The Travelling Holts

Sengakuji Temple

Sengakuji Temple is rarely on the top 10 places to visit in Tokyo but it is not somewhere that should be so quickly overlooked. If you like your Japanese history, then you will be very interested to know that it is the burial home of the 47 Ronin. The story goes, in summary, that there…

Fiji

On our way back to Tokyo from New Zealand, we had a 3 day layover in Fiji. We decided with such a short layover that we would base ourselves on the main island of Vitu Levu staying at the Hilton Fiji Beach Resort on Denarau island a mere 25 minutes from Nadi airport. It cost…

Whale Watching in Kaikoura

We booked our whale watching cruise before we started our holiday, it was one of only two things we had pre-booked. We chose to book with whalewatch.co.nz direct who I would highly recommend even if our cruise ended in disaster. They have such a good sighting success rate that they offer an 80% refund if…

10 days in New Zealand

For a long time now New Zealand has been on our bucket list but has always been one of those ‘out of reach’ places. Especially from the UK but one of the most amazing things about living in Japan is that we have been opened up to the world and as each year goes by…

2018 Review

It’s that time of year again and so it is time for my annual summary of the year as 2019 draws in. So how was 2018? It started with our trip to Karuizawa in February enjoying the snow, star gazing and onsens to get us through the winter months. It felt like luxury and a…

TeamLab Borderless

When you are in the full flow of work, it is easy to find yourself in a rut where each weekend becomes a carbon copy of the one before. Sleep, eat and a short walk to somewhere local for a stock up. However every now and again you plan something interesting to break the routine…

Hoshinoya Karuizawa

2018 has been quite the travel year so far. The summer was a huge step for us but in all the excitement and planning I forgot to write about the little side trip we went on at the start of the year. February was the perfect opportunity for us to explore yet another of the…

Tam Coc, Ninh Binh

On the morning of our departure to Ninh Binh I woke up feeling ill. The dreaded travelling tummy problems had finally got me and to put it bluntly… I didn’t think I could make the 2 hour journey to the our next stop gracefully. Ninh Binh has rapidly become a top tourist attraction, offering the…

Hanoi and Ha Long Bay

Our last stop was north Vietnam where we would be based for 8 nights exploring the capital city Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh. We arrived in Hanoi at night via a Vietnam Airlines flight sandwiched between a group of American High School students feeling pretty old. We progressed through immigration with relative ease…

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Now I am not going to lie and say that leaving the safety and cleanliness of Singapore to jet off to Cambodia wasn’t a little nerve-racking. Just like Bangkok, a range of thoughts were trailing through my mind on the short 2hr flight to Siem Reap, about the water, getting ill, what would I eat?…