Farewell rail pass, old friend!
Since starting to use my 3-week Japan Rail Pass it's been a really hectic time covering as much ground as possible while fitting in as many sights from throughout Japan as possible. Today, in Nagasaki in the south of Japan it came to an end. My Japan rail pass expires at midnight and so it'll be no more Shinkansen bullet trains for me! That's just fine though as I've covered a load of ground and undoubtedly got great value out of the pass. Even though it cost neck end of 300 quid the Shinkansen is pricier still and I reckon to take the journeys I've taken without the pass would have cost a small fortune or otherwise required a generous expenses account, which is what I suspect most of the other passengers on the Shinkansen, the throngs of Japanese businessmen, will be using to fund their way.
As planned I made a stop over in Okayama taking a morning to visit the city's famous gardens and glimpsing its castle before taking a local train to the inland sea and a fine 45 minute boat trip out to the amazing series of bridges stretching from Honshu over to Shikoku, providing an essential road and rail link. Although I didn't have time to visit Shikoku I could at least attempt to glimpse it in the distance at the far end of the bridge, lying somewhere in the haze. A quick visit to the intriguingly designed local bridge museum then it was back to Okayama and onwards on the beloved Shinkansen to Hiroshima.
There was no rest for the wicked though, as I spent the next morning visiting the bomb memorial sites and peace museum (the latter proving interesting and towards the end rather harrowing) and then headed onwards to Fukuoka at the end of the Shinkansen line for a festival taking place in the early hours of the morning of the 15th. The festival involved a 5km race from a city centre shrine through the streets of Fukuoka. This was no ordinary race though as it involved racing six enormous festival floats accompanied by crowds of supporting runners from the same team. Along the way they're dowsed with water (as are any spectators getting in the way). The race begins at 4.59 in the morning, following a one-minute sing-song, so after an evening stroll around the area where the race would be taking place I grabbed a few hours kip before getting up at 3am and heading down towards the shrine for the start and then onto the streets for the quite comical sight of these huge floats hurtling down the streets. Although I'd not had time to get online until recently I have now uploaded photos of the race so have a look at the photo website for snaps of some of the action.
Later that day after trying to grab a few hours more of sleep I met Miyuki, a resident of Fukuoka who I met at the hostel in Tokyo and who was kind enough to give me a guided tour of her city after meeting at the airport as she'd just flown in from Tokyo (in case you were wondering why there are photos from Fukuoka airport!). As with many of the cities I'd visited recently Fukuoka boasts an active port along with fine water front walks and views out into the harbour area. The local speciality is ramen which we tried out at one of the riverside stalls. A fine end to the day.
Time was running out with only two days left on my pass, so early the next morning I took the train down to the very south of Kyushu island to the city of Nagoshima. It was something of a spontaneous decision to come here, but after reading there was a volcano you can take a tour around it seemed like the winning option for a day-trip. It proved to be a good choice, it was just a pity I couldn't have spent more time enjoying the pleasant location as I had to return to the north of Kyushu the following day to avoid a costly or lengthy journey back to Fukuoka after my pass had expired. From Nagoshima regular ferries make the short hop across to the island of Sakurajima with its volcano looming overhead. I say it's an island, but following an eruption during the first half of the twentieth century the volume debris spewed out attached the island to a nearby peninsula turning the island into a headland of sorts. I took a coach tour around the rather brooding volcano. The mountain last showed its discontent in 1990 so remains very much active although was putting on a well-behaved face on the day of my visit. The remnants of previous eruptions really do make the trip worthwhile though with extensive lava fields and some nasty looking green volcanic pools. Nevertheless the island is very much inhabited and offers a couple of hotels with hot springs, as the Japanese really go in for the onsen thing.
Aside from the volcano I had little time to explore Kagoshima aside from seeing part of a lantern festival in the evening. This morning it was back to the station and on the Shinkansen back up Kyushu, this time going to Nagasaki. Feeling well and truly shattered from the recent itinerary I'll likely spend a few days here and put some time into planning my next move before returning to Fukuoka and possibly departing for Korea. Having spent much of the evening uploading photos I haven't yet explored the sights of Nagasaki, but I'm hoping I can find a few quiet and scenic corners to spend a while relaxing. It's time to draw a close to the wall-to-wall sightseeing at least for a short while.
Until the next update please visit the photo website for dozens of freshly uploaded photos from the past week or two!
As planned I made a stop over in Okayama taking a morning to visit the city's famous gardens and glimpsing its castle before taking a local train to the inland sea and a fine 45 minute boat trip out to the amazing series of bridges stretching from Honshu over to Shikoku, providing an essential road and rail link. Although I didn't have time to visit Shikoku I could at least attempt to glimpse it in the distance at the far end of the bridge, lying somewhere in the haze. A quick visit to the intriguingly designed local bridge museum then it was back to Okayama and onwards on the beloved Shinkansen to Hiroshima.
There was no rest for the wicked though, as I spent the next morning visiting the bomb memorial sites and peace museum (the latter proving interesting and towards the end rather harrowing) and then headed onwards to Fukuoka at the end of the Shinkansen line for a festival taking place in the early hours of the morning of the 15th. The festival involved a 5km race from a city centre shrine through the streets of Fukuoka. This was no ordinary race though as it involved racing six enormous festival floats accompanied by crowds of supporting runners from the same team. Along the way they're dowsed with water (as are any spectators getting in the way). The race begins at 4.59 in the morning, following a one-minute sing-song, so after an evening stroll around the area where the race would be taking place I grabbed a few hours kip before getting up at 3am and heading down towards the shrine for the start and then onto the streets for the quite comical sight of these huge floats hurtling down the streets. Although I'd not had time to get online until recently I have now uploaded photos of the race so have a look at the photo website for snaps of some of the action.
Later that day after trying to grab a few hours more of sleep I met Miyuki, a resident of Fukuoka who I met at the hostel in Tokyo and who was kind enough to give me a guided tour of her city after meeting at the airport as she'd just flown in from Tokyo (in case you were wondering why there are photos from Fukuoka airport!). As with many of the cities I'd visited recently Fukuoka boasts an active port along with fine water front walks and views out into the harbour area. The local speciality is ramen which we tried out at one of the riverside stalls. A fine end to the day.
Time was running out with only two days left on my pass, so early the next morning I took the train down to the very south of Kyushu island to the city of Nagoshima. It was something of a spontaneous decision to come here, but after reading there was a volcano you can take a tour around it seemed like the winning option for a day-trip. It proved to be a good choice, it was just a pity I couldn't have spent more time enjoying the pleasant location as I had to return to the north of Kyushu the following day to avoid a costly or lengthy journey back to Fukuoka after my pass had expired. From Nagoshima regular ferries make the short hop across to the island of Sakurajima with its volcano looming overhead. I say it's an island, but following an eruption during the first half of the twentieth century the volume debris spewed out attached the island to a nearby peninsula turning the island into a headland of sorts. I took a coach tour around the rather brooding volcano. The mountain last showed its discontent in 1990 so remains very much active although was putting on a well-behaved face on the day of my visit. The remnants of previous eruptions really do make the trip worthwhile though with extensive lava fields and some nasty looking green volcanic pools. Nevertheless the island is very much inhabited and offers a couple of hotels with hot springs, as the Japanese really go in for the onsen thing.
Aside from the volcano I had little time to explore Kagoshima aside from seeing part of a lantern festival in the evening. This morning it was back to the station and on the Shinkansen back up Kyushu, this time going to Nagasaki. Feeling well and truly shattered from the recent itinerary I'll likely spend a few days here and put some time into planning my next move before returning to Fukuoka and possibly departing for Korea. Having spent much of the evening uploading photos I haven't yet explored the sights of Nagasaki, but I'm hoping I can find a few quiet and scenic corners to spend a while relaxing. It's time to draw a close to the wall-to-wall sightseeing at least for a short while.
Until the next update please visit the photo website for dozens of freshly uploaded photos from the past week or two!
posted by Daniel at 2:18 pm
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