Travel money

So one of the hardest things to figure out for this trip has been how I am going to take my money. It has been suggested that I take all cash, but i wasn't keen on the idea of walking around with £4,000 in my pocket!
So after much deliberation I have chosen these 2 services to carry my cash, as well as somd cash for when i first arrive:

CaxtonFX Global Traveller Card
CaxtonFX is a part of the Newcastle Building Socity. For £10 you get the card, though £10 is automatically loaded onto the card, so it's essentially free. There are no ATM fees or international transaction fees from the issuer. For £5 you can get a spare card, definitely a good idea if you're travelling, so if you lose the 1st, you can cancel it and use the second.

Travelex Cash Passport
Recommended by the Foreign Office, again this card has no ATm or international fees from the issuer. This card has a double edged sword: buy it in GBP and you get a commission put on your bill. Buy it in any of the other currences (USD, CAD, AUD, NZD, ZAR or EUR), and you face a bad exchange rate. I did some number crunching, and if you use anything but GBP, you will only get £972 for your £1000 (did some reverse exchange). So you loose out on almost £30! Now the commission for GBP is only £20, so I'd definitely recommend this. (EDIT: I wrote this section once, then changed it when I did some more research).

So I'm taking these 2 cards, plus a spare card for each in case I lose the first. I'll also be taking around £150 in Chinese Yuan, and £100 in JPY, the Chinese Yuan to last me the whole time there, and the JPY to get me to where I need to go and for my first few purchases, until I find an ATM.
It's also a good idea, if you can, to leave your account details at home so that someone can recharge your cards in case of a bailout.

And as an extra fail safe, I will probably apply for a American Express Blue card. There's no annual fee, and if you're under 21, your application is based on household income rather than yours. This is good for me, as I won't have income while travelling around, but I can still get the card. This last one really is only for emergencies, and I'd try not to use it at all. It would be my last resort. Also, this card has 0% APR for 6-12 months, so if you're only travelling a little while, you can use it, pay what you used and then cancel it before they charge you more!!

For information on the CaxtonFX card go to: http://www.caxtonfxcard.com
For information on the Travelex Cash Passport go to: http://www.cashpassport.com
For information on the American Express Blue card go to: http://www.americanexpress.com/student

Above all, be careful with your money! Never log into an online bank account while not on a secure network, never divulge your details, don't carry more cash than you need, make sure you have the banks telephone number for cancellations of cards. You get the picture ;).

Happy spending!
~GA

Nara

After Kyoto I hit Nara, only a short train ride away. I have slightly less time in Nara than other cities, only 6 nights this time. I'm taking this week as a relaxation period, or I'll try to. I want to hang around in parks and the country, and generally get away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. With some of the biggest parks and oldest temples, I'm sure I can find somewhere.
In Nara I'm staying at a small hostel which is a renovated traditional house. It's called Yuzan Guesthouse, and this time I'm in an 8 bed dorm. It's pretty expensive in here, but was actually the cheapest in Nara, at ¥2500 a night.
<-- See, old house!
<-- the dorms.
<-- and the garden!
Sorry, I wanted to post a couple of pictures here as it looks so nice and... quaint.

Go to http://www.yuzanguesthouse.com/english

I'm in Nara from the 16th to the 22nd of June

Tokyo

I arrive by plane in Tokyo around noon on the 1st of July. Straight from Narita Airport I'll be heading to my hostel, the lovely looking Aizuya Inn in Taito-ku (http://www.aizuya-inn.com). Again I'm staying in a private single bed room, this time with a shared bathroom. You can straight away see the differences in prices between China and Japan though, as this room will cost me ¥2500 a night, which is about £20. Still, it is one of the better value places I'm staying.
<-- the common room of Aizuya Inn.
This hostel, like many others, has an attached kitchen/bar. It has a slightly different system though. The menu is priced in "coins", with each coin costing ¥100. So a beer is 5 coins, ie ¥500, and an "English" breakfast (including: toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, salad, a yoghurt and coffee or OJ) will cost another 5 coins. It's pretty cheap, less than £4.00 for all that food.
To get to the hostel, I'll take the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno, then hop on the Hibiya Line to Minami-Senju St.. From there, its a short walk to the hostel (or so I am told, this doesn't include getting lost and distractions).

I have 7 nights in Tokyo, this time around anyway. While in Tokyo, I'll mostly be using the famous subways to get around, and the seemingly best and easiest way to do this is use the Suica Card. For a deposit of ¥500, and then top-ups as and when you need it, you can easily swipe in and out of the stations. Very similar to London's Oyster Card.

Getting There & Back Again

A quick note before I start: flights are one of the most expensive things you will be paying for, so choose carefully. Also, look into any extras you can get like I did. And finally, keep in mind that not all seats are released at once, so the flight you saw two days ago probably won't be there again. If you see something exceptionally good value, book it immediately!

Getting to China
For a start, you need a visa to visit China. For information on getting a Chinese Visa, click here.
Now, to get to China, I am flynig with Air China. My flight departs from London Heathrow at 20:25 on the 27th of May, and lands at Beijing Capitol at 13.30 the next day (Ed.- all times are shown as local times). I think it's around an 8 hour flight, but I can't figure it out exactly due to the time differences.

Getting to Japan
Still flying with Air China, my flight leaves Beijing Capitol at 09:25 on the morning of the 1st of June. A few short hours later and I'll arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport at 13:55.

Getting Back Home
I have a two part journey back home, firstly to Beijing again and then back to London. I leave on the 29th of July
Firstly, my flight to Beijing leaves at 09:00 from Tokyo Narita, landing in Beijing at 11:55. I only have a couple of hours here, and my visa will have expired anyway, so I'll stay in the airport for this wait.
At 13:30 I jump on another flight, then straight through to London Heathrow, landing in Blighty at 17:45.

Costs & Other Details
All of my flights were included in one big package, and the total came to £596.73. The 4 nights in Beijing only cost me an extra £50.
I'm going to be travelling light, as my flights only allow me 20kg of baggage.
And as far as I can tell, I do get some food on the longer flights, though I don't know what it will be. But I love airplane food anyway :D.

Beijing

I'm landing at Beijing International Capitol Airport (北京首都国际机场 Běijīng Shŏudū Guójì Jīchǎng). There are several ways of getting from the airport into the city centre, including several bus services, the Beijing Airport Express line(北京机场轨道交通线Běijīng Jīchǎng Guǐdào Jiāotōng xiàn), and of course dozens of taxis.

My hotel fortunately has an offer of picking customers up at the airport for CNY240 (Chiniese Yuan Renminbi), which is about £22.

The hotel I am staying at is Beijing Leo Courtyard & Leo Hostel 2 (I think at some point they merged two hostels into one). It’s an old style hostel, and looks a lot like something you’d get in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

<-- Leo Courtyard er courtyard

The best thing about the Leo Hostels, and most other hostels in Beijing, is the price! I’m staying in a single-bed, private room with an en-suite bathroom, and it’s only £6.00 a night!

I have already paid £4.40 in deposit for the room, and I am to pay CNY216.00 on arrival! That’s only £20.00!

Here’s a link for that hostel: http://www.leohostel.com/. The Leo Hostel Group is also listed on http://www.hostelworld.com, which I used to book all of my accommodation.

I’m staying in Beijing for 4 nights from the 28th of May until the 1st of June, when I hop on a plane to Tokyo.