Japan vs. Munday: Golden Week: The Tottori-Kinosaki Adventure

Apologies for the lack of updates, but here is a gem. Golden week, evidently the envy of office workers all around the world is a collection of national holidays that flanks a weekend resulting in a whole 7 days that most Japanese have off. As the last bastion of leisure time until after the final exams in August, we decided to go on a road trip. Despite Lilly and my efforts, we couldn`t quite engineer it. However thumbing through our guide we soon had two targets, a few tents and a couple of bottles of spirits. Also known as a plan. Basim, Lilly, Sophie, Sabine and I departed Kobe at 1pm on Thursday 29th.

Tottori

After a little guess work we arrived at the campsite on the Western edge of the towns famous sand dunes and beach. In Tottori we enjoyed long walks, bike rides, wrestling in the sand, BBQs, and vastly mind-boggling conversations, most of them revolving around peanuts. The weather was absolutely stunning for the whole trip, and lazy afternoons on the beach was just what the doctor ordered.

The surf and my disproportionate toes.

The sand dunes of Tottori, weather looks bad but its just a dirty lens.

These fish, hung all over the country on "kodomo no hi" (Children`s day), symbolise the upstream struggle of young people.

A fine selection of BBQ which included enough meat to feed the whole campsite.

Basim and the girls outside our tents.

Me attempting to keep us with a Japanese salary man singing a random Japanese song.

The troops and I down by a lake we cycled too.

We met some factory workers from Osaka, who not only helped us with our fire, but proceeded to supply beer and entertainment all night.

By the end of the night I wanted to take him home and put him on my shelf.

The whole troop.

The wrestling match that cost 2 cameras and a set of keys. Oh, and some dignity.

The view from some temple steps at the end of the coastal road.

An example of the view on the train on the way to Kinosaki.

Brilliant poem on the side of an ashtray in the station halfway to Kinosaki.

Kinosaki

After 4 days in Tottori, we headed by train East along to coast to a small but famous onsen town known as Kinosaki. Onsen are Japanese traditional baths, often constructed around natural springs. These were accompanies by traditional Japanese hotels which has most people walking around in traditional gowns and shoes, especially as it was so warm. We only had 1 whole day there and it was spent walking around town and going up and down the mountain at the end of the main street. Camping again was the plan, this time on a beach a frustratingly long way from the town itself. Still, it was a good change of pace and the town itself was both different and stunning.