Shanghai, Seoul or Taipei?

So far there still no resolution to the Thai crisis, so we are seriously looking at changing our routing for the upcoming trip. We have narrowed the choices down to Shanghai, Seoul or Taipei.

Shanghai offers the World Expo and a side trip to the gardens of Suzhou. But we need visas and there will be crowds and "queues" (such as the locals queue) and all the other stresses associated with China. Plus good hotels are expensive.

Shanghai's Pudong skyline

Seoul and Taipei appear to have fewer attractions, but should be safer with a toddler. Never been to Taipei. When I flew over it from Hong Kong I recall the city looking like a hell beneath the clouds!

Seoul's Dongdaemun Gate

Looks like our plans for a relaxing start to the trip have been dashed, as all three cities are very active. I would personally be happy replacing Bangkok with Singapore, as all there is to do is eat tropical food and Alex would still get to fly either a Qantas 747 or A380, but we visited there last year.

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One night in Canberra

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Springs, castles and the end of the line

I am never happy to stop before the end of the line. It irritates me to know that there is still somewhere unexplored lying ahead. So when I only got as far as Gujo Hachiman on the Nagaragawa Railway last year I knew I needed to return for more. Especially as this private third sector railway is, by its very nature, always at threat of closure due to low patronage. But did Gujo Hachiman deserve another visit? Sure it's a nice enough town, but had we missed out on enough last time to return? Mum's trip provided the excuse. I originally planned the Oito line, which wI'll be partly closed when the Shinkansen line is extended to Kanazawa. However, when I thought of special places in Japan that deserved to be shared Gujo Hachiman was at the top of the list. Before we could go anywhere Mum needed her coffee. There was a Tully's Coffee opposite the hotel entrance, so I parked her there while I booked our seat reservations. Mum got her fast train ride on a ...

travelling allrite

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