Asia trip Day 19 - Sasebo, Japan

Thursday March 16

We had booked an excursion and were on our way at 9 am. The weather was nice and it was fun looking out of the bus windows. Very difficult to take some photos that way which are meaningful and giving a good impression. I even captured some people working in the fields. 

First stop Ohashi Kannon. We seemed to be the only people.

It was quite a drive. There was a shrine to a fire god and a goddess (not sure what the name was).

We were all excited to see the first cherry blossoms.

There were also paper strips tied to branches. Our guide explained that sometimes you get fortunes (like in fortune cookies). If it is good and you like it, you keep it. If you don't like it you tie it to a tree = get rid of it.

We walked a bit further where there was an abandoned house which at one time had monks.

From there we walked up a few steps to the Ohashi Kannon Bridge which is totally naturel and used to be used. A recent typhoon damaged it and walking on it is not allowed.

On the drive down I saw these wild citrus fruit trees. No paper bags on them.

More bus driving. More interesting things to see.

At about 11 am we arrived at the historic site "Emukae Honjin Yashiki", which was accommodation for Feudal Lords of Hirado when they traveled on the duty of "Sankin-kotai" the system of alternate attendance in Edo period.

First we were on the wrong site of the street. Seemed like some business needed to be taken care off.

And there were some ball decorations on twigs in this town which needed to be explained. There had been a festival earlier.

There was serious traffic on this road. The whole group needed to be gathered and herded across.

As soon as you were through the door you were in a peaceful garden. 

The older gentleman explained everything ... but not in English. Our guide translated. I did not understand though whether he was 13th generation from the Feudal Lord family or 13th generation of the innkeeper. 

A brochure explains this: The renovation of the lodge took place in 1831, and one of the pillars of the lodge has been standing in the pond since then. Because of this, Hiromu Matsura, the Feudal Lord at that time, named the lodge "Chinsuisha", which literally means a lodge sinking in the water, meaning that it is the lodge where the guests rest lying comfortably as if they are laying their head on a water pillow.

Of course you do need to take your shoes off. Socks are ok.

Lots of historic things were displayed inside. One thing I finally understood was that the people were always on their toes about safety and worried about being attacked.

The Samurai was a warrior protecting or defending the Feudal Lord. Ninjas were spies they were afraid off too.

An oven in case the Feudal Lord needed tea. The guide took the cover off the floor.

Feudal Lord's bedroom. On the left (not in the picture) were sliding doors which open the whole side to the garden.

Just a little patio without a railing from the bedroom. The guide knocked on the stones and the koi appeared hurriedly.

In the brochure it said: Tsukiyama, an artificial hill, was laid out and made by a gardener from Kyoto (and that was right behind the little pond).

It had been very interesting. Shoes back on. 

Right next door was the brewery which was built in 1688 when Yamashita family started their business. It was built by just assembling the housing materials without using any nails, and has a unique structure in such a way that just a 7.5 meter-long pillar supports 1st and 2nd floor including an umbrella-shaped roof.

This ball over the entry singles when the sake is ready. It is made during winter and all had been just finished.

Sake is made from rice, either white or brown as in those small plates.

Something like an altar inside to ask for blessings.

We also could go upstairs if we wanted but had to take our shoes off again. This time there were slippers for us though.

Back down again. The slippers were actually very uncomfortable and "slippery". It would have been easier to have gone on socks.

After the dangerous undertaking of crossing the street again we could go into the little shop for a tasting.

OMG, there were lots of different kinds, not all in this photo. James and I were thorough tasters. I always had thought that sake was something like a schnapps (shot?) but it is actually more like a wine. The last one (not in the photo) was actually the nicest and we bought a small bottle ... because they took "plastic".

Back into the bus. Driving inbetween the stops always took a while but I found it never boring to see the landscape go by. At about 1 pm we came to the Saikai National Park. Our bus driver had to take narrow turns on this steep road up the mountain. 

The Yumihari Lookout Point was spectacular. No words to describe it. We actually could see the Nautica in the harbor from here. 

Our guard told us that there was an even better view but it involved steps if we were up for it. Of course.

I tried to take a panoramic photo but even that can not really do it justice. The description said it was the best point to see the 99 islands in the Sea of Goto. Our guide told us that 99 means its more than that but that is when you stop counting (except somebody did continue and if I remember right the guide told us there were actually 218).

On the way back to the bus I noticed that there was a carving on the pillar of the first Yumihari Lookout Point. Yumihari means bow ... as in bow and arrow. Now it makes sense.

And right there one more photo: the Imperial Japanese Navy Sasebo Mooring Facility for Ship Repairs. James was interested to read the details.

"Happy Hour" tonight was again one of those invitations if you were a repeat cruiser. There is always a little ceremony honoring those who are having a certain anniversary etc. Free coctails and wine and nice chatting with others. We met Tina and David again which we had dinner with at least once before and we chatted with for quite a while.

We had such a good time that we decided to go to dinner together and continue our conversations. Three of the four of us ordered the dover sole meunière. I probably am giving my ignorance away when I say that I didn't know the fish would arrive whole. But the waiter did the deboning for us. And he did it very well.

Dessert was vanilla-raspberry vacherin. That was just too much. 

And then we had to rush to the Nautica Lounge for the main entertainment of the day which was Australian singer Jennifer Gray again.

Afterwards there was Karaoke in the Horizons but it had already been a full day and we decided to call it a night. 

            Night, night.