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Evening in Okayama

10/08/2009

We headed towards Okayama from Hyogo buying the 18 seijun ticket.
We headed straight to Okayama but then again we did not stop at the Okayama station.
We took the Marine Liner train towards Takamatsu- a city in Shikoku. Traveling across the islands means traveling over the sea. A long bridge connects all the islets over the sea. The highway run overhead,I mean over the railway tracks.The best view is from the highway they say. Hundreds of little islets can be seen in the sea among the mist of the summer. The sea stays calm and majestic below us showing the pride it holds towards it s own beauty. It was so beautiful. I heard that the best scenic period is the winter when the air is clearer.
To reach there we took the Marine liner rapid train which runs every 40 minutes across the main island and the shikoku. If you are going to Takamatsu to just to see the bridge over the river you also may have plans to get back to the main island in the first available train. Take this in to notice. The first available train leaves the Takamatsu station 3 minutes after the Marine liner reaches the station. If you miss this you will have too wait 40 minutes for the next train. We did cause the Marine liner got late due to heavy rains and when we reached Takamstsu the train had already left.


3.1 The Bridge connecting Honshu and Shikkoku


3.2 The Sea below The Railway Line


3.3 Hundreds of Islets in the Sea


3.4 Islands Seen Far Away in The Sea

On our way back we got down at Ochamiya where my sensei s friends were waiting for us at the station. Then we headed to Okayama by the car to enjoy the light up of the Okayama castle.
It was so nice and serene in the night at the castle garden. The castle it self was beautifully lit up. But we could not drive away the thought that it might have been better to see the castle in the day time. The glory of the castle in its blackness at the day time might have never been compared to what we saw at night. Okayama castle is a castle different from other castle, Its walls are painted black. This is why this castle is called the crow or ravine castle. In Japanese they call it ujou jo or karasu jo.
That night Mr and Mrs. Isobe were kind enough to bring the supper to the castle garden so that we could enjoy an out door supper with a starry sky over head. It was simply amazing. The supper was a Sushi rice some very tasty chicken legs and tea. It was ideal for a night like that. A new experience.


3.5 The Castle garden Illuminated at Night

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