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I write this as I watch a grown man driving around on a cool box (enjoying himself a little bit too much in the process) and failing to be able to identify cheddar cheese in a quiz. Hard to believe that this man is nearing 30 and is one fifth of one of the most famous groups in Japan at the moment, anyway I digress..
Now begins the slow travel south towards Kyushu and consequently a whistle stop tour of several places en route.
The rain has been horrendous these past few days which maybe something to do with the super typhoon that has been sweeping over Okinawa or just the rainy season setting in good and proper either way it does not make for a fun time!
I arrived in a rainy sodden Kinosaki and set about finding my accommodation with possibly the world's most ineffective map (note just the train station, a convenience store and the hotel was marked on it). After wandering around for a while I noticed a building with a chalk board outside and it was at this point I was grateful I had learned to read Katakana as there was my name
and therefore my accommodation- hurrah!
I was ushered in by a very friendly lady who spoke a smattering of English but never the less she ended up having a conversation with me for 10 minutes. I understood most of it but was left wondering where she was taking me in her car and what it had to do with my Yukata.
I did read that guests were free on an evening to walk around the town in their yukatas and use the many onsen situated there. I really hoped she wasn't suggesting that this happens as I couldn't think of anything worse than wandering round in the rain in the equivalent of a dressing gown. It actually turned out that she was offering me a lift in the morning to the station, still confused by the yukata though!
After being served an amazing home cooked meal in my room I settled down to an early night and didn't even notice the trains thundering past the building.
The rain persisted the next morning as I made my way to the station ( I was soooo glad of that lift) and consequently on to Matsue.
By the time I got to
Matsue the rain was coming down in biblical proportions but thankfully the hotel was only a five minute walk from the station but I still ended up looking like a drowned rat by the time I got to check in.
The weather didn't improve much the next day and as I was evicted out of the hotel for 6 hours while they cleaned, I had to endure the most miserable day of sightseeing ever. I can honestly say that walking around a castle and it's gardens is not fun in the pouring rain and wind.
I gave up after 4 hours and went back to the hotel to sit in the lobby and wait to get back into my room. I was dreading another day like this but luckily the weather let up.
I planned to go to Tottori for the day to look at the sand dunes and camels and hopefully take some interesting pictures, I was however thwarted by the train timetable and went with Plan B- the Adachi Art Museum.
I was not disappointed as the gardens were stunning and immaculate with every bit of gravel raked to perfection, I could see why they are regularly voted
amongst the best in Japan. As an added bonus I got in for half price just for holding a foreign passport.
The gallery was pretty amazing too and was full of art by 20th Century Japanese painters with a large selection from Yokoyama Taikan.It certainly was a cultured way to spend the day although I did chuckle at the title of one painting which was 'lonely goose with wind' I assume there was some translation issues and maybe it should have been 'lone goose in the wind'.
The following day I bid farewell to Matsue and arrived for a quick stopover in Tsuwano- a small town with a Samurai history. Carp swim in the roadside water channels which is an unexpected,bizarre sight and I was told there are actually more carp than people.
My accommodation was a building with a 100 year history and was brimming with stunning examples of Japanese architecture.
The hunt the building game started again but I didn't mind as it was fun to explore the old side streets and take in the atmosphere (helped in enormous measures by the glorious sunshine)
On locating the building it certainly was beautiful and steeped in tradition with
two shared indoor baths, which I was forced to use at 4:30 in the afternoon (there is something wrong about bathing at that time of day) but it was good to soak and look out of the window to the street outside.
I spent a rather disturbed night being harassed by mosquitoes and being woken up by an earthquake which didn't help lift my spirits for a long day of travel and a 7:30am start.
So bleary eyed and slightly grumpy I set off on my journey to Kyushu.
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