both paws were pounding the ground in anger. Mrs B dragged away the sheepish Mr B , after all it was he who got us talked into the darn tour, back into the tuk tuk and demanded that we went to the `closed` Palace right now! One exceptionally annoyed tuktuk driver (and frankly I didn`t care) dropped us at the palace gates at 11.30am, and hey guess what, no surprise, it was open to the General Public. My snarky comment fell on deaf Thai ears, when I pointed this out. We are seasoned travellers, and still got caught out. The ride itself was just a couple of pounds, but its the being lied to that really got my bunny whiskers motoring. We did have another pleasant day out that I forgot about, to a Cat Cafe. We did pigs in Japan, the pigs all loving Mr B but totally disliking both Mrs and Little B, so I thought maybe I would do better with cats? It was quite some distance away down a little side street in some quiet suburb of Bangkok that we found the cutest set of cats ever. We entered the shop and after having our hands, feet and oddly backsides sprayed (don`t ask we don`t know) we were then each given a spoon and sachet of fish oil paste. We sat down and were instantly surrounded by about fifteen of the most adorable looking puddy tats you have ever seen, all could have been the next Shrek sidekick Puss in Boots. The jumped on our laps, stood on two feet pawing at the spoon with the paste, and purred in sheer bliss as they each nibbled and licked at this fishy smelly paste. We were surrounded by cute cats, right until the last nibble of the cat paste, then each and every one of those cats vanished quicker than a $100 dollar bill in Disney. Poof, gone! Back to their beds, to the other side of the room, to a box, anywhere apart from near us. The staff gave us cat toys, feathers on bendy poles, flash lights, little strings of wool, wow, if looks could kill lol. You could dangle these toys where ever you like, and the look of pure disdain stared back at you. Even touching the nose of any pussy cat with a feather didn`t even produce a blink or a twitch. You have never seen anything like it, this was cupboard love in feline form. With 20 minutes of our time left, we bought another 2 packets of the smelly fishy paste, and hey, guess what Puss in Boots, eyes and all, surrounded us immediately. I very nearly felt like being the Ogre and came close to holding the sachet closed so these snooty little cupboard loving pussies could beg a little longer! Sachet empty and ...............................................poof gone! It passed an hour and at least it was better than yet another temple. Stern words were had in the bunny burrow in the days that followed, we promised ourselves no more nice bunnies, and from now on we come from a tiny village somewhere unpronouncable, we totally dislike football preferring rugby, and this is our 14th time to Thailand. The spiel on the street is just so predictable, these simple amendments to the truth ensure we have little to nothing to talk about. Quick side note, Mr B had changed his tack and claimed we were from Liverpool, he suggested being from Manchester was being laughed at, bad football year apparently? Anyway he was about to utter these words to a rather unsavoury and stereotypical Thailand tourist ape, the kind totally off his head with drugs, and alcohol, here for `the scene man` from Liverpool, just practicing his boxing in the pool, when Mr B clocked at the last minute maybe even Liverpool was a bad idea and simply stated he preferred Cricket and Rugby. When asked why, he confirmed the said lout was an Everton fan and claiming to have been a 'red' might not have been wise?? Chiang Mai We chose Chiang Mai most probably for the wrong reasons. We know now that watching the You Tube of a 20 year old backpacker for ideas prior to leaving the UK does not necessarily mean that her choices should be our choices. It is lovely no doubt about it, but when you are reliant on either public transport, taxis or a hired scooter,(which I add we have not hired) nowhere is particularly close. Yes, its got plenty of those temple doofers dotted about, but for heavens sake ( literally ) another temple? The whole area is surrounded by jungle, trekking and hiking is a big thing, hike to this waterfall, or that one...No!! Being in South America and surrounded by mountains begging to be walked or climbed was one thing, but here in high temperatures and higher humidity, we quite frankly cba. Little B took herself off to Chiang Rai after a couple of days to see for herself the must sees there (temple.temple.temple) whilst the two slightly more relaxed bunnies opted for short walks and nice meals. Pasta. I must add. Pasta? In Thailand? Land of the best food and nicest people? Afraid so. Thailand was the country we were most looking forward to for the promise of cheap good food, beautiful beaches, palm trees and blue skies. Our reality was a bit of a slap in the face. Although we have found food that we like or can eat most everywhere, truth be known we are not really a fan. Thailand is also complicated. No doubt it is beautiful, but we haven`t as yet found that beauty. Our observations to date are as thus. It isn`t cheap. £15 for 2 breakfasts. Is that cheap? Weed/Cannabis is everywhere, and it stinks. Old or older white men and younger Thai women, or worse, older white guys and young men. Its cringy. You cant help the person with whom you fall in love with, but here its so `in your face`. When your vision of a typical Thai tourist is either hippie backpacker or old white guy, no top, tattoos, flip flops and a bald head, and you see that every day, you know your assumptions were correct. Endless amounts of the same ts, I know that goes for everywhere, but a 100 pink tie die dresses, and white shirts? As for elephant print? From being excited at home to owning a pair of comfortable and baggy elephant print trousers, to now seeing them absolutely everywhere, and not just trousers, shorts, shirts, t shirts, no thanks. The clientele is young, very young. The average age of anybody in Thailand must be 25 . Young people, especially young woman means tiny clothes. Why do they think it is acceptable, in heavily Muslim and Buddhist countries to walk around in shorts no bigger than a pair of knickers, and a barely there top? Call me old fashioned, but personally its just downright rude. Thailand, to date you are just not floating our boats. Elephants, and Tigers. I said earlier that I would expand on the elephant sanctuary. In my naivety I really did not know there would be more than one or two elephant sanctuaries. Arriving into our hotel at Chiang Mai and finding 9 different leaflets, advertising `ethical` elephant sanctuaries , the reality smacked hard. I had done enough research in the UK to know that the word Sanctuary is overused, and used as a cover. A cover so that they can entice tourists using the ruse that they are somehow protecting the elephants. What on Gods Earth is `Ethical` about patting, bathing, feeding and riding elephants, day in and day out, and pretending its ethical and normal? If normal is avoiding close interaction in a zoo environment, or normal is keeping a very wide berth when encountering an elephant in the wild, how can normal be bathing them in a river surrounded by endless groups of people day in and day out? Has nobody at all considered how these elephants have become so placid? Whilst I cannot say for sure how these elephants are treated behind closed doors once all the ignorant tourists have left, I am going to leave the subject there for you to decide. Do your research people. Learn what is truly ethical, learn what is the true story behind these `sanctuaries`. In the Disney film Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmerelda runs into Notre Dame and claims Sanctuary. She cannot be touched. The parting words are "you have chosen a beautiful sanctuary, but it is still a prison none the less" Tigers. Just a few words here. Do you really want to come to a country where a tiger cub is paraded around in a bar for a few pounds? Or go on tour to a place where you can `cuddle a tiger`? Snake farms. I hate snakes. The more boxed snakes the better, but its wrong. They were here first. If they were here first, then they have a right to stay and its me that shouldn`t be here. Parading them in shows is wrong on every level. Talking of shows, do not get me started on Phuket Fantasea!! We are not going. We have no intention of going. Nobody should. Phuket It was never on our bucket list to come to Phuket. None of the bunnies wanted to come to such an over touristic destination, but when the flight here was £300 cheaper than our preferred destination, we opted to make the best of it and see what the fuss was all about. Truthfully? We don`t know. Little Bunny opted to stay in the most tourist part of Patong Beach, Mr and Mrs B aimed for Karon. Little B, even out of season has likened Patong to Blackpool with the addition of the smelly aroma of weed, whilst Mr and Mrs B lasted one night in our hotel and promptly relocated to another hotel (we got a refund) in Phuket Old Town. Truth be known, none of us are particularly enjoying Phuket. The weather is awful, our first bad weather in months, weed is just a smelly constant and endless whistle blowing of the sodding street police is driving us up the wall. Will we be glad to move? You bet we will! Ao Nang (pronounced ow nang) With our initial plans to visit certain parts of Thailand hampered by unfavourable weather conditions, we opted to stay in the coastal town of Ao Nang, in the area of Krabi. Krabi itself is the city, think Manchester, Ao Nang is a small area, eg Stretford, on the beach. Once again however we found ourselves amongst many weed shops, more ts, endless massage parlours and countless bars, but we also found palm trees, two beaches, (not the kind with sunbeds and brollies) a mostly walkable promenade, and a little bit of space. Maybe this could be the Thailand that people crave? It could almost be described as pretty. Like anywhere in the rain, nothing is at its best. The town is far from busy, restaurants are a little expensive and mostly empty, the beach deserted. We are not on holiday. We have not spent thousands of pounds to be here, we are here to be, to enjoy, to relax, the days are our own and the need to see everything on every trip going far from our our minds. Little B did not have the best of bunny burrows, as burrow very much summed up her room deep in the heart of a hostel with no windows. With so much rain, she seldom ventured out, but on a day the rain stopped, and we managed a nice walk, I quickly messaged to her say, `if you are in, go out` a whatsapp message not too much later was a photo of the beach and a great big thank you. I have now added weatherman to my list of motherly duties. Mr Bunny quite liked the forest burrow in which we were staying whereas the whole place managed to annoy me from day one. A far cry from the promise of a traditionally decorated Thai dwelling, our room was as white, square and basic as any other we have stayed in. The floor was a skating rink in socks, and the promise of a tv remote with Netflix addition dashed when we were told it wasn`t a useable feature. A poorly designed room, sheets washed in something akin to bleach or other irritant, topped off by a breakfast served on a chopping board, just irked me to the last. Our only room decor a very well documented and priced, list of every single object in the room, including the wall mounted air con unit and the toilet. It just screamed, `we trust you but..` Damn, so annoying, I totally had my eye on the large wardrobe planning to tuck it under one arm as we left. With our plans to visit Kho Lanta scuppered by unfavourable sea conditions, I was somewhat delighted when Mr B said we could find a much better place for our last few days in Thailand. Still staying in Ao Nang, we started by finding little B a new burrow, one that was quite lovely and had both windows and a pool, whilst we fancied something more in keeping with our less than active bunny butts. We found Bluezotel sat just a little way back from the beach at the end of a small road, and it just ticked all our boxes. Two pools, nice rooms. tvs with Netflix, a gym with treadmill to while away any rainy times and a decent breakfast. For the first time in a very very long time, we were in a holiday hotel surrounded by people, mostly English, doing what people do on holiday. You know what? We felt like fish out of water. For a brief moment we felt as though we had found the Thailand that we had hoped for. The sun was shining, the sea was blue, the view from the rooftop quite fabulous, the infinity pools to die for, sun loungers and a pool side bar. But for me at least, reality was a little odd. We chatted to various guests who mentioned `x bar on the has fabulous food` Find `Y` for a great night out, Just going to order food at the pool bar with a few cocktails. Not to mention the flashy pool outfits, large cool mugs, beach bags and sarongs. It suddenly felt quite alien, at least for me anyway. When a woman spoke of their `trip`, and the fact that they were going to do a three centre stay but changed it to two because she couldn`t be bothered with all that repacking, I could barely keep my jaw shut. Two moves. As I write this, we are stay number 101. We cannot really say to people that our idea of a evening was 2 hours of essential planning, blogs, you tube and financial trading, a take away micro meal from 7/11 and Netflix at 8pm. Gone are our days of endless hours by the pool, shower, makeup, evening clothes and choosing nice restaurants. Would I do it again? Not a chance. Especially not to here. Why on earth would you fly 14 hours, to sit by a hotel pool, take a few trips and leave? Our hotel could be anywhere in the world. If you want hotel, pool, nice restaurant and leave, go nearer home. Thailand, or any country for that matter that takes this long to fly into, deserves to be explored. Do yourselves a favour. Pack rucksack, minimum stuff, and spend your two weeks giving it your best shot to see as much as you can. I had my day by the pool yesterday, it was enough, for both me and my phone (she says, admitting that it too went for a swim, then proceeded to lounge about on the sunbed drying out, baking itself into overcooked charred satay of electronic misery. ( Cue another visit to Samsung, and a huge kick up the bunny butt to damn well learn how to upload and save your entire photographic evidence of a 13 month round the world trip!!)see blog titled `lessons learned and how to not regret being an electronic and backpacking numpty` A couple of things to add, it has been very quiet here, but one evening, on the day that we had beautiful weather, and incidentally the day we checked into this very nice touristy (Tui) hotel, it was though a whole raft of flights had suddenly landed into Krabi. It was odd going from quite local and Asian, to suddenly seeing rafts of whiter faces. Clearly faces and bodies that have not seen the sun for months. Have the holidays started by any chance? OK. I confess. I hold my hand up. I was had. I know about the Ladyboys of Thailand. Who doesn`t?. Super glam, attractive guys, dressed like woman. Its a thing. Men dressed like women. Look at every cute girl with suspicious eyes (not that I personally have a desire to look at women) but just so that I knew which sex I was talking to. Bar, restaurant, hotel etc. Me? taken in by a ladyboy?, not a chance in heck. Waiting for little B to join us one evening, we sat for a while at a terrace bar, and people watched. Now, don`t forget there are shows everywhere. Suddenly showgirls started walking down the street, all heading in the same direction. Absolutely utterly fabulous looking girls, stunning figures, legs upto their armpits, impossibly high heeled shoes, and tits far larger than your average skinny bint who lounges on the beach. The dresses were sequinned affairs with splits to the crotch, head dresses of feathers and diamante. After nights of stopping in, I thought maybe it was a show we could see for a change. Little B arrived, we walked together past some of the girls, who then mimed to me, photo?? I just shook my head, said nah, knowing it would cost me, and carried on walking. The butchest voice ever then shouted after me, `suit yourself love` WTF!! I turned on a dime and little B absolutely killed herself laughing at me, when she clocked that I hadn`t twigged, These ladies, were in fact, the Ladyboys. Yep. they got me big time. Thailand, you have been an odd country. You clearly have many places of interest, but are you now devoid of your tranquillity caused by the glut of over tourism, and a rather smelly acceptance of legalized weed. Like Bali, we find ourselves asking, `Would we return?` and again like Bali, the answer is probably No. We thank you for your wonderful people, and kind hospitality, but we bid you farewell with few regrets about leaving.

A slightly different start to my blog this time, but bear with me. This is a story that everyone should know and no one must forget. "Shall we go to Cambodia? See Angkor Wat, maybe Phnom Penh for a few days and learn a bit about their history of which we know only bits". That was the plan, our unscripted loosely researched, plan. As children we had learned via Blue Peter about the genocide (what did that mean?) and from John Craven the war in Kampuchea. (9 year old me, that`s Africa isn`t it?) Both bunnies had heard the name Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, little Bunny knew Cambodia had had a war. As years have passed these tragic events became just a blurred memory. As adults, Kampuchea or present day Cambodia was a country we wanted to visit, now having learned exactly where in the world it lay, specifically for Angkor Wat. The war is over, the country is at peace. To say we were unprepared for the raw, brutal reality that this beautiful country suffered for 3 years 8 months and 20 days was an understatement. Every person in this country knows exactly how long that genocide lasted. What we learned whilst here has made for a sombre, sobering, thought provoking and haunting start to our time in Cambodia. You probably know about Auschwitz, but does S-21 mean anything to you? On a quiet street in the middle of old Phnom Penh lies a converted high school. Its conversion? A prison. Now a museum. Of the 20,000 people who were incarcerated here during its time, just 12 survived. No person placed in the prison was to remain a prisoner, they were there purely to be killed. Men, Women, Children, there was no discrimination. Torture, then kill. No person was allowed to die naturally if avoidable. To die naturally was considered a crime. Together we walked around this brutal untouched prison, listening to audio guides that gripped your heart in an iron fist. Every prisoner was bound by the rule of strictest silence. Nobody had to know they were there. No chain, cough or rustle was to be heard. Beatings, torture of the most vicious incomprehensible nature were to be endured in silence. Noise meant death. We listened over and over to stories of the most heinous crimes, performed on the most innocent of souls. S-21 was only one of many such prisons. This was the worst. On the final day of the prison, the 14 political prisoners, each in their own classroom/torture cell, was photographed in the position in which they were found. The photographs taken hang in each cell. A reminder of the atrocity that occurred there. Each photograph is displayed with raw emotion, with the most emotive elements carefully blurred. When bullets were banned due to cost, and noise, hammers and pickaxes took their place. S-21 Over and over we walked in silence through the converted classrooms, with chalkboards bearing the marks of the last lesson still hanging in one corner. We tried to stand together in one of the cells, but we didn't fit, such was the tight space. At the end of the `tour` we had the privilege of meeting 4 of the 12 survivors. They sit in the grounds, and are proud to tell their story of survival. We felt humbled. A survivor There were between 1.5 to 2 million people slaughtered during these 3 years, 8 months and 20 days. That equated to 25% of the entire population of Cambodia. One in every 4 murdered. From the prisons, people were transported to the Killing Fields. Our next stop. Just 4km from the prison, not very far from the city of Phnom Penh lies a piece of open land. The Killing Field. Protected by a wall, and now a protected area, it was to this area that first weekly, then later daily, a truck containing the prisoners from S21 were brought to be slaughtered. The unmade road track ends near large undulations in the ground. Dragged to the ground, their throats crudely slit with the barbed branches of the trees that grow nearby to prevent these souls from crying out, each and every man and woman was brutally murdered, their bodies cast into the open pit. Small children were brutally murdered against the Killing Tree. There were hundreds of these `Killing Fields` dotted around Cambodia, but it is here at Choeung Ek that the haunting memorial to the victims was built. With Respect. The Killing Fields. Research will tell you that `bones and material fragments can be still be seen, and when it rains and the ground loosens, more and more bone fragments rise to the surface`. They can, but in minute forms. Don`t go to the Killing Fields expecting a macabre sight, it isn`t. It is a field of indentations and sombre memorials. Whilst tiny bone fragments, may catch your eye, and the hint of cloth, don`t go guarded or worried about seeing whole skeletons, or buried bodies, go to walk in Silent Remembrance, go and pay your respects. Wander quietly, listen to the audio guide stories, imagine as you walk, every person you stand with, murdered, for no reason, and never ever let the memory of the Killing fields, and the genocide of Cambodia be forgotten. The Memorial dedicated to all those murdered. Our taxi driver, aged 50 lost his father. A tour guide said his family was lost. Pol Pot, the man responsible for the genocide lived a normal life and died aged 76. It was never my intention to start any blog in such a thought provoking, sad, graphic manner, but when the reality of genocide stares you in the face, I felt it deserved some respect. I could not in good conscience fail to acknowledge, especially after visiting the Genocide Museum, and The Killing Fields, the modern and recent history of this country. The people of Cambodia are delightful, wonderful and amazing. Their kindness and hospitality is beyond compare, but their older generation lived, those who were allowed to live that is, a brutal and traumatic few years. Phnom Penh With the thoughts of the museum and the fields still in the forefront of our minds, we very much felt lost in our thoughts during our remaining time in the city. We chose instead to stay close to home, which was a short walk away from S21, playing cards, writing, researching and reading. We did however opt to take an evening tuk tuk tour which was fun and interesting, and lightened our mood quite quickly as we were driven through the stunning modern city streets of new P.P. in a cute little 4 bunny sized tuktuk Such a rapidly evolving city, it is super modern and quite beautiful. A number of our stops involved looking at statues of people whose names I have forgotten, I think one was Mrs Penh, of Phnom Penh fame, the next was a golden stupor, with a snake in front (shame on me, but I totally failed to take in the names of the statues and temples we visited) we paused at an old, but still in use railway siding, not entirely certain why, but the lonely old steam train made for a nice photo. From there we went to the French Quarter to see the oldest building in Phnom Penh, the Cambodia Post Office Building, I tried to look impressed, but given that it was built 100 years after my own house, I failed to see it as `old`. To another nice monument, this time a more recent build commemorating the separation of Cambodia from France. Any country that breaks away from France deserves a big fancy monument. Crossing the nice new bridge all lit up in the colours of the Cambodian flag, we paused at our last stop, the unfortunately named Arc `de Triumph, a very commanding white arch way, that has been built alongside the most stunning set of modern, gated condos you have ever seen, and all empty! It was so odd. They were absolutely gorgeous looking properties, but as our driver said, empty because they are just too expensive. And still they build more. Classy looking buildings stand empty everywhere, not in the old city just the new and its outskirts. Our driver had no explanation for the continuous building, he didnt know who was building all the new properties, he just shrugged his shoulders and said `they`. Our time in the city was coming to an end and faced with yet another long bus ride to Siem Reap, Mr Bunny booked us a private taxi instead. The price difference compared to the bus was very favourable, and a private driver meant not having to endure another journey of noisy passengers listening to their phones without headphones. A new pet hate. It also meant we could stop at will, and not where 20 other buses chose to stop. The journey was surprisingly easy, the driver spoke very good English, was very pleasant, and quite unhurried. He told us he lived in Siem Reap, and that he was a tour guide there. Naturally we were happy to take him up on his offer to give us guided tours to Kulan Mountain, waterfalls, and to Angkor Wat itself in the following days. Cambodia is a very flat country, with endless stretches of green fields, and quite possibly it was the draw of seeing green hills or mountains after endless cities that sparked our interest in visiting the mountain. Picked up at 9am, we first drove to the town centre to purchase our Kulan mountain tickets from the equivalent of our tourist information, then headed out of town in the general direction of what appeared to be a lump on the horizon. The nearer we got, the bigger it got, (naturally) . First stop was at an unmade car park near to a stream, here we were supposed to able to see 1000 lingas that lie along the edge of the water. Unfortunately for us, it is the rainy season, and heavy rains of the previous evening had swollen the river leaving the stone marking barely visible. What we could see however was impressive. Stone carvings, set out like an oversized chess board, half the markings show a square with an indentation, the other half have raised centres in a short stubby circular patten. They represent male and female, and you can make your mind up which was which. The next stop along the narrow stream ended at a Buddha statue and another pond. In said pond was meant to be a fine example of another stone statue. We had to take his word for it, as all we could see were floating leaves and mossy debris. Such a shame, but mother nature does as she pleases, and if we were not meant to see, then so be it. Our next drive was an upwards direction. Rather pleased actually that the car was able to transport the three bunnies up the mountain, as it would have been rather a long hop. What a deceptive drive. Through trees, more trees, more unmade road, and finally a stop at the clearing. Over there he pointed, and be careful. We made our way carefully to where he pointed, and wow, what a vista awaited us. We truly were on the edge of a precipice looking out over miles and miles of jungle scenery. Non of the bunnies ventured near the edge as it really was an awfully long way down. When our eyes had feasted, it was back in the car to visit yet another temple. This one was a little odd, and a touch unique. Once upon a time a huge rock was lying quietly minding its own business, when a person with a hammer, chisel and a determined mindset, bashed away at its upper level to make one side of this rock into a lying Buddha. This special rock was then surrounded by a wooden building to protect it, with far too many steps, and a new temple was formed. Whilst there were quite a few tourists there, and naturally the usual mini markets stall of pointless tourist sh.t (TS) it was quiet enough to have space to think and enjoy the greenery and open space. Our driver did take us then to a waterfall, but as waterfalls go we all felt it was pretty meh, We had to assume that public outdoor swimming venues are few and far between in Siem Reap, as at the lower waterfall, there were metal baskets in which to store your clothing and several rubber rings in the shape of ducks to be hired. 5 minutes here was 4 too many, and we were happy to retreat to the cool air con of the car and return to our hotels in Siem Reap. Angkor Wat. That place of enigmatic beauty, the one you have been dreaming of seeing with your own eyes. From endless days of writing our must see world icon wish list, today was the day we fulfilled one our dreams. Naturally little B wanted to see it in all its magnificent glory, which meant a 4am get up, and a 5am pre dawn taxi collection. (yawn) The previous day, Mr Rey, the taxi driver and guide, had told us that most hotels in Siem Reap were geared up to provide tourists with take away breakfasts for the early morning starts. Two bunnies duly collected picnic bags of breakfast food, whilst little B was in a hostel that did not pamper to such requests. There would be plenty to share. We were swiftly driven to the entrance of Angkor Wat, and pointed in the direction of the temple complex. We darn near ran along the road to grab a spot prior to the sun rising. Were we alone? Not a chance. We quite probably saw more tourists at 5.15am at Angkor Wat, then we have in our past 12 months of travel. There is more than one temple, and we climbed the ruins to watch the sun rise. Mr B nabbed himself a fine spot near the moat to capture `that` photo of Angkor Wat with its reflection in the water. If I had to be brutally honest, the whole sunrise at Angkor Wat was a little underwhelming, due to the fact that the sun is so bright behind the temples, and cast the temple itself into a very dark shadow. So dark in fact it was actually quite difficult to see it. This was quite unlike the fabulous sunrise at Uluru when the whole rock was bathed in natural light. Once the sun had risen a little more, we headed towards the temple complex and found ourselves a quiet set of stairs to enjoy our buffet breakfast. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be sat eating boiled eggs on the steps of Angkor Wat, Cambodia, at dawn, but we did. We ate the eggs. The mosquitoes ate us, well Mr Bunny specifically. Bunnies two and three were left unscathed. Angkor Wat is huge, far far bigger than I had realised. And it has steps. Hundreds and hundreds of steps. We went on a day that was not Buddha Day, which meant we were allowed to climb the stairs (the new stairs I add) to the very top. We entered the temple and wowed our way from stone room to stone room. Whilst not dazzling with painted rooms or decor, each and every room stunned with its architectural brilliance. Quite incredible how such a huge building still stands, but the stone work is just phenomenal (!) Up steps, down steps, up, down, up and down. After a while you get a bit stone crazy, ,however seeing all that intricate craftwork is quite awe inspiring. We could, maybe we should, have got a guide, but truth be known, clever as it is, we don`t really care that this was a kitchen or that was a loo (whether it was or not) We were hot. Very, very, very hot. All the bunnies walked the temples in clothes that you could have wrung out, such was the heat and humidity, and it was still not yet 8am. We again satiated our eyes at Angkor Wat, and left around 8.30am. We were then taken to yet another temple, forgive me if i say `same same but different...and to then yet another. The only difference in temple number three was the fact that Mr Rey failed to mention that we would naturally be herded to the exit at the opposite end of the complex to where he dropped us off, leaving us to the mercy of a million tuk tuk drivers all convinced that we needed driving to the other entrance. Not only did we not need the service of a tuk tuk driver as we waited for Mr Rey to remember that he needed to move, we also did not require hats, fans, t shirts, shawls, cold drinks (although.....) or sun umbrellas. Arghhhh people, leave us alone !! At last Mr R arrived, and we escaped in the direction of a nice cafe for a slightly more substantial and rather more expensive breakfast. After enjoying the peace of this quiet cafe the cool of its fans, it was time to leave for our last temple. This was given no name, other than `Tomb Raider Temple`. Of said film fame. Whilst I have not seen the film myself, this particular temple very quickly became our favourite. Saving the best for last I suppose. Set in the jungle and left to nature, the temples are now standing entwined within the branches and roots of massive trees. Standing being the correct word. How the heck do these structures still remain intact (mostly) whilst so entwined in a network of roots? All three bunnies had fun wandering this less than perfect ruin, gawping at ceilings made of tree. There has clearly been a little rebuilding, protection, structural supports added, where temples two and three had not, but I guess that`s what film fame does for a building. Angkor Wat. Huge. Magnificent, splendid, and stunning. Whilst you could spend several days here going from temple to temple, unless you are addicted to old ruins, personally I would say a good few hours is more than sufficient. Siem Reap Of all the places we have stayed recently, Siem Reap was a favourite. If time had allowed we would quite happily have spent far longer here. Such an easy going, friendly, spread out town. With no structure built over 5 storeys, it gave the whole town a feeling of space. No crowds, no hassle, just a lovely little town in which you could cheerfully spend a week just relaxing, most especially when the most stunning of hotels cost the same as a flea pit in Blackpool! We are out of season, May, so that should be a consideration, but a very nice place to be. Any moments that caused us any grumbles? Just the one. For the first time we gave in to a tuktuk driver offering us a city tour. It was so hot, we fancied the ease of a ride. We should have known better, when stops two and three were at fancy overpriced jewellery stores. Please just spend 6 minutes here so that I can get a petrol voucher was the pat. Whilst neither shop particularly hassled us to buy anything, it was not on our plan to visit such shops. With a large town just begging to driven around, it made us cross that our time was hijacked. Lucky for Little B, when on our way back to the hotel, we spotted her hopping along the roadside, and offered her a lift. We really enjoyed our time in Cambodia once the shock of the reality of the genocide left our minds, but not our memories, and would definitely consider coming again to see other places. Thank you for your hospitality Cambodia, we have loved staying with you.

Good Morning Vietnam!! Never actually thought I would ever utter those words as a truthful statement rather than in jest of a film, but here we are. After a very long 4 days in Shanghai, we were so tired, and travelling through the night only added to the way we were feeling. With forethought I had booked us into a basic airport hotel so that we could arrive and crash. Day one was given to sleep, with Day 2 a day of planning the how where and what in Vietnam. Not a country we have researched at length, but it was always on our list of must see places. There are far too many nice places here in Vietnam, all of which we would like to see, but with a 3 week time scale, not practical. For a first time visit I decided that we would stick to the main tourist hotspots, for their ease of travel options. Starting with the utterly enigmatic and totally chaotic Ha Noi. Ha Noi A city of two words, Ha Noi, not Hanoi, but for ease I shall roll the two words into one, and continue. For the next 3 months or so the three bunnies will be travelling as 2 plus one. Whilst it has worked very well for us sharing accommodations, it was mostly driven by monetary considerations, rather than suitability. Here in Vietnam, rooms are exceptionally low cost, and we can now each have our our bunny burrows. Mr and Mrs Bunny chose a rather nice Boutique Hotel. Sounds Posh? Well it was, but it was also the same width as our room. Our room had a slightly shorter bed, a just about wide enough path at the base of the bed to walk easily to the bathroom, and that was the total width of room and hotel. Called tube buildings, these are very much the norm of the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Our building was not just the hotel. The entrance was ancient pharmacy? Boxes of whatever that I would swear had a 1970s sell by date. The next little bit was entrance to private apartment through a closed door and staircase, then another doorway and we came to our hotel reception. We had a room on the 6th floor and a view over the rooftops of Old Hanoi. A maze like no other. An absolute mishmash of building and rooftops, with one that we called The Up house, as in Disney`s film Up. One little house with a pitched roof and balcony stood higher than anything else. All it needed was balloons to complete the picture. We spent 4 days in Hanoi wandering its myriad of tiny streets, dodging everything from scooters to cars to hand carts, men on bicycles wearing non la, (conical hats) and women carrying the fruits on two baskets suspended from a long bamboo cane carried on the shoulder. It was a crazy chaotic city, and it went on all around you. We learned to cross the streets with confidence, wait for a gap and you would wait until Christmas, just walk out with purpose and everything drives around you. Little B had done the research as always, and pinned it all onto google maps. Managing to see everything pinned at a slightly less frantic pace than weeks gone by, Mr and Mrs B still managed to rack up fairly impressive 20k step days. First stop was the Cafe Giang and the home of the original Egg Coffee. This is a drink steeped in history and started here in Hanoi. Egg yolks beaten to a froth with Condensed Milk poured over coffee, served with a spoon. It looks yummy, and the froth is, but you have to be a die hard coffee fan to appreciate the ultra strong black coffee flavour of the liquid. (of which there is not much) Neither bunny was in raptures, but the froth itself is rather good. A hot chocolate found in a later cafe served with the same egg/condensed milk concoction was ever so much more palatable. For breakfast we shared the 4 lava cakes. Little cakes with a filling of runny egg yolk. Tastes better than it sounds I promise. After a long walk around the city getting a feel for its history, we stopped for lunch at another must do. Bahn Mi, a sandwich that comes served on crusty bread from a cafe with 3 venues on the same street and a rather large queue. Mr Bunny enjoyed his sandwich immensely, but as usual Mrs B struggled with slimy textured chicken, no matter what the flavour. Actually it was in this cafe that I am going to mention the rudest woman met so far. I do hope you read my blog and recognise yourself you miserable bint!! Sat on a table for 4, but alone, in the busiest cafe in Ha Noi according to google, I asked if we could share the table, and you begrudgingly and silently moved your bag. I offered no conversation, just politely asked what coffee you had chosen as it was placed in front of you. Did I ask you for an oration or presentation, I think not, your reply was `Not now, I`m too busy`, waving your hand at me in a dismissive fashion whilst continuing scrolling pages on Facebook. You managed to be exceptionally rude to the next people who dared share your table as well, I note they also moved. Lady, you deserve to sit alone. It costs nothing to smile, and even less to be polite. Lunch over, we headed towards the `Maison Centrale` or Hanoi Hilton, or Hoa Lo Prison. Quite a sobering building, but one in which I lost interest as the prisoners from the American war started talking about their kind treatment and easy stay. I don`t particularly enjoy anything prison or torture related, and the early days of the prison with the imprisonment of local Vietnamese political or even non political rebels was quite harrowing. Seeing the relics of old cells, tunnels in which they tried to escape or the trees from which they tried to make things to save their sanity was humbling. Unlike too many other people, I chose not to take photos of the once working guillotine, most especially when photos of real heads in baskets where displayed on the wall. Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, and museum, unfortunately we missed the museum part, and without the museum the huge imposing Mausoleum, was just a structure in a very large space. We opted to give the Pagoda of Who What Ever a miss, as we feel quite pagoda'd and templed up. What we did instead was much more fun. Hanoi Train Street. Train Street, we knew it was a fairly short walk away from our hotel, and deciding to walk there following maps so that we didn`t get lost. Chance would be a fine thing! This Street is a whole in your face look at me, I`m here, street of lights and glitz. A short length of street with bars on either side of the train tracks is devoted entirely to sitting, drinking and waiting for the nightly trains. The atmosphere was incredible. The bars on both side are bright gaudy affairs, tiny stools and tables almost touching the tracks. You have no choice but to traverse the rails as you choose your seat in any cafe. Getting there at 6pm for a 7.30pm train, that actually arrives at 7.40pm, was definitely not too early. So many people. How many photos on Instagram? We choose a bar with slightly higher seats than most, (have you any idea how small Vietnamese stools are?) And we waited. The atmosphere got more and more electric as the time for the train came closer. At 7.25 the whistles started and the cafe owners made no bones about making people SIT DOWN NOW. Moving stools and tables behind the very obvious bright yellow lines, and continually monitoring people so that absolutely no one was under any illusion other that breaking the rules meant death by train. With everyone sat, we waited in eager anticipation of the train. Now don`t ask me why I thought it was going to be a small train (seriously doh, small train?) but I did. Your hear the long extended horn blasts long before you see the train, and the excitement is palpable. Oh my golly gosh, watching that huge train drive by not overly slowly, but definitely within arms reach was pretty thrilling. We could see the feet of the people opposite as the train wheels passed us by. The moment the train passed us by to loud cheers, the hunt was on for the squished steamrollered bottle tops that just about everyone had placed, us included, on the rails. We had such a good evening, we went back the following night and did it all again. From Hanoi it was my intention to visit both Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh. Mr Bunny took matters into his own hands and booked us onto a 3 day trip covering both. Poor Mr Bunny, he only went onto the website to enquire about bookings and prices, and got back a full itinerary and confirmation of booking. To say it was a tiny bit expensive would be an understatement, but after completing said trip, I can say that we really did cram a lot in. We travelled for quite some miles south to Ninh Binh in a rather comfortable 7 seater luxury mini van and landed at stop one. Toilets, coffee and the usual large jewellery and souvenir outlet, after all every tourist wants to buy expensive overpriced jewellery or pictures away from the town in which they were so recently staying and surrounded by! Not. Still it was a pleasant break in which to stretch your legs. Stop 2, was a Temple. This was the Temple of What Another One. Beautiful like all the rest. but still a temple, are you sensing my lack of enthusiasm? "We will get to see the Vietnamese Unicorn", the guide declared on the bus. I was mildly intrigued. A strange horse, perhaps a mule or donkey with an interesting shaped head, maybe it would be white. I wasn`t so daft as to expect a horn, but a stone statue of a dragonish like horsey thing? That lump said the guide, is where his horn used to be. Whoopy piggin do! I love history, I love old, stunning architecture or clever stonework, but I do apologise for my lack of enthusiasm for long winded stories about a stone dragon or unicorn, or that mountain over there shaped like a saddle because `they` why is it always `they`? used to believe its where a person rode his horse and declared some long forgotten words yadda yadda yadda. Its a mountain, with a dip. Its pretty. Move on. There was also a red roped off area around a mildly once engraved flat stone, like a gravestone, that also required a long winded explanation, and a stick to point out where the mouth of the dragon was and its tail and legs etc. Think 200 year gravestones, overgrown, mossy and with a few gouge marks that once meant something. What I did not need was a 15 minute standing lecture in broken English of what this represented. quick interlude here. The most fascinating mountain range was back in Peru. From Machu Picchu the mountain range in front of you absolutely made the shape of a face. Every mass produced ..I mean ` unique hand painted picture` (that just happened to look like the previous 1000 we had been shown) did show how Machu Picchu was surrounded by a mountain range that 100% made a face. Now that`s interesting and unique! I continue, after my brief deviation. Every tour bus in the vicinity had landed at this Temple, and I would assume everyone had the same brief. No sunglasses in the temple and no photos. Unless of course you are taking Instagram pictures so the rules don`t apply to you, You guys feel free to disrespect the rules of the Temple. It makes me so bloody mad. Excuse me everyone, don`t mind me, I think my super short shorts are real cute and my tits hanging out of my crop top are the perfect attire to take posing pictures in a temple of worship, so if you don`t mind walking around the tripod we have set up slap bang in the middle of the path, so kind... and it didn`t happen once either. Part 3 of the trip, and this was the scary but fun part. We each climbed into a small boat, 3 or 4 bunnies to a boat, "Firs` years over `ere" as Hagrid shouts in Harry Potter. We all boarded the boats, rowed mostly by women, not sexist here, but it was a rowing boat, 4 people, and a heck of a long way. Kudos to those ladies, I raise my hats to you. We set off and our guide had told me, just one cave, not too long and then a fabulous view. Try and enjoy the cave he said, I promise its worth it. I hate caves. I avoid caves at all costs. 100 or so little boats all set off together, a sea of orange life vests, rowed by these beautiful ladies in fine make up and not a hint of sweat upon their brow. The lagoon was stunning, we were surrounded by green hills, the weather was unkind due to being monsoon season, no rain but a lot of cloud. It made for a spooky grey ride, but still so stunning. One by one the little boats fell into a single file formation. This was the cave. Caves. Rain. Asia. my heart was in my mouth. Our wonderful rower propelled us through the cave system, very low in places, until finally we saw daylight again. The caves had been lit, and we had been prewarned that the caves were a means to an end, not a thing of beauty. Phew, this bunny could breath again. Wait one sec, another cave? another enclosed cove? and another cave, I was ready to have some serious words with our guide! Then encountering daylight once more, there it was. Another Temple !! The Temple of Why The Heck Did They Build It Here. This beautiful large wooden open sided structure stood in the middle of the lagoon. Was it worth being rowed through 5 cave systems to see said temple? hmm In order to prepare the hot, sweaty and tired bunnies for the next adventure, we paused for lunch. Not a bad buffet selection, shame it included goat meat, but at least there were safe rice and egg options and good ole chips. Last port of call, ladies and gentlemen we are now driving to our beautiful mountain where you can climb 500 uneven steps to see a wonderful view. Any bunnies not wishing to hop to the top to see yet another view, may retire to a nearby bunny bar for drinks and refreshments. Too right. Obviously little B with her FOMO joined the others and took her little bunny butt up that mountain. Mr and Mrs Bunny walked through the fields taking in the views of the very traditional and clearly not staged men and women in their conical hats tending the fields of what I assume was rice. If you ever have a vision of life in Vietnam, from photos or films, this is the view we had. Silent and stunning. Two minutes away from this mountain was our Eco Lodge stay. Most other people were on a one day tour, whilst we were on a 2 night 3 day. Our stay was lovely, a quiet little bungalow set amongst trees. There was a pool that little B investigated, but yet another truly obnoxious family had clearly decided it was `their pool` and declined to share, swimming far too close, hounding her, limiting her space, and generally making life uncomfortable. Mummy bunny would have defended, but the family was large, and clearly of that nature. We had the unfortunate luck to encounter them again for the evening meal. It pains me how some people can act so badly. Given that another family at the side of us allowed their child to drink from a glass on the floor using a handmade long straw and suck gravy from his plate making awful noises, we ate rapidly and retired to peace and sanity. We are tolerant of people acting however they so wish in their own country, but I do think tourists and visitors should act with a little humility and decorum. Ha Long Bay . We were picked up at 7.30am and driven 4 hours north to the very spectacular Ha Long Bay, and to our cruise boat, the Aspira. We had no idea what to expect at Ha Long Bay, and held our breath. Every picture you see is an expansive array of beautiful green islands jutting up from the sea. A few boats here and there. Picture post card blue water and perfect skies. Whilst not wanting to paint a less than perfect picture, our trip is very much out of season, it is April, monsoon season, cloudy skies, colourless islands. Moody, stunning and quite eerie. We arrived at the dockside after passing what seemed like hundreds of small boats, cruisers, rowing boats, fishing boats and more. There it was, the most stunning boat you have ever seen, a luxury yacht moored with multiple decks, helipad, handsome sailors dressed in white, and not ours. "Everyone on the tender please" came a voice over the Tannoy, "boarding now please". Tender? Boarding? You mean that beautiful luxury yacht was not our home for the night, instead you want me to climb on the rust bucket of a tender, don a life jacket and traverse the ocean for xx mins heading to goodness knows where? Yep. Clutching a life vest like my life depended on it, and judging by the rust probably did, we headed out towards the islands. When you don`t know where or for how long the journey is, everything seems to take so much longer. After what felt like an eternity, we came to our boat, The Aspira moored far out amongst the islands. Whilst it looked very much like every other boat in the vicinity from the moment we boarded we were treated like Royalty. An ice cold welcoming drink and cooling towel, escorted to our own table for a pre sailing itinerary, then shown to our rooms. We had a large bunny hutch with 3 beds of hay and blissfully soft pillows and duvets. A full length window with our own balcony with tables and chairs, and a wonderful bathroom with a full size bath along side its huge water side window. We were on the lower deck of 2 sleeping decks, so although it felt a little third class, being lower, it didn`t really matter as these ships, boats are only designed for minimal passengers. We think there were 40 or so passengers. Whilst the Itinerary was busy, Mr and Mrs Bunny had only one. To meet Fanny Adams, if you catch my drift. Whilst the rest of passengers boarded the tender again for a transfer to smaller canoes or bamboo boats, Mr Bunny and myself had a lovely chat with Mrs Adams. She plied us with drinks and was most accommodating. Little B, decided that if it was on the itinerary, then she was going to do it. Everything from rowing a canoe, taking part in the cooking class, Thai Chi at 6am, luxury bath, she did it all. Very proud of her. The food on the boat was wonderful, we got fed on arrival, fed again in the evening, breakfast at 7.30 and brunch at 11.30 prior to disembarking. Mrs B requested vegetarian options, not to be awkward, but far too much salad contains seafood items, and meat is invariably not my kind of thing. oh my goodness, I thought Mr Bunny could cook, but If Mr Boat Chef ever needs a person to sample his food, I`m there with bells on. After 11 months of travelling and food very much of a less not more, to be suddenly presented with a luxury 4 or what is 5 course? We were quite full to bursting. I think the word here is `replete` though stuffed works just fine for me. Ha Long Bay. A destination on just about every Vietnam bucket list. Yes, it is truly beautiful. Whilst we were not blessed with clear skies, blue seas and pristine green landscapes, we were certainly able to appreciate the beauty of the landscape around us. The 1000 plus islands rising from the sea shrouded in mist was eerie but stunning. Is it everything we hoped? Yes, but equally no. As per every other must see tourist attraction, over tourism is taking its toll. We boarded a boat that was moored in a bay, but we motored past 50 or more boats to get there. We drifted silently along, but in a direct line of sight I could count 17 boats behind us, 14 in front, and 18 to the side. I would imagine that left port side of the boat would have seen an equal amount of boats from their windows as well, Not quite the `unique` experience you are hoping for. People create waste, and far too much of was in the water. Quite shameful really when you consider just how many people are out on the water at any one time. If every boat caught just one piece of plastic, how much cleaner it would be. You stand on the balcony to admire the fabulous views, but you cannot help saying, bottle, bag, crisp packet, styrene box, flip flop...as they drift silently by. At what point is the world going to stand up take notice and say enough is enough? We returned to the chaos of Hanoi later that day, and boarded yet another plane, this time to Hue. Hue, This was the ancient capital from 1802 to 1945. A destination that with hindsight, I should have researched. People come to Hue for one reason, to visit the Imperial City. And? And what? Whilst both sets of bunnies had quite nice accommodations, we rather wish that we had chosen a much shorter stay. 5 days here was at least three too many. But at least we got to see the Imperial City, seeing as it is the main attraction...No. No we didn`t. Mr and Mrs Bunny just did not get the urge to wander yet another most probably beautiful temple, castle palace doofer. It is exceptionally hot, and the drive to visit this ancient site just failed to muster itself. Our drive remained firmly parked in the garage of abject lethargy. The town itself was a hive of activity, we had landed on the eve on the 50th anniversary of the Reunification of Vietnam and the people were in party mood. There were massive military parades taking place in Ho Chi Minh City, and a large food festival was being held in Hue. Incidentally Vietnam is supposed to be a culinary delight for any foody. I still feel however that it takes a certain strong stomach and a cast iron belly to feel confident eating such an array of weird and wonderful foods. A foodie I am most certainly not. If we stayed put in one place long enough to not worry about a bathroom should the need arise, I may have tried one or two of the safer looking offerings but bathrooms on buses and planes? Risking it not am I. Getting bored of the city, we contacted Little B, who had also intimated that she was finding it difficult to get enthusiastic in Hue, and we decided to meet up and have a day at the nearby beach. This beach was pinpointed using our Lonely Planet must see map. We got a taxi at 11am to said beach resort, towels, suntan lotion, kindles and swim kit ready, and found.....nobody. Not a single soul was on that beach! There was a long sandy strip of very basic concrete pad eating places. So simple they consisted of long plastic tables, too small chairs and stools (what is it with child size chairs!) and large grubby fish tanks no doubt holding whatever fish was destined for the plate later that day but no families with kids with bucket and spades, no skinny bints in too small bikinis (that would be for once in the right place), no guys doing the hunky chunk strut, nada, no one, nobody. There were enough people in the different `restaurants` using the term loosely eating , but a huge stretch of sandy beach did not contain a single sun bed, chair, towel, or person. With no town, maybe a local village or so, there was certainly nothing to invite us to spend very long there, so we walked the length of the beach in both directions and high tailed our bunny butts back to Hue. It had been my intention to visit Bana Hills, Vietnams answer to Disneyland, from Hue, but with all the festivities, coupled with a national holiday, it was decided to postpone that jaunt to our stay in Hoi An. We actually spent a further two days in the nearby outer edges of the city in a small eco lodge hostel with pool. Bed. Pool. Breakfast. Little B took herself off on a walk to the old abandoned Water Park, but Mrs Adams had followed us there so we engaged with her once more. From Hue, we continued our journey through Vietnam, and made our way to Hoi An. Getting to Hoi An was an adventure in itself. This was the first time we had made a long bus journey in quite a while. We had thought it was going to take 4 hours, but our ridiculously impatient bus driver honked and beeped his way through the traffic the entire journey and we made it in 3 hours flat. I wonder if that`s why every website suggests trains are better/safer than buses? The bus itself was a sleeper, and our first encounter with such. Very comfortable I have to say, 3 rows of bunks, 2 high. Each bunk space was its own personal little cabin space with a reclining seat, a tv (which may or may not work as nobody seemed to put it on) a small shelf, bag storage, air con and curtains. The bottom bunk was floor level, but with a full window to look out of was no hardship. Hoi An What a beautiful little town, such a contract to Hue, and quite the opposite of Hanoi. With a pretty little river running through the town, picture perfect little shops decorated with lanterns. Small bridges and a myriad of narrow winding streets, we have enjoyed Hoi An immensely. Here we had our first exceptionally nice hotel, a real hotel with real hotel rooms, the type that come with a booklet of instructions, fridge, kettle, mini bar, balcony, netflix an overpriced list of massage treatments a restaurant, bar and a swimming pool to spoil us . Such Luxury. With a hefty price tag of £29 per night including breakfast we are quite pushing the boat out. By day we have walked around the little streets, Mr B got himself a haircut and came out looking like a new man, haircut, beard and moustache trim for a whole £4. Whilst walking you do get continually hassled by guys driving multi seated golf buggies. They offer to give you a city tour for a small price. Originally we said no many times, but as the temperatures started to soar we finally gave in. Our first stop of what turned out to be just a whistle stop, zero commentary tour of the town, we landed at the Old House. Clearly a very nice old traditional house, still lived in judging by the large tv in an open room marked Private. We were there no longer than 10 mins, and that included an invitation to view the rather expensive home made silver jewellery that was on offer. I took a shine to the little bangle with the traditional conical hat, but when she tried to convince us that the price offered converted to £24, when it fact it converted to £49, we bade her farewell and left. Our waiting driver then asked if we wanted taking to the Coconut Village. Knowing this was a bit of boating fun, we accepted. Looking back this was a spontaneous and somewhat expensive little jaunt. With hindsight, we should have declined the buggy, without commentary we were no wiser anyhow, and booked a trip including transport and entry fee to the boats. Tut tut, proving even experienced travellers can be hassled into making daft choices when you are hot and bothered. The coconut boats, round deep boats a cross between a bucket, a boat, canoe and paddled with one oar, were dotted everywhere. There were probably 300 of these little boats and their oarsmen and oarswomen waiting to paddle you along the river. They clearly had a well organised system of ensuring every `driver` had a ride for the day, with an exceptionally well detailed book of names and boat numbers being consulted prior to us boarding. He paddled us for ages, along the river, between the bamboo reeds, and then asked us if we wanted `gangnam style`, having seen many videos of these crazy spinning tricks, we firmly declined. My Boatman was clearly disappointed, obviously wanting to show us his tricks. As we watched other boats spinning in faster and faster crazy circles, with the passengers (just 2) getting closer and closer to the waters edge, and I must say, getting greener and greener, we were very glad to have said no. We had the chance to paddle the boat ourselves, and this proved to be so much harder than it looked. A most enjoyable afternoon. We spent the rest of our time in Hoi An doing not very much. All four evenings of our stay we chose to eat at our hotel rather than in the town. Our chef was excellent, and the restaurant airconditioned, peaceful and empty. We knew we wanted to see the lantern boats that Hoi An is famous for, and set off one evening to see them for ourselves. By night, Hoi An, which if I haven`t mentioned before is a registered UNESCCO town, is truly beautiful. Lit with a multitude of lanterns both near and on the river, it is really special. It is also exceedingly busy. Hoards of bus tours arrive into the town in the early evening, and the little town is just swamped. We took our photos, and once more retreated to the peace and comfort of our wonderful and peaceful, hotel restaurant. By the time we had left, we had eaten 4 meals in the restaurant, had numerous daytime drinks by the pool and racked up a staggering £55 doing so. For perspective, Mr Bunny had a very nice steak meal in the hotel, whilst the same meal in town would have cost four times the price. We are still very mindful of our budget, and even more so that whilst we are in holiday mood, we are not with holiday budget. Nah Trang With so many wonderful places to see in Vietnam, we can only do a few. We need to be progressive in our travel, and Nha Trang appeared to be a very nice destination, and quite the contrast to Hoi An. We knew it was going to be a large hotel beach side destination, and I had booked the bunnies into two very nice but separate beach side hutches. We flew to Nha Trang, a swift 40 min flight, rather than take the the 10 hour bus. Leaving the airport we immediately passed one fabulous hotel complex after another. If you can name any high end hotel brand, we passed their hotel. We had high hopes. Hmm....Arriving into Nha Trang itself, I can describe it in three words. Blackpool meets Benidorm. As we had arrived by night, the bunnies both grabbed snacks from the respective local supermarket, and retired for the evening. The morning however revealed a very different side to Nha Trang. It is the haunt of Russian tourists, and possibly only Russian tourists. Everywhere boasted only two languages, Vietnamese and Russian. All the bunnies endured this stay with particular contempt. I refuse to be drawn by politics, but I deign to give anyone from this country any of my interest. We were glad to leave. I shall leave it there. Ho Chi Minh City Saigon. At no point in our travel to this city was it described as H.C.M.C. Every bus driver, and bus rep referred to it as Saigon. This is their country, their prerogative, and if that is their preference, who am I to comment or question? Our sleeper bus was awesome. Brand new, and clearly so, as it had that brand new smell about it, we were three of only seven passengers on the bus. All I can say, is that if only long haul flights were as comfortable, travel more by plane would I. With respect to the endless signage around this city, I too shall call it Saigon. It is a huge sprawling city, some new, some old, high rise modern buildings rubbing shoulders, or rather knee caps with little buildings of old. It had been my intention for these two bunnies to investigate the famous, infamous? Chu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam resistance. `Not suitable for persons with knee or back problems` it declared, and that ruled us out. We could have sailed on the Mekong Delta, but truthfully these two bunnies have quite run out of stream and the thought of spending yet more hours on a bus failed to induce any enthusiasm. Instead, we had more pressing needs. After twelve months of travel, our tech has started to have a hissy fit. The Go Pro on which I have documented our journey decided enough was enough and refused to switch on anymore. With precious little time to get it mended, we had to make a quick decision and purchased a new one. Mrs B phone, fit to bursting with photos and just about every important document and email required for the trip, also decided, nope, not working anymore. Rapid trip to the Samsung store, a whole lot of head shaking and a promise to order new parts immediately, resulted in a bus journey to Cambodia delayed, and a case of fingers crossed and a whole of lot praying to anyone I can think of hoping to goodness that my phone can be repaired and information salvaged. MP3 player? Also bored of working. My only pair of reading glasses, now doing their best Harry Potter impression with their sellotaped bits. Mr Bs razor? Needs a new razor head. It would appear that our belongings are begging for a holiday of their own. We managed one small trip within this city, and took ourselves off to the War Remnants Museum. It made you cry. It would be a lie for me to say that I understand the Vietnam War. Especially the Why. It is far more complicated than it appears, and I decline to be drawn. Is this museum biased, I cannot say. I don`t want to say. The photos taken from every aspect of life during the war, before and after paint a sobering and damning story. How any country can do such things to another is shameful. Target the men with weapons if you must, but taking your wrath out purposefully, not accidentally within the confines of war on children is cowardly. Vietnam is a wonderful, special, beautiful, proud and defiant country. the hospitality of the people is quite beyond compare. We love you Vietnam, and would like to thank you for your kind and welcoming hospitality.

Did you know to visit China you need a visa? Back in 2018 this Visa was around £300 each for our 14 day stay but now you can visit visa free for up to 240 hours. I am not certain this covers all areas of China but you can certainly visit the very wonderful Shanghai. And guess what is at Shanghai?.....Disney of course! Disneyland Shanghai, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly... Many weeks ago whilst still in Taiwan I had tried and failed to book a stay at the Disney Hotel in Shanghai. No matter what, I could not get a much needed code that allowed me to create an account and make a booking. I tried again when in Japan, and still failed. I was quite sad. Mr Bunny and I hadn`t mentioned to little B our dreams of visiting yet another of the great Disney parks hoping to make it a surprise. but when you need a tech savvy little hopper, little B is the only way to go, most especially when I told her what I was trying to do. Did she manage it? Does Dumbo fly? Disney Toy Story Hotel. I chose to stay on site at one of only two Disney hotels. The other is the Disneyland hotel. With all the You Tubes and Reels about the phenomenal queues at Disney Sea, we were sure Shanghai would be the same and with one chance only to do this, staying on site was a go to. We did all the research about opening queue times, rope drop, but drew a blank. How odd. Turns out moving people is their speciality. We lined up, scanned and were in the park within 10 mins of leaving the bus. Is this the norm? I don`t actually know as we had one hour early priority entrance, even so we were through in no time and there were some hefty lines. Did I mention that we had flown in that evening, landed at 12.30am, to the hotel by 1.30am, bed at 2, up at 6 for breakfast and on the park bus at 6.45? Disneyland Shanghai The Good. Disneyland Shanghai is huge. Classed as one of the most complete parks on opening it truly is quite special. We found it very pretty, especially as we were there at Easter and springtime. Having spent numerous occasions at WDW in the Autumn, it was nice to see other colours for a change, not just the orange of Halloween pumpkins. I cannot say that it has a multitude of rides, but it most certainly does have a huge number of walking paths and given the overwhelming number of visitors, they know how to keep people moving. Ditto the rides, the queuing systems are crazy long, but they keep moving, no endless minutes of standing and waiting, you are always shuffling forward. We decided that the rides loaded quickly and efficiently due to the absence of disability riders. There are zero scooters in Disney Shanghai. Wait times of 70 minutes was not uncommon, yet the times passed quite quickly (apart from Peter Pan, a notoriously slow loader) Day one we chose to ride Tron first, a super awesome motorbike type ride. We were on and off within 15 mins, and for any Disney geek reading this, you know just how improbable this would normally be. Disney Shanghai is unique. They have a new land called Zootopia, based on the film, and every man, woman, child, angel and doll, makes a beeline for that area at park opening. (we saved that bit of fun for day 2) Whilst I could tell you about all the different rides, I wont, except one. Pirates of the Caribbean. oh my goodness gracious me, what a ride! Mr Bunny had read and seen snippets of film that this particular Pirates ride was quite unlike any other at any other park and was quite adamant that we would be waiting in line for this ride no matter what the times. He was not wrong. How long would I wait to ride this again? 4 hours? yep, all day? probably? multiple times, too right! I thought I had seen spectacular when we rode Beauty and the Beast in Tokyo, but nope. Jaw dropping. Literally. From the moment you get into your boat, you start a voyage like no other. Mrs Bunny had chosen not to do any research into the ride and was expecting the same as every other with a few more bits of animation. Ha! Oh how I loved being overwhelmed by this ride. The very second Captain Jack Sparrow magically turned from skeleton to man in an eye blink, I was hooked. We dived to the bottom of the ocean to a watery city of life, watched the Kraken awaken and swim away, with our boat dragged by the current through the bowels of various shipwrecks, we could see the surface of the water far far above us. The sirens sounded, it was time to fight! We rose to the surface and burst out onto the ocean only just missing the large Man o` War as it passed us by. With all cannons firing we did well to dodge between the ships and escape the Armada. With many vessels sinking around us, we took to the safety of a cove, where alas a fight between two pirates ended with one firing a pistol into the barrel of gunpowder launching us on a tidal wave back to dry land. And there endeth our ride. Did we go back and do it all again? You bet we did. 7 times in total. Zootopia. We saved the whole land of Zootopia until day 2. A whole land devoted to the film, and the absolute heroine of pure adoration? Judy. Jude the Dude. Cute Bunny. Bunny Cop. You actually have to queue just to get into Zootopia land, and then you queue again to get on the only ride there. Do they queue all day for this ride? Yes, yes they do. Was it special? Absolutely. the theming was just Disney come to life. The best part, or worst, I cannot decide, the people. They play dress up, and Judy is their hero. From the smallest child, to mums, dads, teenagers, boy or girl, they play dress up as Judy. Younger kids wear cute little Judy dresses, Mums go for the skin tight bare midriff, open shirt sexy bunny look. Guys wear the cop uniform, and bunny ears! Not fox ears for Nick Wilde, oh no, bunny ears. You have never seen anything like it. Unlike Florida, dress up is a big thing here. Any age. Disney, The Bad. Photographs. Selfies, more photos, more selfies, absolutely everywhere you look the local girls are taking photos. Happy, look at us, we are here photos? Nope. This is me in front of a tree. a wall. in front of the toilets. in a shop. crouched down on a path, in front of a brick wall, and the expressions of blank baby doll is just bizarre. And the outfits? You find yourself staring and thinking what on earth are you wearing?! Cute, baby doll, bimbo, anime, they are everywhere. Silly looking blank faced girls, standing posing every which way possible in front of the most ordinary young guys, presumably a boyfriend, who never ever EVER utters a word of boredom or frustration. And they are everywhere! Worse for me was watching smaller girls, in dresses that in the UK a 3 year old would shy away from, being encouraged to pose in cute poses, if I say Shirley Temple and a lolly pop, you get the scene. We grew tired of seeing silly face, after silly face. I didn`t appreciate quite how interesting women of the world people are until we came across the baby dolls of China and Japan. Did I mention that they also wear face masks, and wear them on photos as well? Disney Ugly. Unlike every other park, smoking is quite the norm in the park. There are smoking areas, but they are so big and so often, smokers may as well just walk around the parks, cigarette in hand. Not in the wait lines, but anywhere else. Prams. There are double buggies everywhere, for the adults. I am not kidding, they hire buggies for adults, and we didn`t just see the occasional adult perched in a pram, we saw many many many adults in prams. Grown men in buggies! These buggies are specially designed to carry adults! Seeing a silly moo in their mid 20s (we guess) being pushed around by a male partner was not uncommon. You have never seen anything quite so odd or cringy. I get Disney is incredibly tiring, but a pram??? Potty time. More than once we witnessed, usually a small child, being allowed to stand up against a railing and just pee. Yes the lines are long and narrow, but standing where you are and having a whizz? It certainly made us look twice at any puddle of liquid. Spilt orange juice? probably not. Rubbish in Disney? a distinct lack of cleaners leaves areas a little worse for wear. Lastly, as you exit the park you run the gauntlet of aggressive sellers shoving what appears to be genuine Disney products in your face, hard faced guys whispering ` wanna buy a park ticket` and an endless barrage of taxi touts. For a park that gets so much right, they have aspects that do leave a lot to be desired. Would we go again? Of course we would ! :-) Shanghai We came to Shanghai in 2018 and really wanted to see it again. Our trip to China is brief to say the least but we couldn`t leave without seeing Shanghai once more. The most beautiful, stunning, colourful, scented city, A far cry from the ugly bland and colourless Seoul of late. Little Bunny had of course lined up a whole raft of must see places, and we tried our best to accommodate. We started at (where else..) the Disney Flagship store, located almost directly beneath the Pearl. What a beautiful shop. Why oh Why cant Florida have such amazing and desirable items for sale in its shops :-( The pay queue though, oh heck, it wound round the whole shop and Mr B made his feelings plainly obvious when he said he wasn`t joining it to pay for anything. Turns out, this 4 hour (FOUR) hour queue, was to buy the new limited edition Mickey Baker products. Considering you cannot find Mickey Mouse anywhere in the park, bar a small statue, this was so odd. From the Disney Store, we boarded a HoHo bus with its utterly pointless commentary to the old part of the city. We loved this area, coming here on our previous trip. It was nice to see how much it had changed, remaining the same, but better. Same, same but different. We paid to visit the Lu Garden. Was very very pretty, but still a garden. A big garden, but a garden, with water. We two bigger bunnies don`t do gardens, we know what happens when you go into a garden. We are desperate to eat pie, not be the pie. From the gardens we headed off to Nanjing walking street. Us and half a million others. Absolutely stunning and impossibly busy. For a country that does not celebrate Easter holidays, there was definitely an air of holidays. Surely It cant be that busy everyday? We wandered that wide avenue of shops and lights heading, like everyone else, to the Bund. Shanghai skyline is like no other. We had idly considered getting a boat tour, ha, seeing the size of the crowds made us giggle at our naivety of `just` getting on a boat. Little bossy bunny muscled her way to the barrier so that we could all watch the light of the Bund. We didn`t know about the laser show when we arrived, but a quick google translate `What are you waiting for` and showing it to everyone around us in the hope of someone giving us an answer, we quickly found out the reason for the bazzilion phones in hand poised and ready stance. The laser show was quite special, and clearly a watch once and leave. As fast as everybody arrived, they vanished the minute the show was over. However with a multitude of bodies all around us, we decided the best chance of getting a taxi was to cross the river again. Of course little B had the perfect answer to that problem. The scenic tourist tunnel. Such a simple innocuous sign, that led to something extraordinarily special. With thousands of people all around us, I was amazed at how quiet this tunnel was. Just us and a couple of others, quite odd really considering how many people were at street level. Down a very long escalator to a gondola/glass train carriage. This large glass carriage arrived, just 4 seats, one in each corner, and standing room for 13. It arrived. turned round on a train equivalent of a lazy susan, we boarded, and headed back off down the tunnel. I almost want to say think Alice in wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. A swirling vision of lights lit the way, quite breath taking. Deep under the river we found ourselves in a painted tube of marine life, so hard to explain. Further on the tube resembled a lava shaft. £5 each and we had the carriage to ourselves. So special. A wonderful way to end our brief time in Shanghai, China. A very special country. We love you. We don`t love your loo`s lol, but we adore everything else. Thank you for your hospitality China.

South Korea was never a destination intended to be on our bucket list of must see places. To be perfectly honest, we have witnessed enough tourists from this country to have an opinion that I shall refrain from repeating or sharing. I had hoped that visiting the country would shed new light, alas, I was wrong. Our next destination is our place of choice. To go there, we wanted to land on a certain day of the week. With Japan being a rather expensive country, we opted to fly to Seoul for a few days, then move on. What could possibly be wrong with visiting yet another new country? If flight prices had been more favourable, then we would have flown into Busan, a coastal destination, but alas prices dictated that the Capital was far cheaper to fly in and out of. And that is how and why we came to be in South Korea, and Seoul. Don`t get me wrong, its not all bad, our hotel is perfectly adequate. Exceptionally clean, very small, just 8 or so rooms, and one of the cleanest kitchens so far. Such a shame cooking is not an option. We have Netflix, a window that opens, and a private bathroom. The hotel manager is lovely. Very different to anyone else we have met whilst here. From his equivalent of our Amazon App he has purchased Teabags and SD Memory cards for us, we gave him the cash, order placed at 9pm arrives at 6am. We have required both for quite some time, not so much the T bags, but even in Japan, the land of tech, we were never in the right sort of place to find the memory cards. South Korea is a country of coffee shops, ever second shop leading away from our hotel is a Coffee shop, and not ones that have Tea tucked away in the corner of any menu. Its Coffee or bust. Mr and Mrs Bunny are not wanting to venture far from the central part of Seoul, google maps doesn`t work here, and though the local mapping app is good, its just not the same. Little B wanted to go on a trip to the DMZ, we were not particularly bothered. Of everything she learned whilst on said trip, more of which I will expand upon later, was the fact that Koreans are workaholics, and learnaholics. They strive to be the best English speaker, have the best white collar jobs, aiming always upwards, but gaining this by endless learning, school all day, quick nap, and additional advanced learning each evening until the early hours. Every day. Pretty much sums up why they drink so much coffee! (and why they look permanently miserable and tired) Seoul. From the moment I arrived I confess that I just didn`t feel or get the vibe of Seoul. It is not a pretty city, it is not a happy or bustling city, it just Is. Tourism doesn`t seem to have a place here. Very much, `Oh, your a tourist, well you can go here, or there, play dress up if you want, but just get on with it on your own please`. I do admit to arriving into this country very much feeling the pain and sadness of losing a very dear lifelong friend, but there is nothing here to take my mind off it, or cheer me up. I find Seoul, soul less. We went to the `Palace` we know they have a changing of the guard ceremony. Prior to watching this ceremony, we wandered the grounds of said Palace. Truthfully nothing about it looks like a palace. It is not a lived in palace, it looks more like a collection of Temples, a smaller version of the Forbidden City in China, and everywhere we looked we saw people playing dress up in the local traditional dress of the country, the Hanbok. Fine, go ahead and play dress up, but why? It looks perfectly wonderful when you have the face that suits the dress, but western people wearing the Hanbok looks, sorry, stupid. (my opinion only) Putting a pleasant quizzical look on my face (at times hard) I asked an older English speaking lady why she was wearing it, her reply `to be a part of it` ? Eh? You want to be part of a culture that does not wear its traditional dress everyday (unlike say Ecuador or Peru) I tried to keep my opinion of `well I think you look stupid` well and truly masked. Like I admit to earlier, I really do not get the vibe of Seoul. My frustration towards the dress was exacerbated when a white foreign person from a country which I deign to refer, had a hissy fit about having to pay an entrance fee because as per all the notices stated Persons wearing the Hanbok are exempt from paying. He was wearing it, but partly. Wearing scruffy jeans and trainers under the smock does not a traditional outfit make. The cost of the Entrance Fee? £1.50 for goodness sake people, get a life! The time of the changing of the Guard approached. They fenced off the area, people walked into the fence multiple times dragging it across the ground purely because they couldn`t bear to tear their eyes away from their phones. Oh I was getting so cross. At least let this ceremony be good. It wasn`t. It was a painfully boring and amateurish recreation of how the changing of the guard was done, way back when. 40 or 50 persons, in recreated traditional dress, some with stick on beards, marched about in some sort of formation, waved a few flags, and left. I may have found some humour in the situation if some infuriating bint behind me hadn`t used my head as a phone rest. I was so angry, but alas the parade ground was respectfully quiet. 20 mins of biting my lip, but she clearly knew as she scarpered pdq when the parade ended and I rounded on her in a fury. Poof, she was gone. Two younger end boys, possibly early 20s most probably from Korea, were my only salvation to the day. We saw them standing ever so proudly in their very smart Hanbok outfits of the most beautiful pale blue near the lake. Taking each others photo, they brought a smile to my face that day. Later in our stay in Seoul we visited the temple. A lot less people playing dress up, and a very fine room that you could view through the window were about as much as I recall. My patience with temples, is waning fast. We could have visited the secret garden to see the cherry blossom, but, you know what, we all agreed we were pretty much done with the cherry blossom. Starbucks hot chocolate and cake, Mr B having beer and chicken in the bar opposite, finished our day. That, my bunny friends, is probably all I can tell you about Seoul. We walked to a pasta restaurant one afternoon to find some real food, Pasta always works and a box was ticked. The choices of food here in Seoul are vast, and I promised myself that when we came away I would be brave and try different foods, but as per the food found across Asia, be it Singapore, Kl, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, if you cannot stomach fish of every variety, sea foods, chicken every part still with skin on, or even more bizarre sandwiches made with egg, crab meat, mayo, carrot, vinegar, onion, sweet corn and strawberry jam, on the same sandwich at home, then your taste buds are not going to change that much when away. I have really struggled with food these last few weeks, the 7/11 in Japan was a lifesaver with its huge choices of wonderful and almost `normal` foods, but in a few other places? Mars Bar anyone? South Korea, I may not understand you, but I respect you. It is unlikely we would choose to return and wish you every kindness and peace in your lives.

When we first planned the trip Japan was always a perhaps or maybe, never a definite, but being just a short flight away from Taiwan it made sense. Not a country that we had researched at length, but I did happen to know that the biggest and best Disney park of all resided in Tokyo. (hum te tum fancy that...) Not only could we visit Japan, we could visit in Cherry Blossom season (more about that later) and make a short but wonderfully sweet stop at both Disneyland and DisneySea. Win Win Win. I was somewhat reluctant to stay in Tokyo city, with 38 million people and the biggest populated city in the world, it felt a little overwhelming. The Disney parks themselves are found on an island all on their own away far from the bright lights and big city, and it made sense to me to plonk our selves down within the inner boundaries of the Disney bubble, and start our Japan adventure from there. Mrs Bunnies choice of hotel was quite superb, and we all knew that we were sacrificing ourselves to the much cheaper end of Japanese bunny hutches to compensate for this lavish 3 night blow out. (worth it? with bells on!!) Tokyo Bay Sheraton Hotel, Tokyo. With a flight landing at silly o`clock, we knew seeing Tokyo itself prior to our 2 days in Disney would be a stretch. Ideally we wanted to check in, dump the bags, get the metro to the city until 7pm, metro back, sleep the sleep of the walking dead, then awaken in time to join the hoards of Disney Sea queuing people at 6am. .A plan well and truly scuppered when the hotel refused point blank to let us check in before 1pm, (we had thought that a hotel of that stature would make some compensation for early arrivals, alas not). Then it started to snow! Say what? I kid you not it was absolutely utterly freezing, and of course having sent all our winter clothing and coats back home from New Zealand we were more than a little unprepared for this cold wet weather. We cut our losses, slept in reception until 10am, and generally passed time until 12pm when the staff, clearly fed up with us keeping politely asking if a room was available, agreed to let us check into our room just a little early. With Mr B feeling quite dreadful with a very bad dose of flu, that he "ahem" bluffed away as a dust allergy hence the sneezing, (this is Japan, the land of permanent facemasks) he retired to sleep until 3pm. Mrs Bunny whiled the time away perusing the entry requirements for DisneySea, and noted that we could get same day entry tickets and that the park closed at 9pm. Mr Bunny had quite the shock when he woke to find two female bunnies dressed in our very best Disney gear, and every other item of clothing we could find, raring to hop along to Disney Sea. With Sea being the busiest Disney park of all, with some fairly complicated ride entries, we thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of our half day to recce the park. Disney Sea Tokyo Disney Sea part one. We walked from our hotel to the Mickey Monorail just a 3 minute walk away, and boarded the Mickey train to Sea. Oh my goodness, after seeing all the pictures of this monorail, to see it for ourselves was just wonderful. The seats were Mickey Mouse colours of black, white and red. The windows were Mickey heads, the ceiling hand holders, were Mickey heads. The closing of the door was a Disney Jingle. The station master waved us off with a dance and a smile. We could not keep the grins off our faces. Naturally the entry queues were long gone, and the park entry area was almost deserted, maybe the cold morning had kept the crowds away (oh how we came to giggle about that little thought later) We entered Disney Sea and were instantly blown away with the sheer size and theming of this awesome park. This is not just Disney, this is Disney on steroids! Did we find the people? oh boy did we ! We knew from endless previous research that we would not be able to ride anything, but to see the actual wait times was quite mind boggling. 3-4 hours was not uncommon. Less popular rides had wait times of around 1.5 to 2 hours. Little bunny very much came into her own here. We had all downloaded the Disney app, and little B had trained us well on how to navigate it. To get on any ride, you either wait in a very long line, paid fast pass, or a free 40th anniversary fast pass. Quite complicated, but little B had it all worked out. This particular afternoon however we devoted to trying to figure out the layout of the park so that we didn`t get lost the following day when it all mattered. Very difficult. The park is simply massive. It is also quite brilliant at hiding all its rides. The exterior theming is such that you cannot see anything that gives the ride away. The only exception was a short bit of rollercoaster track in a couple of places. This particular afternoon we managed the Sinbad ride (all in Japanese) and a last minute free 8.50pm fast pass got us a ride on the Tower of Terror. We didn`t mind, nor did we feel like we missed out. The place is out of this world. In the evening there were two different light and firework shows, but unfortunately with our lack of extra warm layers we had to miss these and bolt for our bunny hutch of warmth. From this initial recce we deduced that the only way we could successfully navigate the park, ride the best rides with the least amount of wasted time, was to pay. Mr Bunny said Kerching and Game On! Disney Sea part 2. One full on magical day. We left our hotel at 5.45am, got on the metro at 6, arrived at Sea by 6.10am, and in no way whatsoever were we even close to the front of the queue. The local people have waiting in line for Disney off to a fine art. If you are thinking hot drinks and breakfast rolls? Oh no! Not at all. Try make up bags, hair straighteners, hair products, nail varnish, nail kits and accessories. All around us girls were quite nonchalantly touching up their make up, adding nail art to artificial nails, using portable hair straighteners, and generally preening. The ones not preening were taking selfies. We go to Disney and try our best to go as hands free as possible, the Japanese girls, and boys alike, think nothing of carrying huge handbags, styled bags, shoulder bags, smart rucksacks or crossbody bags all liberally adorned with copious amounts of cute everythings. Including the boys. Keyrings, stuffies, accessories are carried everywhere, and the rumours are true, taking your favourite large Disney soft toy is very much the done thing. Our next observation is the dress code. The Japanese dress with style. Not a single Disney t shirt or jumper did we see. My bright pink Marie (Aristocats) t-shirt, widely accepted as the norm in Orlando, was garishly out of place,. Yet, the young Japanese girls would happily wear cute cat ears, carry Marie bags, key rings, and other accessories but not give my cute Marie T shirt even a cursory glance. One Asian girl pointed to my T shirt and said That`s Cool! but her voice was pure American. Many girls would twin with their friend, wearing identical outfits, or complimenting dress, if one carried Mickey mouse, the other would carry Minnie. And a huge amount of them would be wearing school uniform. Was quite odd. Short pleated tartan skirts, white ankle socks, blouses with a large knotted bow tie, a blazer and brogues. At a Disney Theme park? Google informed us that wearing a school uniform of which they are inordinately proud indicated Youth. They crave to look as young as possible, for as long as possible. Such a refreshing change to the youth of the UK who try their utmost to look as old as possible as soon as possible. With flawless complexions it is quite difficult if not impossible to differentiate between a 14 year old girl and a 28 year old woman. When the doors to Disney finally opened, and security cleared, they literally ran to the first ride of the day, we saw very few younger Japanese or local people in the premier pass line. With little Bunny`s help, we three bunnies did the fastest finger first and booked, paid and planned our day with precision. We knew that paying for the fast pass was the only way we would survive the day, so Mr Bunny gave little B the green light to nab as many rides as possible, free or paid, giving us one heck of an awesome day. The newest part of the park was Fantasy Springs. 2 Billion pounds worth of awesomeness! The rides here are just unbelievable, 5 rides, with the most extravagant theming you could possibly imagine. We were happy to miss Tinkerbell, but with exquisite organizational skills, little B got us on all the remaining rides in Fantasy Springs, and all the rides and shows we wanted to see in Disney Sea. I could tell you all about every ride, but I`m sure by now you are getting bored. In brief, we Journeyed to the Centre of the Earth, dived 20,000 leagues under the sea, boarded a hang glider on Soarin, took the lift in the Tower of Terror and so so so much more. On far too many occasions we did the walk of shame, walking past hundreds of people with our fast pass that queue jumped us to within 10 feet of the ride start. To say that we were grateful not to understand the language was an understatement. These people had been queuing for up to 3 hours when we breezed past them. We will probably never get the chance to visit Disney Tokyo Sea again, but I am proud to say that on our one full day we did it well. Disneyland. Our magical day 2. With the phenomenal crowds at Disney Sea, we totally expected Disneyland to be so much quieter, and a breeze. We planned to get up at 7.30, join the line at 8, meander the park at leisure... lucky for us a chance conversation at the bar (Mr B of course) suggested that we needed to go such much earlier. Phew! good job we took the advice. Disneyland was every bit as busy as Sea. Once again Little B did the fastest finger first and again we queued, paid, and fast passed our way through another action packed day. Every ride is superb, but one was just unforgettable. Beauty and the Beast. How can I possibly describe this jaw dropping ride? From walking through a castle, listening to the story, boarding a t cup on a trackless ballroom, dancing with the plates, watching a lifelike yet totally animated Cogsworth and Lumiere to finally witnessing the Beast rise and turn into a man before your eyes was pure ride magic on a scale we have never seen before. We started the day with the most unbelievable ride, and ended at the most entertaining Disney theatre show. Not just one or two characters in the same costume. All of them, in all their costumes. Disney Sea and Disneyland Tokyo. You made all our bunny dreams come true. Leaving the Disney Bubble for reality is always a shock to the system. Just as we previously toured Disneyland Hong Kong, then ventured into the chaos of Hong Kong Island, this was to be the same sort of bubble pricking moment, this time it was Tokyo. Tokyo. We really wanted to say that we had at least seen something of this incredible city, but with just a few hours we could only touch on a little bit of something. We chose the Shibuya Scramble Crossing and learned the hard way just how difficult it is to do anything in a short period of time. especially in the most populated city in the world. With all our bags we headed into Tokyo with a plan to leave them at `one of the many lockers at the station`, we headed for Shibuya. Fail number One. No lockers. With a bit of thought and hindsight, we would have realised how daft we were for thinking we could find an empty locker at the busiest station in the biggest city in the world just because we wanted one. Fail number 2. Trying to find Cat billboard. In the time we had to spare we couldn`t even find our way out of the station, never mind find a certain street corner with a very special cat animation. Last chance to achieve a Tokyo dream., with all our bags we boarded yet another train for a further 15 stops (and still didn`t even remotely come near to touching the edge of Tokyo) we made it to Shibuya Scramble. Fail number 3. We needed tickets. We did not have tickets. (the tickets are for the elevator that specifically takes you to a certain viewpoint) We did however have access to a very large shopping mall with windows that looked across and down onto the crossing. Whilst it would have been awesome to have experienced the crossing at ground level, with all our bags it just wasn`t an option. We gazed our fill then boarded our first Shinkansen train to the west coast of Japan and to our next destination, the town of Kanazawa. I gave little B a free reign to choose whatever route she wanted through Japan. I asked for off beaten track places, less popular, certain attractions. We knew we couldn`t come to Japan without seeing a few iconic places, but we did try for a few of the quieter ones. Little Bunny does the most fantastic research, learning not only where to go, but she finds us the best places, local facts, must eat foods, and titbits of local knowledge. For example the manhole covers. Each city has their own design, here in Himeji where I am at the moment, the covers are all of the castle. Kanazawa, also known as little Kyoto. This wonderful city of many faces was one of the few places in Japan not to be affected by the war, leaving a very unique and special old town. Our first stop was the castle and the gardens. For just green trees and Bonsai, it was a very special garden. The trees are all tied from top to trunk with ropes. It makes for a very pretty and eye catching silhouette, these ropes act as snow landing deterrents for the delicate bonsai trees. We visited a tea house and watched a tea ceremony of sorts. Bit of a nightmare for 2 bunnies of limited mobility as everyone was invited into the room and asked to kneel. Kneel? One bunny has two knees with limited movement, and banana back bunny cannot sit on the ground in a kneeling fashion for all the tea in Japan. With a pointed look at two very able bodied young people just about to sit down on them, we acquired the two chairs that had been placed in one corner of the room. Little B with her own wonky hip sat in a partial kneeling position and we three bunnies tried hard to not giggle our way through this very formal ceremony at our lack of bodily functionality. Leaving the castle grounds, the castle btw was superb, but a reconstruction, and though beautiful was quite bland and wooden. If you are an architect and love wooden structures, this would be right up your street. For us mere mortal bunnies, it was just another pretty wooden structure, they called it a castle, we called it a large expanse of room. Leaving the `castle` behind, we headed next for the old town of Kanazawa. Old traditional wooden houses untouched by war or fire. Whilst busy in the town, we were as yet not confronted by the hoards and hoards of rude tourists that would plague us later in the trip. Kanazawa is the home of gold leaf paper. They even put gold leaf on ice cream. We ate gold ice cream. What does it taste like? The ice cream was incredible, the gold merely a tasteless but pretty addition. We had to eat in the shop as you are not allowed to eat on the go anywhere in Japan, least of all in Kanazawa and especially not ice cream. Mr Bunny sat all snuffly with his cold outside, but we sneaked him some ice cream to ease his throat and sooth his cough, Mr B, stuffed the lot into his mouth in one go and feigned his best chubby bunny innocence of not eating where not allowed. Our last visit in Kanazawa was to the home of an original Samurai warrior. His armour and sword preserved in a glass cabinet. Part of the house was a museum, and we found one artifact most amusing. In a glass case was a scroll of Japanese writing, and its translation, which read, ` We appreciate that you worked so hard to kill one high ranked officer on the fourth of last month at Yokokitaguchi Battle in Kaganokuni Enuamagun. We are very happy that you brought us his head` October 9th 1566 (Eiroku Ninth) From Kanazawa we had yet another glitch in our list of planned events. It was on the agenda to visit Shirakawa a small village in the mountains, but alas all bus tickets were sold out `due to the festival`. Again I will refer to this later. Instead we spent one last day in the old town of Kanazawa, then left our first, and very cosy capsule hotel, for our next destination, Takayama. Once more we caught a train. Catching a train in Japan is quite the art form. They have an app called Navi time and it is superb. Leaving the app to little B she has patiently and diligently navigated us around all our destinations of Japan using this app. There are around 7 types of train here in Japan, and a train is not just a train. ( Quick bit of info here...at our first hotel they asked us how we got there...I said `train`, they didn`t understand, I mimed choo choo and made train sounds, they still didn`t understand. I know now that most, if not all Japanese trains are not only silent, they are also very futuristic and silent, oops) There are 3 types of Limited Express trains, a rapid express, express, sub express, semi express and local. Then there is the Shinkansen aka the Bullet Train. These trains can only be described as `sexy` Japan train travel is quite the experience, and as for the stations? Kyoto alone has 15 floors/levels. At Takayama we stayed in a little house with the most giggly funny helpful Japanese hosts. They were so nice. They also thought we had come from Ecuador ( booking.com having a glitch) and had written us a lovely welcome message in Spanish. They were quite thrown when we said we were from England and couldn`t understand a word they had written. As we had arrived early, and the day so pleasant, we walked to the nearby Hida Folk Village which was (if you are from the UK) a Japanese version of Beamish. A whole forest area with original houses brought there from all over Japan. There were very many house and all original. Very interesting. As we travelled to Takayama that morning we had gone through many snow filled valleys, and snow still remained around the town and at this village giving it a very pretty almost Christmas village like appearance. On our walk back into town we came across one of the many hundred drink vending machines that you see absolutely everywhere. One can said Hot Cocoa, a hot drink in a vending machine? We thought it might have been one of those clever chemical reaction cans, shake to create heat etc, but nope, the can that came out of the machine was hot. Unbelievable. But this is also the country that puts strawberries and fresh cream in sandwiches so we really shouldn`t be fazed by a hot can from a vending machine. Our next visit in Takayama was to the original samurai homes. In particular the government house. It was huge. And all original. The Samurai history is quite fascinating. I keep wondering why it died out...but then again, what call is there now for warriors with huge swords, topknots and scary battle armour? Onwards and upwards by train this time to Kyoto, and the town of Takatsuki. Staying this time in a private Japanese house with more rules than an airport check in counter! At first we didn`t quite know how to take the old guy. He was quite fierce and precise. Leading us into his living room he first gave us his laptop and instructed us to Read! (Yes Sir ! ) So many rules! He then invited us into the kitchen and demonstrated the kettle, the oven and the glassware. He then proceeded to give us a washing up demonstration with a glass clearly prepared earlier. Wash the glass thoroughly with this sponge, like this. Now use this sponge and wash again to clean away the residual soap. Now fill this bowl to the brim with clean water and place washed crockery in this bowl for 6 hours to disinfect, before placing it here in the dishwasher. You couldn`t make it up. Shower instructions next. Like this, not that. Toilet, look, oh heck, did I dare step into the toilet area in the wrong slippers?? He barked at me Out!! swap!! We had to use the toilet, clean our hands, 2 squirts of soap only mind, then clean the toilet with a disinfectant sheet. Change out of shoes (which is customary in Japan) at the front door. Only indoor slippers to be worn, but must be left at the bedroom door. Wear bedroom slippers the 4 paces to the toilet, remove slippers, place feet in toilet slippers. Don`t slide the doors like that, don`t open that window. don`t eat food in room , we did, but only cold food. We also used our own cups to avoid making any kitchen mistakes. With respect to Ken, he also did run us to the station each morning, and collect us promptly to the second each evening. Such was his character we didn`t dare even be a minute late. We slept on Futons. We also slept rather well. On our last day with Ken he told used, via google translate/audio, that he also thought we were from Ecuador, and that he had researched Ecuador and learned that there were 50% more murders in Ecuador than Japan. Poor guy must have thought us bandits or something. Was quite funny when he told us he was nervously anticipating our arrival. He was a genuinely lovely man. Kyoto like most of Japan is exceptionally expensive, especially as our trip has coincided not only with Cherry Blossom season, The Festival as it sometimes referred to, but also a half term school holiday. Hence the reason we are staying out of the city. Going to Japan to see the Cherry Blossom is on every bucket list you ever read. Did we plan to be here in Cherry Blossom season? No. It just worked out that way. Would I come again in Cherry blossom Season? Not a chance. At this point in my writing I will talk about the cherry blossom. Its a tree. It blooms. It is pretty, but nothing at all like the pictures portray. The majority of all the trees in bloom are very pale pink or even white. In all truthfulness, the May blossom at home is far prettier than any Cherry Blossom we have seen here. Cherry Blossom season in Japan, HUGE. They celebrate the Cherry Blossom by decorating the shops, they dress up in pretty Kimonos and stand under the trees taking so many photos. They even dress their dogs. Tourists come from all over the world to witness this spectacle. Have we been wowed by it yet? No. Have we seen much of Japan? 3 weeks of travelling and moving through vast parts of the country by train I would say so. Are the trees everywhere? Yes, and no. Like everyone else I have seen all the pretty pictures of the vivid pink trees, but those bright trees are not found everywhere. We have seen a lot of the pale pink blossoms, but the vivid pinks are very few and far between, needing specific journeys to specific places to see them. I had images in my head of seeing many deep pink tree lined avenues, but alas I have been disappointed. The cherry blossom as I alluded to earlier also coincides with heavy touristic traffic. Never before have we witnessed such blatant disrespect for a country. No wonder my MSN homepage is full of albeit over exaggerated `places where tourists are not welcome`, but when Kyoto is mentioned, I can see why. On a visit to the Bamboo forest, there were big clearly marked areas with signs saying `Do not stand here` Do not take photographs, with one after another after another tourist just blatantly ignoring these polite signs just to take a photo, because they want to. At another point in the forest we witnessed a despicable act of vandalism by a loud brash American woman who egged her son to pick up a rock and carve his name into the bamboo. How very dare you. We were shaking with anger, and no amount of vocal `how dare you` would make her change her mind. Her brat was having his name on that bamboo no matter what. What a disgrace you are. Watch You Tube you ignorant witch, watch as we show the world your blatant disrespect for Japanese property. Kimono. another Japanese tradition that for me is being disrespected by the number of westerners hiring them to parade up and down in. It feels so wrong. I suspect they see the `hire your Kimono here` signs, and take it as a green light to play dress up. Would I not be correct in thinking these shops are designed for the Japanese tourist market, to wear a kimono, to feel a pull with tradition, and quite probably left their own at home? Yet there goes Mary, David and Sarah parading up and down looking, in my opinion, quite ridiculous. Even more infuriating when ` Western David` chooses to wear a female kimono, rather than the gentleman`s traditional Montsuki. Each to their own I agree with, but don`t flaunt it with another countries traditional attire. Rant over. Kyoto. A huge city, but an old city, everything that Tokyo is not. We first went to the temple and traditional gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha. Such a fabulous sight, but drowning in a sea of tourists. We left the train station and quite simply followed the 1000s of people to the Shrines and Temples. Signs everywhere beg you to show respect, but with everyone wanting `that photo` to prove to anyone who cares, not, respect seems to take a poor back seat. There are 1000s of these bright red traditional gates all adorned with Japanese writing, which looks very romantic to the non Japanese reader, but which, if you pause to take a second and translate, merely tells the reader who donated or sponsored that particular gate. The gates wend their ways up the paths of the hillside and do look very pretty. Just not with wall to wall people. On the rare occasion when we had no one around us, it was a lovely place to just stand and look around. From the gates we had planned to cross a certain bridge to see the old Edo period houses, but given the sheer numbers of tourists, we decided to give this area a miss and headed out of town instead. We chose to have ourselves a little pit stop of tea and cakes, and found the cutest little olde world cafe. No body there but us, and the Beatles. The soundtrack was back to back beatles music, there were so many photos, and cute little old ornaments it felt quite homely and a world away from the rabble of tourists. We had tea and cakes, cakes so light they felt like air. From the cafe we made our way to the oldest streets of Kyoto, Gion, where the Geisha ladies can be found. These dignified ladies are not to be seen just wandering the streets, and indeed we only saw one lady as she moved quickly from car to building. We did try, and failed, to find the Hokan Ji Temple, a 5 story dark wood building built on a hill. Such is the complexity of Kyoto old town, we had to give up and search another day. We booked ourselves a trip on the Hozugawa River. We got up super early took 3 local trains to our destination, and fell at the final hurdle. A large sign at the final station informed us the river boat was cancelled. How annoying. Long story short, it wasn`t but we only found that out when we applied for a trip refund. Anyway, as the boat was cancelled we took ourselves off to a local bamboo walk, and onwards to a pretty little garden. It was in this garden surrounded by numerous people taking photos, that we saw a guy with a little robot. He was carrying it in a pouch round his neck that rested on his chest. We saw him raise his camera and this little robot moved! We swear we also heard it talk. We begged him to show us the little guy and he was most willing to do so. Removing the doll like robot from his pouch he set it down on a bench and said watch, he can sing and dance, would you like to see? Yes!!! of course we would. He bent down and spoke to the little guy, can you dance and sing? Can you sing Ave Maria? Oh my goodness our jaws hit the floor, as this little man started to sway and sing so beautifully. He gave us the full rendition singing and swaying his little heart out. Of everything we saw in Kyoto, that little robot will always take first place. With time marching on, our last call of the day was the Samurai Museum. Quite Brilliant. A precise, non convoluting very informative talk about the Samurai their rise, and their demise. Turns out Tom Cruise in the film The Last Samurai did an excellent job of portraying the story. They even acknowledge its remarkable accuracy, with just one movie inaccuracy exception, in the museum. Mr Bunny along with Little B both took the chance to play dress up in the Samurai replica armour, complete with headwear and plastic life like swords. Mr B took several attempts to pose like a Samurai, with his first two poses being more reminiscent of Harry Potter. Poses 3 and 4 taking the persona of a Jedi. Finally with a little direction, we achieved scary Samurai. Little B tried and failed miserably to wipe the silly grin off her face as she wielded her sword. Our last day in Kyoto and we tried once more to find the Hokan-Ji Temple. Pleased to say that we, and 5000 other tourists, managed to find it, however only 200 tourists, perhaps even a few less, found our cutest little temple, am I allowed to use the words cute and temple in the same sentence?. A bunny temple. We liked it for the bunny statues, but I think it was family and pregnancy related as there were a lot of young couples praying there, buying the cute bunny that you place on the shrine, and generally praying quite fervently. We maintained a polite distance, having no further desire to encourage the arrival of any small bunnies in our hutch, thank you very much. Osaka. Another train, another destination. This time Osaka, and what a contrast this city is to Kyoto, quite the chalk and cheese. Osaka is loud! Bright lights and big city. We spent a lot of time in the area of Dotonbori, walking up and down the river just gazing at the many bright lights and endless food stalls. We were quite a long way out of the city, yet in a strange way also very close. We were staying within walking distance of 3 metro stations and truth be known, I actually got quite confused as to which direction we needed to be in at any given time. I resigned myself to playing follow the leader, relying solely on Mr B and little B to return me to our tiniest hutch to date. 2 small beds and a futon on the floor that didn`t quite fit. Our `kitchen` was a pan and two bowls, but we did have a private bathroom and loo. Always a bonus. In the area of Dotonburi was the biggest and strangest ferris wheel you have ever seen. Not round, sort of straight up, and over, then back down. Of course 2 bunnies thought this looked like a real bit of fun. Not wanting to be left behind, Mrs B, against her better judgement, also partook a ride on this crazy wheel. To say there were tears is an understatement. I truly hate heights, and this was just plain stupid. I managed a couple of glances, but I swear all I wanted to do was curl and hide. Never again will I subject myself to something so idiotic. We finished our short hop in Osaka at the tower near were we were residing. Lit up in all its glory displaying the countdown to Osaka Expo 2025, that starts in just 10 days time, 5 days after we leave Good timing or bad, I cannot decide. One final day trip from Osaka took us to the area of Nara. Famed for it tame, bowing, free roaming deer. From the moment we arrived we saw the deer. Casually roaming the streets. We watched them for a long time as they interacted with people, and we also saw how very pushy the deer were. So so many signs everywhere telling you how to behave around the deer, do not pet them if you do not intend to feed them. Of course, vastly ignored. People mean food. That is all that goes through their little minds. For a long time we chose to leave the deer well alone, but the pull to feed them the specially designed deer crackers was too much. The deer feed was not to be found everywhere. Naturally the deers gather where the food is found. Little B took her food, and such is her nature, was immediately surrounded by the smallest cutest deer, all clamouring to be fed, but all patiently waiting. Mr Bunnies deer had a hunch he carried food in his pockets and he was hassled by pocket munching deer. He had to feed them quickly before they raided his pockets for items that most definitely were not edible. Then Mrs Bunny. True to my nature, I was followed by the deer that wanted to know everything, Now! Where is my food, when, how, is it today, where do we get it...pushing me for food my group of deer were actually quite aggressive. With go pro in one hand and food in the other, I am certain it is going to reveal a kerfuffle of squeaks as I am bitten both on my breast and with more venom, on my backside. Damn deer took a real chomp at my rear end. Very painful, but what if I was a child? A lesson learned. Deer are wild by nature. Leave well alone. Leave feeding to the keepers. Nodding Deer of Nara Himeji. Our time in Japan is brief so we are continually moving forward. By train again we travel to the town of Himeji. We are here for one thing only, its fabulously huge Japanese Castle. Standing with in the grounds and surrounded by large moats, some with water, some now without, this beautiful structure dominates the landscape. From almost everywhere in Himeji you can see this stunning white wooden castle. About as different in construction to any other castle that we have in the UK, this is built purely of wood. Construction was started in around 1333, and continued expanding until around 1618. Considered the finest surviving example of Japanese architecture, its not difficult to appreciate why. Buying an entrance ticket we joined once again the many many hoards of tourists and I think locals alike, to wander, in a strict one way passage, to the Keep of the castle, the very top. Again I was forced to question the 'why'? people want to pay to enter such a stunning place, to merely trudge through, following the feet of the person in front, and blindly ignoring the actual physical structure of the building around us. We three bunnies, hopped out of the mass queue, and allowed ourselves the time to just gaze with wonder at this awesome piece of architecture. No screws, no brackets, no stone walls, just an internal structure of precision woodwork. Like a huge jigsaw this castle slots together. And the tourists just trudged past it all. We bunnies stood for ages on each floor just looking at the aged beams, you could see everything was hand carved, and the sheer size of these wooden beams? How on earth did they get them there? The inside of the castle was quite dark, with only narrow slits of light from the windows, but spotting dark holes, I shone my phone torch into one of them and noted they were iron hinged flaps, none were open, but very much pointed to archery deployment. The sheer number of people in the castle was a little alarming, surely even a structure of this complexity was never designed to house this amount of moving people? We never did make it to the very top. The stationary queue was quite ridiculous. We chose instead to appreciate the inner beauty of its construction. The rooms of the castle were not rooms, imagine a square outer edge, with an inner `room?` in the centre, then a staircase to another square, a little smaller, and so on. Each level getting smaller. No furniture, no dividing walls along any of the passage ways, no content. Long gone, or simple Japanese living? I will mention our odd hotel at Himeji. Always driven by budget, this 7.5 rating hotel seemed satisfactory, however I failed to read all the reviews of our latest stay. 2 rooms for a starter, (that ticked a box), but rooms that contained accessories of condoms, sachets of lubrication, a dvd/video player, `room service` a double bath with tv, a TV with adult channels? Beds (shudder) with rubber backed sheets, (banished to the floor)! I cannot deny the room had a decent amount of space and was perfectly adequate, but it felt just a little `icky` Turns out this was once a 'lurve' hotel, but is trying (according to their most recent responses on booking.com ) to reinvent itself as a tourist hotel. 5/10 for effort. Never mind, we have had more fabulous and acceptable places, than odd ones. This one was however, a little Unique. Hiroshima. I don`t profess to know everything about the war, the who fought who and why and when, but know a man that does. I do know about the Atom Bomb of Hiroshima. Wanting to see the city for myself, and attempt to share this cities history with him, we chose Hiroshima as our next destination. As soon as we arrived we noted this was a city with a very different vibe. It was a very quiet city, vast, spread out, and exceptionally pretty. The river banks were wide and green, the cherry blossom trees lining their paths. Buildings were spaced, not cramped. Leaving our bags at the hostel, we left straight away and headed to the Peace Memorial Park and Bomb Dome. I was already clenching my fists and preparing to bite my tongue should I dare witness anyone playing the fool or taking inappropriate selfies, (witnessed first hand at other poignant sights around the world) but you know what? I could totally relax. 99.9% of everyone standing in front of that eerie building was respectful. You could sense the feeling of, did this really happen? Here? yet standing before the only remaining building, was living proof of what one nation could do to another. This building was not the only building to survive, there were a few others, but for some reason this one held the most importance for the city. The plaques declare that for a long time the city managers wanted to destroy and remove all reminders of the war, but the residents insisted that it should be preserved as a memorial to all those who died, and how they should never be forgotten. Endlessly protected and with sympathetic preservation, this building stands, along with its fallen masonry ,exactly as is it was the morning of August 6th 1945 at 8.15am. We went to the museum. It was a very large museum, one half dedicated to the immediate after effects, the survivors, the artifacts, the human stories, and one half to the realities and prevention of Atom and Nuclear bombs. (Far too much reading) With a thousand other silent people, we read the stories and saw the realities of war, but chose not to read the vast expanses of `Why`. Prior to reaching Hiroshima, little B had done her usual endless research. What else was there, what to do, where to go. Personally I only wanted to see the Memorial Park and leave it at that, but I had this continuous little voice telling me that we could go to Miyajima. Only a train ride away, won`t take long, should we go, Miyajima, Miyajima, Mirayima, Miyajima.... I know when to take notice, and this is clearly a place we should be going. From experience, I know little B is seldom wrong. Of course she was right again. We caught a fast train to the coast, and a ferry to this Island, and Wow!! there they were, the Torii Gates of Mirajima, protecting the island since 1167 . They stand in the water and at certain tides appear to be floating. Quite the spectacle. Standing in the water and held up purely to their great size. We had planned to visit the beautiful Orange/Red temple of Itsukushima but alas, once again thwarted. Our second attempt to visit a 5 tier pagoda, our second time of seeing a pagoda completely shrouded in scaffolding being renovated. I could mention the deer of the island, but to be honest, once bitten, twice shy... Mirajima 1167 Our time in Japan has come to a close. It has been quite the journey and a fabulous trip. I would like to think that it gave us all food for thought. We arrived in time for the Cherry Blossom, but would I come to see it again, definitely not. The excessive hoards of tourists all heading for the same few spots make for a very crowded and unpleasant experience. The Cherry Blossom itself is pretty, but my most favourite picture of tree blossom was sent to me by my dad taken in our local park. The swathes of deep pink blossom are found in very few and far between places, not in every park as online photographs would suggest. The train system is also an eye opener. Not quite the easy to navigate stations of Taiwan. Don`t even consider trying to make eye contact with anyone except those with whom you are directly in contact with. Smiles are few and far between. Yet oddly in the poorest area of Osaka where we were staying, the people there was so much friendlier. Cash is the preferred method of payment, and slot machines of every description are everywhere. Gachapon machines, (think plastic balls containing absolutely anything and everything you can think of, in the small toy variety) are to be found everywhere. Claw grab machines are equally popular. Gaming is huge, as is `cute` Even the Shinkansen has a pink Hello Kitty version. Shoes on/off/on/off is a regular occurrence. Skechers slip ons would make a killing here! Bathrooms everywhere are mostly immaculate, with toilets having built in bidets and heated seats. Yet the bathrooms seldom have hand dryers. Women whip small towels out of their bags. There are no public bins anywhere. Food must not be eaten whilst moving. You must give and receive anything with both hands. Cleavage is not a thing in Japan. All clothing is exceptionally modest. The women strive to look as youthful as possible, younger girls wear school uniform, even when not in school. I found Japan quite wonderful, but also stifling. We tried our best to be as respectful to their customs as possible, but now and again it felt restrictive. If I chose to return to Japan my choices of both time of year and destinations would be quite different. A very special country. Japan, we thank you for your hospitality. Ps. I if can share one last silly lasting memory of Japan, it would be this little guy. (play with sound)

Taiwan hadn`t even been considered when we first set off on our adventure. It came about when we met a young newly wed couple whilst still in Chile. He was from Taiwan, she came from Scotland. We got talking and she mentioned visiting Taiwan and what a beautiful country it was . This took us by surprise as non of us had given Taiwan a second thought, after all we all know that everything is `Made in Taiwan`. So why would she call it beautiful? Willing to take a chance, and wanting to see as much of the world as possible, we decided why not, and booked a bunny hop flight from Hong Kong to Taipei. As soon as the plane started to descend into Taiwan my confusion about this country started. Surely this is a country of high rise, bright lights, factories and industry? Yet our very nearly landed plane was still flying over green fields and residential cul de sacs? Is this really Taipei, the capital of the country? From the moment we arrived into the airport we knew we had landed somewhere special. Smart, pristine, calm and immaculate are to be words I will be using often. Leaving the airport we had to take an Uber ride to our hotel around 65km away. It was evening when we arrived but our journey was still on a road of low buildings and wide open spaces. Our first hotel was so cosy. A little dated and tired, but still pleasant. At this point I would like to rave about our loo. I kid you not, I used to go and sit on the loo in preference to sitting on my bed! My bed was a brick, no other word will suffice, but the loo had a slightly squishy heated seat. Bliss. A heated loo seat, you have no idea how good that feels. Mr and Mrs Bunny expressed our grrrs frequently about our brick bed, yet little bunny remained suspiciously quiet. Turns out she had the bounciest squishiest bed ever and was loving it. Smug little bunny. Taipei. Deciding that a hoho bus was a good place to start to get orientated, we booked ourselves 3 tickets that covered two different routes, and had the most bonkers tour. The bus audio most definitely did not take notice of traffic lights or zebra crossings and therefore the audio commentary of a temple on your right hand side, was just as likely to be a shopping mall or the river. The last tour on the second route took us the National Palace Museum. It mentioned 1000s of unique artifacts. We took a chance and went, but got bored fairly quickly. There are only so many Chinese scrolls you can look at. We also had a giggle when we read them, or rather looked at them, as we would in the UK from L to R, then wondered if we should have seen them R to L, or even up and down. Early days in Taiwan, and far too soon to have learned any useful words. We can just about manage Neehow (forgive the literal spelling) and we will very soon practice shay shay, again very literal spelling, but means thank you. We made use of the cafe, had a very soggy risotto, quite peculiar, of anything I could have eaten I was at least confident the rice would come out sticky not soggy. The following day we headed to the metro of Taipei. Wow, easy or what? absolutely superb transit system. Buy a tap on tap off card, load it up at the super easy to use machines follow the coloured lines on the floor that indicates the various different routes, and walk calmly with every other calm person to the immaculately clean platform, and wait for mere minutes for the metro. There are queuing lines on the floor, and everyone abides by them. No pushing, rushing, barging past, just a peaceful queue of happy bunnies, all letting the bunnies disembark the tram before hopping on board themselves. So dignified. Don`t even think about eating or drinking on the tram, in fact don`t even sniff at your water bottle unless you are prepared to endure the wrath of a local resident. We didn`t but we were told of someone who did. The trams are pristine. When you get off the tram, everyone politely forms a queue to transit the station via the escalator. Stand on the right only, and you may encounter a slightly hurried bunny hopping past you on the left, but generally the exit is peaceful, calm and unhurried. We travelled to the area of Chiang Kai Shek memorial. A huge open space dedicated to their once great leader. In front of the memorial we watched the changing of the guard, hmm, good but not in the class of the Kings Guard at home. Perhaps we do, do something well in the UK. From Chiang Kai Shek we moved onto the Ximen Ding shopping area. A bustling little shopping area, full of cute shops and street vendors. Here we shared our first hot Boba Tea and dumplings. Boba tea is a strange but very pleasant hot (or cold) milk drink, served with sugary balls of goo, that melt in the milk and when sucked up your straw give you a moment of chewy somethingness. One of the more peculiar sights we saw, and not just once either, but cats or dogs in prams. Cats wear clothes, or even glasses, whilst dogs wear nappies. I kid you not. Needless to say, there is no smelly dog pee pillars here. Cats also have their own vending machine devoted to hats for cats.... Lukang. We didn`t want to stay in just one area of Taiwan, so we headed south west to the small town of Lukang. The nicer parts of Taiwan are actually on the east of the Island, but a huge earthquake last year has left the area in a state of managed disrepair. We felt it prudent to stay to the west of the Island. Lukang has one of the oldest areas in Taiwan, and it felt nice to be away from the city. Most definitely a local non tourist area, we were for the most part very much the only western faces. We got to Lukang using the HSR, or High Speed Rail. Awesome. Not the bullet train, but not far off. Mrs Bunny excelled herself with the choice of hotel. I knew it was a spa hotel with a bath, I just wasn`t quite prepared for the huge room, huge. We could play darts at the correct distance and still have room to spare for the audience. We didn`t, but for scale darts was the best example I could think of. As for the bath! Wow, a proper jacuzzi spa bath big enough for two, and still have room to move. Needless to say, three bunnies had our own little bathing session each night. (boo hoo, we miss that bath) We wont miss the breakfast though. Hot food served cold, and peanuts for breakfast? salad? cold rice, cold fried eggs? Thank goodness we spotted a toaster and bread. We spent several days in Lukang. Exploring the old town, the markets, the wonderful street food, and the not so wonderful items that we chose to leave well alone. We very nearly got ourselves some deep fried chicken, the stall smelt awesome, had a huge queue, and we were just about to commit when the owner tipped a whole bowl full of pre battered chicken into the bowl at the side of us. Heads. Wings. Legs, Feet. Breast. We scarpered pdq to the safety of our favourite sausage stall, scrambled egg on a stick, sweet potato chips, honey fried parsnips (we think) and quite possibly the fluffiest lightest cakes we have ever tasted. There were many other food options on the street to be had, but with all the best will in the world, no amount of googling would tell us what these strange offerings were. An older lady with a fine command of English, did try to tell is that the strange reddish flat solid jelly looking tongue thing, was pre cooked fish egg. From a very big fish. We did not try it. Nor did we try squid on a stick. Or caramelised duck tongue, or caramel dipped chicken heart. We did play it safe with Oreo filled waffles, or waffles filled with most delicious chocolate pudding. Taichung. This was a city around 2 hours from Lukang, and to where we went via bus, lift, taxi, train, and shanks pony. We set off confidently from the hotel, to the bus stop. Stood for half an hour before a friendly local managed to tell us that Taichung was in the opposite direction. We changed sides of the street. Then another local pointed to a pink sheet of paper on the bus stop sign, and gestured no buses today. She then proceeded to phone a friend, who picked her up, and took us all to the bus station and plonked us at the correct bus stop. Not. Once again the bus we knew needed came in on the other side of the street. One we got, and proceeded to drive to the stop where we had originally started over an hour earlier!! Bus to chengua, then train to Taichung. For 3 non mandarin speaking bunnies, I think we did pretty well. Little bunny had her eyes on 3 or 4 very specific areas of Taichung which actually is a highly annoying but utterly appreciated (and needed) bunny trait of hers. Our main must see sights were a very nice, but crazy expensive chocolate shop with Hogwarts Castle Vibes, think multiple wooden staircases. Then along the riverbank to the artists street where a small number of back alleys were painted in all manner of anime, disney marvel and other characters. To see an area so pristine and painted, with no graffiti was nice, but once again made you realise that this was something that at home would likely be vandalised and spoilt. There is so much nice in the world where we have been to make us appreciate how dirty, rude and ignorant certain members of British society are. So many times we have encountered nice things just sat in gardens, on the street, paintings, live fish, outdoor public paddling pools (referring here to further afield) but how much of what we have seen would we be allowed to have in the UK without some ***** spoiling it just because. Our last stop in Taichung was the Rainbow Village. Just a tiny little cluster of old houses that an old gentleman decided to paint in order to protect his little community from being knocked down. Was so so pretty. Sun Moon Lake. Another must see destination is the Sun Moon Lake, situated inland this is a lakeside destination much the same as visiting the Lake District in the UK. With the most favourable weather following us, we arrived for 2 and half days of perfect relaxation. Our room was out of town and situated in the woods. A small group of a cross between Anderson shelters/caravans/oversized glamping pods all immaculate, and so so cosy were to be found among the cement base clearing in the woods. The hospitality from the moment we landed was so lovely. They were so upset we had walked from the station, "why didnt you message and ask us?" The room was perfect, and even had the Disney Channel woo hoo. We walked into the small town of Ita Thao, and wow, we found people, lots and lots of people! We also found one very large and very beautiful blue lake, and a whole host of street foods. There were many different options and ways to ride on the lake, small ferry, larger ferry, taxi boat, tourist boat, stand up paddle board, or electric pedaloes or manual push pedal ones. Naturally Mr Bunny chose the electric pedalo, not.....and so he and little miss bunny had the pleasure of `rowing` me around the Lake. Was so relaxing, lol. I did try, but wonky knees here has great difficulty with anything bike related. Happy to say a work out was had by two out of three bunnies. Street food had to be tried as we had worked up quite the appetite. Potato with spices on sticks, vegetable pancake like rolls, sausages, and so much more. The following day, Mr Bunny and I made it quite clear to little b, that we had no desire to go riding bikes round the lake to see yet another temple, nor were we overly keen to ride the waves on any kind of boat. Little Bunny took herself off on her own adventure, see miss.tiff.travel s whilst Mr B and I hired ourselves an electric tandem bike. Oh the fun we had scooting the round the lake edge on an electric powered bike. The following day, with little b having zero inclination to hire yet another push bike, Mr B on our second hired electric bike, ferried little B to the 9 frogs viewpoint, then came back for me. At the lake edge is a frog statue of 9 frogs one on top of the other, they are a very cute depth marker for the lake. This second day was a Monday and all the crowds had vanished. Very much a weekend destination it would seem. Once again we troughed our way around the street food stalls. Very much some of the best food we had in Taiwan. Taipei part 2. We ended our Taiwan trip back in Taipei with plans to see all the parts of the city that we didn`t manage to see the first time. Kid bunny fancied the cable car and the tea tasting, whilst animal loving Mr and Mrs B took ourselves off to the Zoo. Gosh it was so expensive, a whole £4.75 each. We saw the panda (sleeping) the red panda (sleeping) the koala (sleeping) the rhino (sleeping) the puma not sleeping, in fact making so much noise with his cat calls I rather hoped he would succeed in waking the snoring animals. Such a lovely zoo. The next day we wandered an area called Ximending, a touristic yet also cutesy local shopping area. The home I must confess of TGI Fridays, sometimes the call of Western Food shouts too loud. It was in the area of Ximending that we found, but didn`t visit, the retriever cafe. 2 Golden Retrievers who wandered the cafe shaking paws with guests. We didn`t go as we we didn`t think we would ever leave. Our only organised tour was a day trip to Shifen and Jiufen. The trip took in a couple of other places, one was a sea side rock formation called the Queens Head, 2 bunnies had a very distinct meh moment, seriously how many tour buses? little B had a quick shufty but even she was less than impressed. We then followed the tourist buses to Taiwan`s answer to Niagara Falls, more meh....then lastly to the utterly beautiful villages of Shifen and Juifen. Well I presume they would have been beautiful if you could have seen them under the humungous influx of tourists! tiny little meandering cobbled streets strung with red lanterns. If I said the car park had 100 buses at least, you get the idea of how many people were trying to walk the streets. bit of a shame really, but just too crowded for us. Instead we found a tiny artists coffee shop and had the best Hot Chocolate in a long time. I could tell you about the red lanterns, that we bought, wrote our wishes on and lit to rise into the skies, but it felt so impersonal with so many people crowding around. I will hope however that my wishes come true. For all of us. Not just the bunnies abroad. With our time in Taiwan coming to a close, there was just one thing left to do. Taiwan 101. The biggest building in Taiwan and 11th tallest in the world. For a short time it was the tallest. We bought our tickets to the top and boarded the lift to the 89th floor. the fastest passenger lift in the world it took a mere 40 seconds. (ish) I cannot remember if it was 37 or 47, but it was def the fastest ear popping lift we have ever been in. For a few seconds you actually feel a little light headed. The view of course is second to non. At the start of my blog I described Taiwan as pristine, smart and clean. Yes, it is. It is also old and weather beaten. The further out of town we got, the more weathered and blackened the buildings got. Did we find the litter, the discarded bags of rubbish, graffiti ? No, we did not. Everywhere we travelled, no matter how, bus, or taxi or train, and the island was pristine. Everywhere is going to have the accidental windblown bits of rubbish, but Taiwan must have very little wind, such was its cleanliness. Calm, passive, peaceful, tidy organised and respectful. Taiwan, you are quite special. Good Bye Taiwan, a sleeping giant of calm.

When I first mentioned to a friend that we had added Hong Kong to our list, she was so excited, telling me how wonderful the skyline was, the river, the iconic buildings, the coffin houses....my reply? It is the home of Disneyland !! I got the facepalm icon text by means of a reply. So funny. Hong Kong was never meant to be on our list, nor for that matter are several other places that as yet shall remain nameless. but when you perused a map at length looking for cheap destinations (ha!) and the word Disney jumps out at you en route, it just had to be. These three bunnies are huge Disney fans and the chance to go was just overwhelming. So so excited. I have to admit that my research of Hong Kong was somewhat limited, knowing only that Disney was set on an island that appeared to be a long way from the main area. Do we book a cheap hotel and commute or do I twist Mr Bunnies arm and beg him to let me book the very wonderful Disney Hollywood Hotel, (the Mickey Mouse room of course) I gazed into his eyes, held his little bunny paw and without even needing to bend a little furry finger, one glance at my computer screen and his reply was, I hope you have booked it ! Mr Bunny was every bit as excited as I was, and so to Disney we went. Hong Kong Disneyland is same same but different to both Orlando and Paris. It has a castle, but strangely I didn`t find it as attractive as the others, and a railway that runs around the park, but one that didn`t appear to take passengers? The huge flower display outside the entry at Orlando is a big Mickey Mouse face, in Hong Kong it is Duffy Bear. Mickey does not appear to be a favourite figure in Hong Kong, two girls made this very plain to me when in front of the statue of Mickey and Walt, she asked me to take their photo whilst totally obscuring the Mickey. They were happy to have Walt and the Castle in their photo, but Mickey was artfully ignored. The rides at HK are similar, they have a Toy Story land with RC Racer, the Parachute Drop ride and Slinky Dog, all of which are at either Paris or Orlando. Haunted Mansion is very different, and has a mansion feel with a Runaway Railway experience. Space Mountain is called Hyperspace Mountain and was actually awesome, we loved it. The best ride of all was Grizzly Gulch, a mine train ride of epic proportions and brilliant cross between Everest and Big Thunder Mountain. We rode this several times and once in the dark. This was their biggest and fastest ride but had a queue time of just 20 mins, however the longest wait time in the entire park was a photo opportunity with LenaBelle, some sort of furry bear like cat figure and friend of Duffy. 2 hours they waited for this, all day long the queue time never changed. Unbelievable. There were many other rides that we loved, and we admit to having tried to ride all of them. Dumbo was the exception. As per both Paris and Orlando, Dumbo is very popular. Jungle Cruise....hmmm... lets just say `no no no` very apparent that their sense of humour and ours differs wildly. How else would I describe Hong Kong Disney? Cute. We probably used the word Cute several hundred times during our 2 days at the park. Everything is Cute. Everything. The Chinese dress attire at the park was everything that Florida isn`t. Dressing for a theme park is an art form, and these guys are Picasso. Anything and everything goes, but everything is styled and accessorised to the very last item. Tutu, with tights, leggings, `cute` cardi, furry character handbag (cute, not a disney character, just something `cute`) and a disneyesque cute again, headband, matching shoes not trainers, full make up and styled hair. Or how about a full furry gilet with tail? Even the guys were ultra smart and carried practical bags with furry or cute or anime accessories and many many of them wore their disneyesque cute headbands without an ounce of self consciousness, even groups of young guys without a girl in sight wore their cute headbands with pride. We bunnies wore our best newly acquired Disney Mickey Mouse t shirts, or in Mrs Bunny`s case an Aristocats Marie T shirt, two bunnies had mickey ears and where in Florida we would have blended nicely, here we stuck out like 3 of Snow Whites Dwarves. Casual is not the done thing. Our hotel was fabulous, with a gift shop of course, but no food? They had a full on bar service or an al a carte restaurant that required a booking reservation. We couldn`t even find a bar of chocolate, never mind a coke to drink. Sorry, slight lie here, they did have chocolate, but the brand was Godiva. IYKYK. Hong Kong part two After two wonderful days at Lantau Island and saying goodbye (for now) to Mickey, we headed for our next hotel on Hong Kong Island. We truly went from sublime to the ridiculous. Oh my goodness have you ever seen as many skyscrapers in one place before? I had no idea where to stay in HK but every review said Central on HK Island was the middle of everything. Yes it was, but it was so loud. Loud, chaotic, bustly, busy, rushed, were all words I could use to describe where we stayed. Leaving the hotel the first day and heading off in a direction with no great plan, my first thoughts were I`m a celebrity bunny, get me outa here! I have never been so overwhelmed by so much chaos. Every traffic junction had a sound indicator, a constant beep beep beep as you waited to cross each busy road. Tall buildings surrounded us on all sides, cafes, shops, were never ending and so close to each other. Whilst we had eaten reasonably well in Disney, we were nervous about immediately diving into any old cafe and had to think about what ingredients may or may not be used. Please don`t laugh when I say we had our first meal in McDonalds, but a chicken nugget is a chicken nugget, and fries look like fries. HK is an absolute maze of walkways and passageways. You can move through multiple buildings and never step foot outside. Having flown from the high humidity of Kuala Lumpur we found HK to be a little chilly. Knowing we were going to travel even further north, we chose to buy some warmer clothes. With very little walking we found ourselves in the most beautiful shopping mall. Brand new stands right next to very old. Like a crazy jigsaw. Not quite the right mall for us as once more we found yet another Gucci and LV. Uniqlo is the nearest shop to a Primark and sufficed our needs. Bakers are a plenty in HK and we bought a selection of bread items like pizza buns for our evening snack. I found a cake that I couldn`t resist. Who doesn`t love a panda? Day 2 and little bunny had us walking our little bunny paws all over the city. We walked through the park, a sea of green oasis within a myriad of buildings. Across the river to Kowloon island, using the green ferry. A huge eye watering 41pence to cross the river, on a boat that criss crosses this waterway constantly, back and forth, back and forth. We walked the Avenue of Stars until we reached the statue of Bruce Lee. There were many other named actors and actresses but non that we recognised, Asian stars we assumed. I had expected the Bruce Lee statue to have been the busiest place, but surprisingly not. Maybe the fact that is is a scary 51years since his death? We tried to adopt his famous pose, but two bunnies failed miserably. On Kowloon island is a very popular bakehouse, they sell egg custard tarts and amazing cookies. We bought a selection and ate them whilst sitting on the dockside off Kowloon island. The same evening we had tickets for the Aqualuna boat. We sailed at 6.30pm on the most beautiful little red `junk` boat up and around the bay. We watched the sunset and the saw the city light up. Hong Kong from the water is truly magical. It took me a while to `get` it, but slowly I began to feel the draw of this enormously varied city. From our hotel window, we could see the lights of the harbour. two streets away, two streets were all we had to traverse to return home. What a walk we had. Through buildings, across walkways, down escalators, upstairs, past Sothebys as they were stage setting a complete dinosaur skull, and skirting busy restaurants that were entertaining some rather smart gentlemen in suits. Have you ever tried using google maps amongst high rise? We walked over 30,000 steps that day. On our last day we headed for the Peak Tram. Little bunny ahead of the game as always, had prebooked our seats, and set us the route. Through yet another small park, we climbed to the entrance of Peak Tram, walked smugly past the rather large queue of people clamouring for a ticket, and boarded our tram to the summit. The track is so steep the tram could easily pass for a funicular railway. The journey was short but fantastic. The view from the carriage was amazing. We climbed so quickly that we towered above the high rises of HK, giving you the most wonderful panoramic view of the island. We could have gone to the very top of the Peak building, but better views always cost money. Why could they not just have a free timed entry, why does everything have to be pay pay pay? Why is a view point a paid experience? Instead we had drinks in the cafe with quite possibly one of the most scenic vistas to date. With time running out on us, we just had time for one last tour. The botanical gardens and the monkey house. The monkey houses were set in the most wonderful clean, tidy and well kept gardens. All the animals were active and climbing around which was nice to see. What we didn`t expect to see were the Orangutans. Not just one either, a least 5 or 6. A much more laid back animal, these lovely gentle creatures were mostly asleep, leaving just one keeping an eye out for a means of escape in the back quarter. A lovely end to our short bunny hop in Hong Kong. Crazy, noisy, chaotic and clean. Hong Kong you were quite special.