Thursday, a day out of Kyoto

Today was a change - we left the city and went on a 2 hour train trip to Amanohashidate which is listed as one of the 3 most scenic places in Japan! We managed all the many train tickets we had bought yesterday without getting into trouble and arrived at this beautiful place. The journey itself was lovely - always with mountains on each side, and through gorges and beside or over rivers. Through towns and villages, endless rice paddies and vegetable gardens. Amanohashidate itself is an area on the west coast, and there is a sandbar, or isthmus really (except one end doesn’t quite meet up, there were 2 small bridges, so perhaps a peninsula) joining 2 sides, with mountains rising each side. The sandbar is about 2.6 kms and has 5000 pine trees and is just wonderful to walk across. We arrived and first had a little lunch before we set off for the walk. The whole place is very upmarket as it obviously is a popular place to visit, but happily crowds didn’t come today, and it was very peaceful walking along the path with pines and water on both sides. At the other side there is a cable car and a chairlift up to the top where there is a viewing point, and restaurant and temples and shrines. It was a stunning view, even though quite hazy today. It is now extremely hot and working up to rain - predicted to start tomorrow night and continuing on Saturday - and it was also very humid, but thankfully there was a little breeze as we walked across and some shade, so we survived. There is also a cable car up to the heights on the station side, but we didn’t go up that side.

Up the top it was quite pleasant. There is a saying that at the viewing point you turn your back to the view and bend over and look through your legs at it upside down, and you see the stairway to heaven! Will show the photo! We went down by chairlift which was magic, hanging up there watching the view as you descended. We had a drink at the lunch place - very nice by the water - while we waited for our train back.

Arrived back just after 7, so went straight to dinner - this time the sukiyaki place we went the first night in Kyoto. Again, wonderful food, cooking it in the pot on charcoal at our table. Now back, content, and a wash is on!!

Really annoying...only one photo would download...fortunately one of the view...but will publish this now, and try for more later. Don’t know if it’s the wifi, the app or my iPad which has been behaving badly lately and freezing and going blank...Läs mer