Our first temple-Joten Ji

Breakfasted after a great sleep and worked out what to do today.

There is a welcome dinner tonight to meet the rest of our tour group. We did meet a few of them in the hotel lobby as we left to go for a look around Fukuoka.

We walked a couple of blocks to the railway station as it had been suggested we check out the huge shopping centre there.

Huge is an understatement! - it is Harvey Norman on steroids.

Fukuoka is a government and university town. On checking the tourist map, we decided there were a couple of parks with temples that were in 'easy' walking distance.

As it was now approaching lunchtime, we looked for somewhere to eat on the way. I am embarrassed to say that we had McDonalds and really enjoyed it.

The parks we were seeking are near the Mikasagawa River which we found. Trish then asked a very obliging young couple for further directions and we set off again. We found the temples and parkland - well worth the effort of getting to them.

Met as a group at 7.30pm, met our tour guide, Inage, and walked to the Crown Plaza Hotel for our welcome dinner - a very varied and really nice buffet.Read more