S$ 497

Embarkation Yokohama and Edo began life as sleepy fishing villages. That changed in the early 17th century after Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun. Edo became the center of political power in Japan, a position the city retained even after the restoration of Imperial rule in 1866. Contemporary Tokyo may be the most astonishing city on earth. It's a paradoxical mix of ancient tradition and postmodern culture. The Ginza - an international shopping mecca - stands near the serene grounds of the Imperial Palace, and the hyper-speed of 21st century consumerism is mysteriously reconciled with the elegance and serenity of traditional culture. Tokyo provides the traveler with a dizzying experience. With the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Edo was renamed Tokyo, the "Eastern Capital," to distinguish it from the old imperial capital at Kyoto, the "Western Capital."

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Seogwipo is the second-largest city on Jeju Island, settled on a rocky volcanic coastline in the southern part of Jeju Province, South Korea. In July 2006, Seogwipo's boundaries were expanded to include the entire southern half of Jeju island. Lying off the south coast of Korea, Jeju-do is the warmest and wettest place in the entire country. The island is at its most beautiful in spring when the canola flower blooms in a riot of delicate colours and the wooded areas display the most fascinating shades of green. The seasons determine the changing hues of color through the island. In the autumn the color that dominates is brown and orange due to the falling leaves, in summer the aqua blue waters of the sea and golden beaches take over as in spring the brilliant yellow flowers cover the landscape. Jeju Island, also known as the "Island of the Gods," is a popular vacation spot for Koreans and many Japanese. The island's mixture of volcanic rock, frequent rains, and temperate climate, make it very similar to the Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. The island offers visitors a wide range of activities: hiking on Halla-san (South Korea's highest peak), catching sunrises and sunsets over the ocean, viewing majestic waterfalls, riding horses, or just lying around on the sandy beaches. One of the most outstanding features of the island is a regular maze of tunnels, caves and pillars formed by the cooling of lava flows from ancient volcanoes. Jeju-do is basically an island composed of extinct volcanoes formed by volcanic matter such as basalt and trachyte and layered with sedimentary rock. It still has a volcano- an extinct one, called Mt Hallasan, which, at 1950 m also doubles up as the island's main mountain.

For most travelers, Nagasaki is a symbol of the horror and the inhumanity of war. An estimated 75,000 people perished in 1945 when the city became the second target of a nuclear attack. Today, Nagasaki's Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum draw visitors from around the world. But this beautiful city on Kyushu offers other sights. Often described as the San Francisco of Japan, the city occupies verdant hills surrounded by a deep-water bay. For three centuries, Nagasaki was Japan's sole window on the world. The city is also celebrated as the setting for Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly."

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Disembarkation.