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Published: November 20th 2012
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Day 4
Our day started with the early morning wake up call our guide had arranged, and we made our way down to breakfast. During breakfast, we tried to spot the other likely members of our forthcoming tour. Once we had finished, we went back to the room for the bags - there is no porterage in Japan its DIY bag carrying. In the lobby, all of the people we had earmarked at breakfast gathered - 2 Aussie couples, 1 American couple, a Canadian and a pair of Venuzualeans. Our guide Lim took us to the bus, and gave us a brief run down of the day. We had about a 2 1/2 hour journey to Himeji where there is a castle known as the white egret castle and one of the best 3 in Japan. We had a rest stop on the way, where our guide told us that some of the more modern buildings now have butterfly houses in the middle to make the experience more comfortable. Most of the toilets were western, but there were a couple of squat ones for the brave. The seats all have extra buttons on them - seat warming, bidet, warm air
drying!!!
What the guide books and the tour information didn't tell us was that the main part is currently completely covered up as it's undergoing a 5 year restoration project by UNESCO to re-plaster, strengthen and waterproof the entire castle! When we arrived, we could see the structure that has been put in place, which is basically a building, and they have opened this upto the public and installed a lift so you can go to roof level and see the work that has been going on. There is also a number of exhibits showing the techniques that they are employing to ensure authenticity, and the experiments they carried out to see what would happen if an earthquake struck. As a result, steel support have been built into the castle to ensure it doesnt twist, and the plaster when applied ensures its waterproof, but wont fall off the walls. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2015.
There are a couple of areas on the lower parts of the castle that have already been finished, and you can see the quality of the work that has gone into the project. We were also able to look round
the gardens and some of the quarters of one of the Princesses that had lived there, in a long narrow building that had lift up flaps to pour out boiling liquid on any invadors, and arrow holes in various shapes including triangular.
Once we met back up, it was time for lunch. We crossed back over the road, which in Japan is accompanied by birds tweeting when the green light it on to indicate it's ok to cross for the blind. This was in a small cafe at the side of a gift shop, and was of a traditional Japanese style. We did try to sample a bit of everything,but the fishy items were very strong, even when covered with soy sauce.
We got back on the coach to our next destination, which was Kurashiki. This is a small town that has preserved some of its heritage along a section of canal with overhanging willows. A number of the old buildings have been converted into shops and galleries and it was nice to stroll along and admire the view. We should have been sampling sake here, but the place was closed, so Lim had arranged a visit not
Shachi fish
Tiger head and fish body for protection far away so we did not miss out.
It was a short walk from where we could park the coach, as the road was narrow, to the sake factory. Once inside, we were given a short tour, and told the only photos we could take could not be posted on the internet. Inside, with our shoes
disinfected, we could see the rice being washed and even got to look inside a vat of sake that had been brewing for 23 days. The longer it ferments, the weaker it gets. Most sake in Japan is about 20% proof. We asked how many bottles per year the factory produced - 100,000! It looked like a few blokes making it as a bit of a hobby, rather than a business, but clearly they knew what they were doing. They were playing classical music to the sake to make the taste improve - cant bve all bad if they have just won an award at the London Wine fair. The rice, once its been washed and used for sake production is then used again to make rice cakes as it has quite a sweet flavour. At the end of the tour, we were
allowed to sample the different types - one was organic, one produced that year, and a plum wine - the plum wine was far too sweet, but we aquired some of the organic for research purposes!
After our sake tasting, we left for our overnight stop at Hiroshima - a 2 hour drive away. Once on the outskirts, our guide told us that the hotel looked out over the bay, but there was no-where really to eat. Instead he took us to a department
store, that had some restaurants in it. We opted for the Italian, which wasnt bad - as least it had an english translation in the menu so we knew what we were eating. Once back on the coach, our guide explained that the hotel was fully booked,
with a lot of students,so he thought breakfast would be busy. Another early start for us then!
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