Dear All,

The Oriental Caravan is now well on its way on it’s inaugural tour around Japan and so far it’s been a fantastic trip! The cherry blossom is blooming, the Land of the Rising Sun is shining and a rip-roaring time is being had by all!!!

The Golden Temple, Kyoto 

  A few of the ‘Premiere Crew’ on board Sonic the Hedgehog!

After the temples and Zen gardens of Kyoto, and a magical night on the beautiful island of Miyajima, we are now in the weird and wonderful  hot spring town of Beppu. We arrived here yesterday after a hilarious journey on Sonic the Wonderland Express (a.k.a. Sonic the Hedgehog) – the only train in the world with Mickey Mouse ears for headrests!

This morning we’re all off for a hot sand bath where, according to the trip dossier, the sand is heaped on by “musclebound, laughing old ladies”. (Mmm! Sounds interesting, Phil!).

Tour Leader Phil leads the way!

Mt Nakedake's steaming crater, Kyushu.

Tomorrow we head for the hills to explore the villages and volcanoes around Mt. Aso, then onto the harbour town of Nagasaki, before we hit the bright lights and bustle of Tokyo. What a trip!

There’ll be more action packed photos,,some of them courtesy of the ‘Premiere Crew’ members themselves, appearing on the website over the next few weeks, so don’t forget to visit from time to time.

Geof, practising the ancient Zen art of eating with a single chopstick!

Katrina helps stoke the engine of the ‘Aso Boy’ steam train.

In the meantime feel free to send any of us or all of us an email. This could well be the world’s first interactive holiday so make a little bit of history and drop us a line! We’d love to hear from you – and, also, feel free to forward this email to a friend!

Anyway, all is well. Will try to write again soon. Wish you were here,

With lots of love,

From Phil and all of The Oriental Caravan’s ‘Premiere Crew’

Heian Gate, Kyoto

Phil 'logging on' at Tosu Station, Kyushu

 Mickey Mouse rides again!!