Round the world clockwise - a visit to Japan, Australia, Laos and Thailand July-August 1991 Tokyo, Japan Sat 20th July. We arrived in Tokyo from London via Alaska, and stayed at the Grand Palace Hotel with a view of the Imperial Palace from our window. We had dinner at Shigaku. Sun 21st. We went shopping in Ginza and visited the Imperial Palace which we approached over a bridge across the moat. We had dinner in Roppongi. Mon 22nd. After a business meeting with Fujitsu we went to Shakey's for lunch in Shinjaku and moved to the Asia Centre and had dinner there. Kyoto and Nara, Japan Tue 23rd. We caught the bullet train to Kyoto and were very impressed that there were queue-lines marked on the platform and the train doors stopped exactly by the markings. We stayed at the Ishinaga Ryokan in Kyoto. Wed 24th. We visited the Higashi-Honganji temple, Nishi-Hoganji and Nijo Castle which had nice gardens with a lake. We moved to the Rich hotel. Thur 25th. We visited the Kiyomizu (clear water) temple - there's no problem drinking the water here! We saw the great bell at Kiyomizu temple. We walked through the back streets and found the tea shop with a pond of huge coy carp near Kodaiji temple. We visited Kodaiji temple and then Yasaka Shrine (below), and went to the Gion Corner traditional theatre. Fri 26th. We visited Nara (45 km away) for the day and went to the deer park, Kofukuji, Todaiji temple (the biggest wooden building in the world) and the picturesque Kasuga shrine (below). Sat 27th. We visited Kiyomizu (in the early morning), Ryozon Kama, Nijo castle and Kinka-Kuji (golden pavilion) temple. Sun 28th. We returned to Tokyo and flew to Sydney. Sydney, Australia Mon 29th. We arrived in Sydney at 7am and got the bus and train then walked to our friends Glyn and Linda's house in Cherrybrook. We went out for an Indian meal in the evening. Tues 30th. We looked round Sydney - the Rocks district and Circular Quay. Had Chinese takeaway for dinner. Wed 31st. We got the monorail to Darling harbour for lunch, went up the tower and had Thai satay for dinner. Thur 1st Aug. We had lunch up the tower and a tour round the opera house. Took the classic picture of Sydney - the Opera House. Had another Indian meal for dinner. Cairns and Kuranda, Queensland, Australia Fri 2nd. We flew to Cairns. Sat 3rd. We had a walk round Cairns in the morning and went to Wild World in the afternoon, where we stroked kangaroos and wallabies, had a photo with a koala, ruffled an emu's feathers and tentatively touched a crocodile. Sun 4th. We got the train up to Kuranda and had a meal at an Italian restaurant. Mon 5th. Sheila and Jamie did a bungee jump. When the adrenaline subsided we returned to Cairns and had a meal at Jardine's restaurant at the Cairns Colonial Club. Tue 6th. We saw the historic Grand Hotel opposite Cairns railway station, then got the train to Gladstone, on which we each had a separate comfortable sleeper berth. Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland Wed 7th to Sun 11th. We got the launch from Gladstone out to the reef and stayed at Heron Island. Jamie and Sheila did scuba dives, we did the island walk and the reef walk and went on the semi-submersible. We relaxed and sunbathed. Mon 12th. We got the launch back to Gladstone, had a look round and then flew to Brisbane at the other end of Queensland state. Had a steak at Brekkie Creek Hotel. Sydney again Tue 13th. We flew back to Sydney and had a takeaway from the Satay Skewer. Wed 14th. We went to Taronga Zoo, where there was a nice view of Sydney across the harbour. Had brunch at an Italian, evening meal at the Satay Skewer. Thur 15th. We went to Manly and Chinatown and had a drink at the Lord Nelson and a meal at the Indian Empire. Bangkok, Thailand Fri 16th. We flew to Bangkok and stayed at the Metro Palace hotel. Sat 17th to Mon 19th. We arranged our visit to Laos with Deithelm Travel, then visited the Raja hotel (where we stayed many years ago). Got a boat down the canal to as near to the centre as possible, then a tuk tuk to the Royal Palace and the adjacent Wat Pra Keo temple. We got a boat from the nearby pier to the Oriental Hotel and had tea in the historic Authors' Lounge. Had dinner at the Ambassador food market. Vientianne, Laos Tue 20th. We flew to Vientianne and had a city tour - Wat Si Sacket, Wat Pra Keo, Pha That Luang temple (below), the market and That Dam Stupa. We had a drink in the Fountain restaurant and stayed at the Lane-Xang (million elephants) hotel overlooking the Mekong river. Wed 21st. We went for a day tour into the countryside. We stopped at the 'Mon' ethnic people's market on Route 13 between Vientiane and Nam Ngum. We went on to Vang Sang sanctuary, had lunch at Ban Thalat and went on a boat trip on Nam Ngum lake, where they were loading fish onto trucks. We went to the salt works at Ban Koen where there was heavy traffic congestion .... And finally to the deer park. We got soaked on the ferry on the way back and had a drink overlooking the Mekong river and dinner at the hotel. Bangkok and Ayuthaya, Thailand Thur 22nd. We flew to Bangkok and had an Indian meal. Fri 23rd. We went on a day trip to Ayuthaya, one of the former capital cities of Thailand, with lots of fascinating temples including Wat Yai Chai Mongkol .... .... Wat Suwen Dararam .... .... and Wat Prasi Sanphet. Sat 24th. Finally Sheila went shopping at Thai Damaru and the Central department store, then we flew to London. If you would like to see more of our travels just click the map.