#Manhole Cover

Travel Journal 2024: Rain is a blessing… and a recipe for wet clothes

What a day!

It actually started out pretty harmlessly. We left Yokohama and headed to our next stop, Okayama. Our goal for today was the Washuzan observation deck, from where you get a fantastic view of the 60 km long Shimanami Kaidō bridge, which connects the main island of Honshu with the island of Shikoku. Unfortunately, the observation deck is a bit hard to reach. Buses only run hourly, take a massive detour, and don’t stop anywhere near it. You’re actually quicker walking there if you’re good on your feet. Which we are.

The walk there started in light rain; we brought rain gear with us. And the view lived up to its promise, even in the dreary weather. Then we made our way back, on foot again of course, because the bus stop was far away and the bus rarely came.

But the rain kept getting heavier, and in the end, it was bucketing down. We had no choice but to finish the walk to the station. We finally arrived there soaked to the bone.

We’ll spend the rest of the evening trying to dry our stuff somehow. We also need to plan out tomorrow. Right now, Typhoon number 21 (also called Kong-rey) is on its way to Japan, which is very unusual for November. It promises to bring even more rain, so we might have to just have a hotel day.

It remains exciting, but we’re in good spirits on this adventure!

Travel Journal 2024: Shizuoka

The first side trip of our journey took us to the city of Shizuoka. We caught the bus to the town of Shimizu. After that, we didn’t hold back and climbed the over a thousand steps to the Kunōzan Tōshōgū shrine. As a reward, we got to see colourful and richly decorated buildings.

Afterwards, we took the cable car to the Nihondaira viewpoint. We got lucky with the weather and were rewarded with a wonderful panoramic view of Japan’s landmark, Fuji-san, and the Shimizu harbour just in front of it. Mount Fuji was snow-free, which actually hasn’t happened at this time of year since records began back in 1894.