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On 3 June the all-day tour bus organized by the lady in Ryotsu picked me up from the hotel just after 8am, so which was the earliest start ever. A big bus so no issue to throw my bag under as it was dropping me off at the end of Ryotsu where I would stay the night. It seemed to travel all the way over to Ryotsu picking up people at various hotels and then we headed to the Toki no mori koen – which is a place dedicated to the breeding of the toki, the Japanese pink crested ibis. This is virtually one of the symbols of Sado as a result. The last one died in the wild in the 1970’s I think so they rely on the captive breeding program. It is obviously unique to Japan as the scientific name is actually nipponia nippon. I was somewhat annoyed that I had to pay the separate 400Y fee myself (at the very first place) as thought it would have been included in the tour price which was about $70. But they say all of the fee goes to the upkeep of the facility so that’s OK I guess. Could not
really see the birds in their wire enclosures as too far away but there was a facility with big windows and some small ponds with small fish swimming around which gave a much closer view. Watching them try to catch the fish with their long bills was like juggling grains of rice with chopsticks though – it took a while.
Then to a fairly impressive temple complex called the Komponji temple. Then to a place called Mano goryo – a small simple shrine but without an English explanation the significance was lost on me. Then to a place we had the included lunch – Sadone-kishi-densetsukan (try saying that quickly after a few sakes). Before that we saw at the complex a number of displays of historic events using robotic animation of small figures – quite impressive really as some of the facial movements were quite subtle. Then a brief stop at Obata Shuzo which was a sake factory. Then to Sado Kinzan which was the old gold mine. The population at Aikawa rose to as high as 100,000 at the height of production but most of them were slaves brought over to work the mines. Once again some more
robotic animation displays of workers in the side shafts etc. Then up to the coast to Senka Kuwan where we went for a brief launch trip to view the coastal rocks which was not incredibly scenic but more or less interesting. So the tour was fairly varied and the only way for me to see some of the island – I had asked about rental cars but it seems at the one place which looked might it take a NSW licence there were none on the Sunday (hardly surprising) or the Monday.
Then dropped in Ryotsu about 5pm and collected by the Hotel Kagetsu shuttle. Not very far away but handy. Another large tatami room and it was relatively OK on the floor as some foam padding etc, not just a futon (maybe they did it Western style for me?).
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