Left Hiroshima today and on to Nagasaki. With it being spring break it sort of forced me to leave Hiroshima a bit earlier than I had anticipated because I was only able to book my hotel until Saturday. At this point I can't say that I'm at all sad about it! Actually, I'm quite happy it pushed me on sooner. I don't think that I would have made it to Nagasaki otherwise.
We'll start off with a few shots on the train ride here.
Nice family who sat across the way from me. The little girl used her English to say "Hello" and got a kick out of me replying. The tried to help me put my backpack on though it's not really something that anyone can help with. I think I might have stepped on his foot as he was moving the pack around as well. Really hope I didn't hurt him somehow... That's 250lbs of weight after all.
Once I got there I checked into my hotel right at the station. It's JR Kyushu Hotel (Japan Rail owned and operated) so right at the station. Definitely going to try and book these more often if possible. Stations are super convenient to have your hotel at. 1 - You're right there for arrival and departure. 2 - Stations are the center for a lot of things. Which means you'll have food and shops right there with you.
Come to find out, there is a train "cruise" line. Seven Stars in Kyushu it is called. As expected with a cruise they have little shows at their stops. Pretty funny that there's a rail cruise line but makes sense when I think about it. Not my cup of tea but I did benefit from it. I'll post a video at the end.
Random store I found while walking (one of those days with lots of walking). I had hoped to find a painting that I could send home or something. I still haven't seen any paintings at all, I hope I'll be able to find one reasonably priced before I leave that I can send home. For those that don't know I try to take a painting back as my souvenir. I believe these displays have to deal with the boy and girl days in May. There are dolls for the girls and these displays for the boys. Pretty cool tradition. Though I will say "holy cow" to the price tags on everything in this store. Not a place to shop for something to take home!
More walking. If you haven't guessed it was a super rainy day. I've never been in rain like this. In Thailand you'd have a quick storm that dumped a lot of water on you and went away right after. This was almost as heavy a rain as Thailand but never ended. It was going for the 4 hours I was walking around after getting off the train.
I don't know if it's different in Nagasaki or I just picked the right routes. Whatever the reason I walked past tons of schools.
Not sure how I ever run into things as I walk around but I seem to find them. This is a Air Raid shelter built into the mountain. You're only allowed into a small portion of it thought I imagine if you kept going you'd see a lot more inside. There wasn't anyone watching and I can't say I wasn't tempted to explore! That's the fun part...
Ladder to go up!
Not sure at all how I run into so much. Probably because there's just that much to see and run into! I've made a bad habit of saying "Ok, I'll just walk a little further until I see something new". I do it with picking somewhere to eat dinner too. Which usually means I eat and get back to my hotel a lot later than I had planned to.
If you look close enough hopefully you'll be able to read the information on this sign for the following tree.
I really like being able to get "above" everything. The geography of Japan is entirely to my liking. I couldn't be happier that I came to Nagasaki and got to see this city nestled between the mountains. It's the kind of place I enjoy.
And of course some cherry blossoms. Who would complain about those? It's past peak viewing time for them here so they've begun to fall to the ground a bit. But they're absolutely amazing. I thought I had seen them in Hiroshima. Yet I can say the trees there still needed time. When they're in full bloom they become a cloud of pink floating in the green. It's fun to see those random pink clouds in the forest as you ride along in the train.
Cool little transportation box for the elderly or disabled. It could be really hard for someone to get to their home in a lot of places around Nagasaki I feel.
Happy note for me. I found Japanese fruit snacks! I love fruit snacks... maybe a bit too much. Still no luck finding a Ramune. Guess I'll have to come back in the summer sometime.
