We took the train to Tottori on Saturday. Again, because everyone was traveling, the train was very full and we ended up sitting on the floor between the cars. We were fairly comfortable there so the two hours weren’t too bad (it would have been awful to stand in a crowded train car for two hours!)
In Tottori, we first checked out the fish market which Lonely Planet described as interesting. And it was! There were the usual fish, and squid, etc, as well as live octopus on ice (we could see they were still breathing), live eels in a tank, and turtles’ claws. We didn’t know what they did with the rest of the turtle.
After lunch at a restaurant called “Chocolate Bar” (although their menu spelled it “cocholate”), we took a bus to the sand dunes, the real reason we were visiting. The sand dunes weren’t so impressive (particularly having seen the sand dunes of the Sahara), but they were right on the ocean. Some people were taking camel rides, others were taking a horse-drawn carriage ride, and others were parasailing from the highest dune. We walked down to the shore and put our feet in the water and started hunting for shells and jelly fish. This was the Sea of Japan (between China and Japan), the first time for me to visit it. (I bought a disposable camera for the day, since I didn’t want to risk ruining my camera, so you’ll have to wait for the photos. In the meantime, you could check out the photos on Lauren's blog when she went last year).
We stayed at a Japanese style hotel where they had our three futons all laid out for us.
The next morning we hopped on a train to Kinosaki. The train followed the coast line which was rugged and beautiful. Kinosaki is known for its crab, and they really made the most of that association! Every restaurant had numerous crab dishes on the menu, there were live crabs for sale, as well as dead crabs, and crab trinkets. (The dead crabs are $50 each!)
We noticed a lot of Japanese flags at Kinosaki and wondered why - maybe the Prime Minister is from Kinosaki? But no, we later realized it was Constitution Day (we were too busy enjoying Golden Week to worry about which holidays we were celebrating).
A cable car ride took us up to a mountain where we looked over the town. We took the cable car halfway down to a temple and then walked the rest of the way.
A few other photos from the day:
Dried, translucent squid jerky for sale.
A pretty canal running through town (with lots of illicit discharges. but they're probably not illicit here).
We appreicated this guy's nicely succinct philosophy.
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