Okayama, Himeji & Hattoji
Hi All,
I did say my entries were going to shorter but there are so many photos and places I want to show you all. This long weekend Helen and I took a trip to Okayama, Himeji and Hattoji.
17/9 Okayama. We took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama and visited Okayama Korakuen garden and Okayama Castle. The garden was huge and very beautiful as you can see from the pictures. Stragely enough the garden contained a small rice paddy. The rice is almost ready to be harvested. Also in the garden were the rarely seen Japanese Cranes (Tanchou Suru). I am guessing they would be an endangered species and wouldn't have a large wild population but don't quote me. I haven't seen any others and neither has a guy who has lived here for 8 years. From the gardens you can see Okayama Castle.
Okayama Castle is pretty and has very beautiful golden roof ornament. The inside of the castle has now been modified into a museum and therefore you could not see the inside structure of the castle which is slightly disappointing. The indoor picture is of the emporer's taxi. People would carry him from place to place in this wooden box you can see. The girl in the picture was very shy but very cute.
After sightseeing Okayama we made our way to our accomodation at Hattoji. A 45 minute train ride and a 20minute taxi ride we made it in the dark. There were 2 New Zealander's, 2 German's, 1 American and 1 Japanese person already at the Villa. Our intentions were to stay at Hattoji for the whole next day but talking to the foreigners at the Villa you could see everything in 1 hour! So, intead we decided to go to Himeji Castle in the morning and see Hattoji in the afternoon.
18/9 Himeji Castle. This castle is world heritage listed and it is easy to see why. It is beautiful and amazingly huge. All original (or restored) i.e. it wasn't detroyed in WWII and have to be rebuilt like many other castles. The inside structure was amazing to see but I guess that's the engineer side of me coming out. There were so many amazing things in this castle. Some examples include; entire levels of gun and long spear racks, peep holes to defend the castle, secret rooms within the castle for hiding if the enemy entered the castle. There were many tactics used as castle defense like sloping floors, low ceiling beams, trip beams along the floor. The last photo is an example of pure talent... riding one bike and steering another... he did it with such ease too!
18/9 Hattoji. Hattoji is a tiny town in the mountain. This is RURAL. The information of Hattoji being small was correct. There was a few shrines, a temple and a folk museum (one room!). There is also Mt. Hattoji (538m) to climb if you wish. We were told by the other foreigners that it was difficult and nonw have them made it to the top. I agree that it was not an easy climb, the signs are not that helpful (as you can see), there are less than appealing creatures blocking your path but the view is spectacular. It was well worth it. The house we stayed in is over 120 years old and has a thatched roof. Inside were all tatami matts and sliding door. We slept on futons on the floor which we pack up every day. Alongside being a great experience staying in very traditional Japanese accomodation is also CHEAP! The Villa is open to international guests and their guests and is only 2500 yen per night which roughly translates to $30 per night.
19/9 Shinkansen. This was our not so shabby ride home. It does a mere 300km/hr.
I did say my entries were going to shorter but there are so many photos and places I want to show you all. This long weekend Helen and I took a trip to Okayama, Himeji and Hattoji.
17/9 Okayama. We took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama and visited Okayama Korakuen garden and Okayama Castle. The garden was huge and very beautiful as you can see from the pictures. Stragely enough the garden contained a small rice paddy. The rice is almost ready to be harvested. Also in the garden were the rarely seen Japanese Cranes (Tanchou Suru). I am guessing they would be an endangered species and wouldn't have a large wild population but don't quote me. I haven't seen any others and neither has a guy who has lived here for 8 years. From the gardens you can see Okayama Castle.
Okayama Castle is pretty and has very beautiful golden roof ornament. The inside of the castle has now been modified into a museum and therefore you could not see the inside structure of the castle which is slightly disappointing. The indoor picture is of the emporer's taxi. People would carry him from place to place in this wooden box you can see. The girl in the picture was very shy but very cute.
After sightseeing Okayama we made our way to our accomodation at Hattoji. A 45 minute train ride and a 20minute taxi ride we made it in the dark. There were 2 New Zealander's, 2 German's, 1 American and 1 Japanese person already at the Villa. Our intentions were to stay at Hattoji for the whole next day but talking to the foreigners at the Villa you could see everything in 1 hour! So, intead we decided to go to Himeji Castle in the morning and see Hattoji in the afternoon.
18/9 Himeji Castle. This castle is world heritage listed and it is easy to see why. It is beautiful and amazingly huge. All original (or restored) i.e. it wasn't detroyed in WWII and have to be rebuilt like many other castles. The inside structure was amazing to see but I guess that's the engineer side of me coming out. There were so many amazing things in this castle. Some examples include; entire levels of gun and long spear racks, peep holes to defend the castle, secret rooms within the castle for hiding if the enemy entered the castle. There were many tactics used as castle defense like sloping floors, low ceiling beams, trip beams along the floor. The last photo is an example of pure talent... riding one bike and steering another... he did it with such ease too!
18/9 Hattoji. Hattoji is a tiny town in the mountain. This is RURAL. The information of Hattoji being small was correct. There was a few shrines, a temple and a folk museum (one room!). There is also Mt. Hattoji (538m) to climb if you wish. We were told by the other foreigners that it was difficult and nonw have them made it to the top. I agree that it was not an easy climb, the signs are not that helpful (as you can see), there are less than appealing creatures blocking your path but the view is spectacular. It was well worth it. The house we stayed in is over 120 years old and has a thatched roof. Inside were all tatami matts and sliding door. We slept on futons on the floor which we pack up every day. Alongside being a great experience staying in very traditional Japanese accomodation is also CHEAP! The Villa is open to international guests and their guests and is only 2500 yen per night which roughly translates to $30 per night.
19/9 Shinkansen. This was our not so shabby ride home. It does a mere 300km/hr.
posted by Margie Speirs @ 4:20 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
looks like an awesome weekend. Cant wait to visit there myself. Glad your having fun and seeing so much.
Cool. U got the counter working.
Great site Margie. I'm going to enjoy browsing
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