Cosmos: Sydney, Australia
We spent three days seeing the major city sights: touring the Sydney Opera House, walking across the Harbor Bridge and taking a harbor cruise.
Cosmos: Adelaide, Australia
To get to Adelaide, we took a 24 hour train trip aboard the Indian Pacific.
Cosmos: Northern Thailand
After taking an all-night train to Chiang Mai, we spent a couple of days exploring the many temples in town and enjoying the night markets and food. We then took a public bus and taxi to Tha Ton, near the border with Myanmar.
Cosmos: Southern Thailand
We took a 12 hour all night train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. From there, we boarded a ferry for a five hour trip to Ko Pha Ngan.
Cosmos: London, England 2
We traveled to London on the fast Eurostar train, which makes the trip, via the English Channel tunnel, in under three hours. This train trip was a Christmas present from Sandy’s parents.
Japan by Bullet Train
We took a 17 day family trip to Japan in June 2002. It was the first time the girls had been to Asia, so it was a quite different experience for them.
Japan: Tokyo and Nikko
After arriving in Japan, we spent the first three days in Tokyo. We visited several of the city sights, including the zoo, Ginza and Shinjuku. We also took a day trip to Nikko, which was a two hour train ride each way.
Japan: Hiroshima
Our first extended bullet train ride to Hiroshima was a great event. Once there, we spent time exploring the beauty of Miyajima Island and also visiting the important and sobering sights associated with the atomic bombing at the end of World War II.
Japan: Kyoto and Takayama
We began our second week in Japan by visiting Kyoto and the wonderful temples in the city. Also included in our time there was a day trip to Nara.
Japan: Nagano and Matsumoto
Our last stop before returning to Tokyo was in Nagano, the site of the 1998 Olympic Games. In addition to visiting this city and large temple, we took a day trip to Matsumoto to visit one of the few surviving castles in Japan.