We awoke to a wonderful view from our room of where we are. It is always odd to arrive in the dark with no sense of context and wake up to this view with familiar hills and mountains in the background.
We are staying at Hotel Route Inn in Hokine. This older hotel is a chain with many others throughout Japan. They offer a lot for a modest charge…..on-site public bath, free buffet breakfast.
We see these happy and cute characters wherever there is roadwork or construction. A construction company began producing fun characters in conjunction with a zoo to act as road barriers. The theory is that they will calm frustration where inconvenient work is in progress. They are so successful that they have spread all over Japan and are a common sight. Many animals are represented including Hello Kitty.
These gardens are exquisite and were built in 1677 by the local lord and were based on a palace garden in Tang China. This Japanese landscape garden has a central pond with a circular walking trail and four islands connected by bridges. As you walk around the garden, you can appreciate the design as new perspectives appear as you go . On this very hot sultry day we found the experience to be a good way to get a sense of castle life as it might have been.
An image of a dragonfly who was very busy in the garden.
This building on the edge of the garden was the Rakurakuen Palace which served as the residence of the lord and his family. Renovations to this building are ongoing until 2026. It is a testament to the beauty of the gardens that the lack of access to the Palace has not impacted attendance at the garden.
We have been astounded at the number of birds we are seeing on the lake…egrets, herons, crows and hawks. Herons seem to be less solitary than those we know at home. But the large groups of hawks together in the trees or flying overhead is quite a sight. None of these birds are bothered by our presence. They carry on, often in mixed groups.
We are headed north of here to reach our accommodation for the next few nights, so we didn’t stop to visit the Castle….perhaps next time. With the build up of humidity, we have heard reports that it will rain hard for the next few days so we have booked a small Japanese house for 2 nights to take shelter.
We got to our booked destination for tonight, and the owner was not there. In fact, he hadn’t responded to our emails that he had initiated. We looked inside and the place was quite dirty and not ready for guests. We waited for awhile and heard from booking.com that the reservation had been cancelled by the owner. Oh no, the closest place where we can get accommodation is 24 Km back to where we have just come from…and we have to hurry because it will be dark soon and rain is coming…..and that is why we called today’s entry…A Day of There and Back.
Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles) Total: 1,238 km (769 miles)
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Charmaine RuppoltOh bummer!! To have cycled all that way and have to turn around and go back because no hotel available! :/ Reply to this comment 1 year ago
