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Trip To Seasides in Summer (Pt 2)
01 December 2007 |
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Get back to nature and be refreshed by water during the summer in this episode. Start your journey from Kyoto station for a 45-minute train ride to Hikone city which sits east of Lake Biwa. Visit Hikone Castle which is 400 years old this year and tour the area by taking a sightseeing boat around the castle.
To the west of the lake, you can take a boat across Lake Biwa to Takishima city, which is Japan's number one fan-making city, no surprise since people here have been making fans for the past 300 years, supported by the local bamboo crops. The city is surrounded by mountains and water comes fresh from the mountains. Every home enjoys its own water, from wells where naturally cool, fresh water is drawn from underground.
Some 2 hours away by train is Iwate prefecture. Disembark at the Morioka station and take another ride, this time by bus, for another 2½ hours to Iwaizumi, believed to be Japan's largest mainland town. Here, visitors can enjoy nature as more than half of the area is forested, with lots of fresh mountain air and water… in fact, the place is known as the home of water.
Take time to explore a mysterious and awe-inspiring underground lake while discovering Ryusendo, one of Japan's biggest limestone caves. Enjoy healthy country cuisine in Fureairando Iwaizumi where meals are created based on the guests’ health using fresh produce and herbs. In the centre of town is the Tatsujin workshop where every Saturday and Sunday local craftsmen gather to display their traditional craft-making skills. Visitors can also savour traditional cakes at Nakamatsuya, is a famous traditional cake such as Mizu dumplings filled with a whole chestnut, which is is only available in the summertime.
Stay at the Ryusendo hot spring hotel which is surrounded by mountains offering rooms that blend the Western and Japanese styles and traditional touches such as firewood heated baths. One night's stay with two meals costs only 12600 yen (approx S$159). Don’t miss trying the shabu shabu using local beef, called Tankaku beef which has less fat and a stronger taste as the herds feed on natural grass. There’s also local seafood which comes from the Sanriku coast which can be visited by train from Omoto station to Miyako Station, on the North Riasu Line.
Visit the market for fresh and inexpensive seafood and national coastal park in Miyako which you can sight see by riding the boat around the coast. Take a 90 minute train ride from Tokyo and visit Kumamoto. Head first to southern Aso from Tateno Station by transferring to the South Aso Line. The Gorge train will climb the slopes to Aso Shirakawa Station to stop in the Aso valley the clear water country of Kumamoto Prefecture where there are water running off from the mountains.
Visit Shirakawa River which flows at a rate of 60 tons per minute and little geysers that keep the water temperature at 14C throughout the year. Although you can drink the river water, it’s better to enjoy the free tea from the nearby teashop which also offers local roasted rice dumplings. Visitors can also bathe in the river or pay a visit to a Japanese paper workshop where you can make your own paper.
Have a meal at a 200 year old farmhouse converted into a restaurant, called Denkakunosato, in the middle of the woods in Takamori. Stay at Yamakuchi Hotel which is located deep in the valley next to a waterfall. There’s also an outdoor mixed bath beside the waterfall.
Finally, take the bus to Miyasaki through the mountains of Kyusyu. Along the way, take in views of the Takachiho mountains which local people believe gods dwell among the waterfalls and rock formations created by a volcanic eruption. |
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