Ibaraki

A road trip with Sophie to explore some hidden gems of Ibaraki. It was my last chance to get some practice in before going on a full 1 week driving journey across Oman.

We went to visit the Ushiku Daibutsu, the biggest bronze Buddha statue in the world. We could see its head from afar. It was a cold and rainy day but it was great since there was no crowds around the place and it made for a very solemn and tranquil walk to its body. The interior was a surprise as it was quite modern and very well-presented. It was strange to be entering the Buddha and going up to its head with the elevator but the main temple inside was also quite impressive with hundreds if not thousands of tiny golden Buddhas in hundreds of columns. When we got out, we stopped by a petting zoo to see some animals before grabbing some udon.

Then we got to Boso Village where we got to see the living quarters from different eras, all the way to the neolithic period, the same sort of huts we saw back in Saga. The haniwa museum was also super fascinating, I always remember Miyazaki's haniwa garden but these little guys are just so cute despite their connection to death.

Though the main highlight was without a doubt the swans. I found a secret spot where the migrating swans would conglomerate and they would number up to hundreds. The whole place was full of them and we even got to see some fly in from afar, greeting their friends for the first time after years. It was quite a thing to see.Read more