Bus VS Local Trains From Hyogo Prefecture To Amanohashidate - Part 1

The bus and train teams embark on yet another adventure, this time racing from Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture to Amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture. They must pass five checkpoints - popular tourist spots - along the way and clear missions at each place. Each team is also given 10,000 yen to spend on taxis. 

From Himeji Castle, both teams must go to the first checkpoint, Himeji Central Park, six miles away. It is a theme park and the largest leisure facility in Hyogo Prefecture. The bus team manages to find a bus that goes directly to Central Park but it will only arrive an hour later at 9.30am. Another bus comes and the bus driver tells them they take this bus instead to the Shimizu bus stop and then walk for about half an hour to the first checkpoint. So the bus team departs on this bus from Himeji Castle Himejijo Otemon mae and heads for Shimizu.

The train team members, meanwhile, find out that they can travel on the Bantan Line and take the train towards Nibuno Station, the nearest station to Central Park. But they must first go to Kyoguchi Station, the closest station to Himeji Castle. They walk for 15 minutes before reaching Kyoguchi Station. The train will depart at 9.25am, half an hour later. So they decide to head to a convenience store, which is five minutes away, to get some food. 

The bus team arrives at the Shimizu bus stop after a 20-minute bus ride and starts walking to the first checkpoint. They must walk uphill to get to Central Park. 

The train team finally leaves Kyoguchi Station at 9.25am and heads for Nibuno Station, near Central Park. They arrive at Nibuno Station in 10 minutes and have to walk about three miles to Central Park. 

The bus team reaches the checkpoint first. Himeji Central Park, a leisure facility with an integrated theme park, even has a safari park with 1,000 animals, including lions and giraffes. The mission here is for one team member to take a selfie, which also shows the other two team members riding on the Diavlo roller coaster in the background. It is a thrilling attraction which is said to be the best in Kansai. The bus team’s first attempt fails as one of the team members’ face is hidden by the rail.

While the train team is walking to Himeji Central Park, the bus team finally clears the selfie mission at the Diavlo attraction. The second checkpoint, the Uemura Adventure Museum, is about 50 miles away. They find out that buses from Himeji Central Park only go to Himeji Station and they must walk three miles to the Nibuno bus stop. 

The train team finally reaches Central Park at around 10.45am. They make enquiries about the train timings first and aim to take the 12.35pm train from Nibuno Station later. They fail the mission here twice and must attempt it for the third time. The bus team, meanwhile, is on the way to the Nibuno bus stop.  

Tips:

1)    Himeji Central Park is the largest leisure facility in Hyogo Prefecture
2)    Check out the popular Diavlo roller coaster ride at Himeji Central Park