Tosayamada to Okayama

I left Tosayamada Station heading for Kochi City to transfer to a bus headed for Okayama. I stayed in Okayama for one night before flying to Thailand.

I was worried about transportation and getting lost or missing a bus I needed so I figured out and prepared everything ahead of time. Traveling in Japan was incredibly easy. All of the stations had automated ticket systems with options for English. It cost me 3600 Yen to get from Kochi to Okayama by bus. The bus ride was fairly long but it would have been scenic had it not been for the very very thick fog.

Foggy Mountains Behind Okayama Castle

What I should have been worried about was booking the hotel. I assumed that since I was just one person I should easily be able to find space in a guesthouse or hotel. I was incredibly wrong. I was incredibly cold and soaking wet walking to every hotel trying to find something that I could afford that had space. Hotel Sunshine was the first hotel that even had room and it took me 4 hours of walking around to find that. So I took the opportunity as soon as they said it.

Ishiyama Park, Okayama, Japan

Visiting Okayama Castle in the rain wasn't as enjoyable as it might have been in nice weather but I can see why it is very popular as a tourist attraction. The castle is along the river with a nice area for gardens. It was built in 1597 but what is currently there is actually a rebuilt castle since it was destroyed by a bombing.  It is called Crow Castle (烏城 U-jō) because of the black walls and roof.

Okayama Castle /Crow Castle (烏城 U-jō)

Okayama Castle /Crow Castle (烏城 U-jō)

 You can walk all the way up to the main castle for free but have to pay to see the inside.

Okayama Castle /Crow Castle (烏城 U-jō)

I was frozen and hungry so I left the castle area. Across the river is the large botanical garden area that I would have like to see but I imagine that another season would be better for this as well since most of the trees didn't have leaves during my visit. This you have to pay to enter. Birding along the river was alright but with such miserable weather only waterbirds were active at all.

Cormorant on the river

I started realizing how hungry I was as the smells from all the restaurants on the main street hit me. It was early and I was one of two people in a ramen shop at that time but it was exactly what I needed. Warm, yummy food hit the spot and I was able to actually dry off a bit before making it all the way back to the hotel.

I visited 290 bar for a drink after warming up in the hotel for a bit. The advertisement that all drinks are 290Y is false since my bill for two drinks was over 1000Y.  Since I had no clue how to question them about if it was an error on my bill or just false advertising that I didn't understand I just got stuck paying it. They do light up the canal at night making it quite pretty.

Canal in Okayama lit up at night

This small trip made me feel quite hopeless. Despite the success of getting to Okayama without any trouble I failed at finding accommodation (taking 4 hours to do this is a fail even if I eventually found it) and at carrying any sort of conversation in a bar that I got overcharged in.

Getting to the airport, which was the entire point of the trip to Okayama, was actually fine though. Again just a quick shuttle from the station to the airport and I was on my way to Thailand. At least getting around Japan is easy!