{"id":35945,"date":"2024-10-29T19:32:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T08:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=35945"},"modified":"2024-10-29T19:32:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T08:32:49","slug":"fukuyama-2-japan-%f0%9f%87%af%f0%9f%87%b5-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=35945","title":{"rendered":"Fukuyama (2), Japan \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: 25th October 2024\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelled: Around Fukuyama by bus \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visited: Kurashiki Village, Uden Noodle Making\u00a0and Ritsurin Pine Garden \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed: Vessel Hotel, Fukuyama  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget: 21 days @ $XX per day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our second day in Fukuyama is a free day on our itinerary, but our guide book shows nothing of interest in town, so we take an optional tour for A120 pp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case our day starts as usual with an early walk around the local area. Fukuyama is a huge sprawling city but we seem to be staying in a mostly residential area. Lots of small cottages often with well tended gardens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once again the lemmings load on the bus, a few less than usual as it\u2019s optional and we hit the Fukuyama morning traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop is Kurashiki Historic Quarter<\/a> about an hour away. The historic quarter is as it sounds the old town of Kurashiki, it centres on the stream that loops through and around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes for a very pleasant walk along the stream over its arched bridges and a maze of laneways. Especially at this time of the morning a good coffee is on our mind. Tully\u2019s was good coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kurashiki is famous as an art precinct but we focus on the quirky such as the following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back on the bus once again we cross the amazing Honshu to Shikoku Bridge. At 4 kms in length it provides some fabulous views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Serena tells us Shikoku is famous for Udon Noodles and today we visit a noodle making factory to make our own noodles for lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To be frank our noodle making course was a real hoot. The woman in charge is firing instructions in Japanese, the tour guide is translating, and we are trying to keep up. At some point tambourines appear on the table and a rough karaoke session gets started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eventually we take our uncooked noodles upstairs to cook them. When ready to serve, they\u2019re dished up and eaten with a mixed tempura and dipping sauce. They were surprisingly good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full of noodles we squeeze back into the bus and continue onto Ritsurin Gardens of Takamatsu.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to our guide Serena, Ritsurin is the largest walking garden in Japan. Most famous perhaps for its groomed pine trees. It was originally constructed as a private garden in 1745, opened to the public in 1875. We only walked part of the gardens 75 hectares during our 90 minute stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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