Category Archives: Asia

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Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

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Changdeokgung Palace Seoul

October 23, 2015 by David Herd

Donhwamun Gate Changdeokgung Palace Seoul

Changdeokgung Palace Seoul

Changdeokgung Palace Seoul was built in 1405 and was completed in 1412. It was burnt to the ground during the Japanese invasion in 1592 when the royal family fled during the Japanese invasion of Korea, it was then reconstructed in 1609. What an incredible history of conflict these two countries have had over the centuries.

Changdeokgung Palace Seoul

The Palace has been treasured by Koreans for centuries, and was recognized as a World Cultural Heritage site by the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Committee in December of 1997. How lucky was I to have this beautiful blue sky to make my photos look so much better.

Chong-jon hall

Changdeokgung Palace was one of the places visited by the first ladies of the Seoul G20 summit during the G20 conference in Seoul in November 2010. It is one of the most historically significant attractions that represent the beauty of Korea.

Inside the hall

The main Hall

It is fascinating to think these rooms have not changed for centuries. You can just imagine the pomp and ceremony.

A warm welcome

A warm welcome from two pretty ladies in traditional dress. Their outfits look absolutely fantastic. 🙂

Now listen carefully

School kids having a history at Changdeokgung Palace Seoul. What a terrific outfit and hat the teacher is wearing.

Outside the Palace

A very peaceful setting yet so close to the city. Seoul was a surprise packet for me, so many interesting places to enjoy.

First of two short videos

Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul

Watch this video on YouTube

My apologies for fouling up the pronunciation but languages have never been my strong point. 🙂

Second short video

Changdeokgung Palace part 2

Watch this video on YouTube

This is the main hall.

Thanks for visiting my Changdeokgung Palace Seoul photo blog. Follow THIS LINK to see my favourite part of Seoul, Itaewon, such a fantastic area for bars and restaurants.

What a great year for travel

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 3 photos

Kamakura seaside city

October 22, 2015 by David Herd

Kamakura

Kamakura seaside city is a little over an hours train ride south of Tokyo. My friends & I had a marvellous day out exploring the wonderful temples and shrines. The header for this post shows my friend Kayo from Tokyo who was our guide for the day, also featured taking a selfie is Hamish Elton my friend from Thailand who was visiting Japan for the first time.

Engaku-ji Temple Kamakura

Our first stop was Engakuji Temple which is the head of a branch school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. It is very close to Kita-Kamakura station and houses the largest bell in Kamakura. Sadly we never got to see the big bell as that area was closed off, we had to settle for this smaller one. Check out my Engaku-ji photo blog here.

Cross the tracks to Kencho-ji Temple

This was the start of a huge day of walking, Hamish measured our steps and distance walked during the day with an app on his phone. We covered about 17 kilometres which was around 22,000 steps.

Kencho-ji Temple

Kenchoji Temple built in 1253 and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. It is a lot smaller than during its heyday, Kencho-ji still has a large number of temple buildings, and stretches from the entrance gate at the bottom of the valley far into the forested hills behind. Check out my photo blog here on this fascinating Temple.

By now I’m getting hungry

it’s 2’30 pm and I’m dying of hunger so we start looking for a suitable restaurant. Spanish? No after all we are in Japan.

Amish

An Amish restaurant, I didn’t even know they had there own style of food. I’m surprised Hamish didn’t want to try it merely because of the rhyme. 🙂

Finally Japanese cuisine

And it turned out to be excellent, perhaps not quite Tokyo standard but very good indeed.

I love Japanese food

After lunch I had the strength to carry on with our marathon walk.

Through the tunnel to the Great Buddha

Little did I realise we had only covered about 1/2 of the 17 kilometres.

Kayo and Hamish take selfies with the Great Buddha

My friends taking selfies with the Great Buddha.

Here comes the priest

We watched this guy come down the stairs and wondered what he was up to. When he got to the bottom he spoke to a family who were illegally parked in the temples private car park and asked them to move on.

Hard to refuse this guy

He obviously has Buddha on his side. 🙂

Coffee time before heading for Enoshima

After spending several hours in Kamakura exploring the wonderful temples we decided to take a 30 minute train ride to Enoshima to see where Japan will hold the sailing venue for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Map of Kamakura seaside city

At the bottom left hand corner south of Tokyo is Kamakura.

The Villa Sacra gets very good reviews on Agoda, use this link for an excellent rate.

Lotus at the Kara-mon at Engaku-ji Temple

Thanks for visiting my Kamakura seaside city post, I’ll finish with this photo which is one of my favourites among many on this great day out in Kamakura.

Checkout some more of my terrific blogs on the links below.

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Great Buddha Kamakura

October 21, 2015 by David Herd

Great Buddha Kamakura

Great Buddha Kamakura (Kamakura Daibutsu) is a bronze statue of Amida Buddha, which stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. With a height of 13.35 meters, it is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan, surpassed only by the statue in Nara’s Todai-ji Temple. The weight is approximately 93 tonnes.

Kayo and Hamish

My friends taking selfies with the Great Buddha Kamakura.

Kotokuin Temple entrance

This was the third temple & shrine we visited today after getting the train from Tokyo to Kamakura, a journey that took a little over and hour.

I almost needed this guy

After all the walking I almost needed this guy. 🙂

Great Buddha Kamakura, old bridge

The old bridge surrounded by beautiful Japanese trees. This stone arched bridge in the old days used to be reserved
only for the Shogun’s use (others used the flat bridges). This sort of bridge is usually called a Taiko Bashi (drum bridge), since the reflection in the water makes it look like a drum.

Japanese tradition

The Chozuya (purification pavilion). Visitors wash their hands and rinse their mouths before entering the shrine.

Washing hands and mouth

We did wonder whether or not this may be a way to pass on germs to each other.

Buddhism

Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century BC. It consists of the teachings of the Buddha, Gautama Siddhartha. Of the main branches of Buddhism, it is the Mahayana or “Greater Vehicle” Buddhism which found its way to Japan.

Donations from Japanese business.

I have seen these displays at other temples and parks, they acknowledge support from various businesses.

Oh no, more stairs 🙂

After all the walking today I was not thrilled climbing the stairs to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

This shrine was originally founded in 1063 and Burnt down in 1191, it was reconstructed as the shrine which we see today.

1000-year-old Assassin Gingko

In March 2010, after standing next to the steps since just after the Shrine was established, the 1000-year-old Assassin Gingko was uprooted and fell in a storm. Part of the trunk and the stump itself were replanted, and are now growing new leaves, so it looks the fine old tree has survived.

Shrine at the top of the stairs

I was happily taking photos around the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine until a guard told me it was forbidden, luckily by then I had enough for this post.

Not sure of the significance

I never did find out the significance of all these labels. I can only guess they indicate support from various businesses and individuals.

Kotokuin Temple

In the peaceful grounds behind the Great Buddha Kamakura.

Down we go

We took the back stairs down to ground level.

Great Buddha Kamakura, happy shopkeepers

As soon as you raise your camera you are sure to get a smile.

Walking to Hase station

The Great Buddha Kamakura is located a 5-10 minute walk from Hase Station, the third station from Kamakura along the Enoden railway line. The Enoden is a streetcar-like train that connects Kamakura with Enoshima and Fujisawa. It is well worth taking the trip to Enoshima, the venue for the 2020 Olympics yachting.

Hase station

About a 30 minute train ride to Fujisawa.

Two Buddhas at Kamakura

Thanks for visiting my Great Buddha Kamakura post, in case you missed it take a look at Engaku-ji and also Kencho-ji.

A week before the above photo was taken I broke a front tooth eating a ham sandwich in Seoul Korea, I had to wait until I returned to Thailand to have it replaced. Most of the photos showing it I photo shopped but in this case I thought I would leave it as it was.

The Villa Sacra gets very good reviews on Agoda, use this link for an excellent rate.

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