Day 12 & 13: Temple visit and beach day

September 2, 2023

Hello you. Of course, on day 12 of our trip to Japan, we got up fresh and got breakfast at the convenience store next door. After we ate this in our hotel room, we set off to our destination for today. The visit to the Nanzoin Temple was planned.

The temple could be reached by train in about 30 minutes. When we arrived there, we were greeted by a very beautiful landscape and what felt like only one path that led to our destination. The temple is very much integrated into nature, as it is located entirely in a forest, through which a natural spring also flows. There were also hundreds of Buddha statues on the rocks, each of which probably has a different meaning. One of the paths through the temple led us through a very narrow and low cave, which is about as low as the bear cave (the comparison probably makes more sense for the Goseckers). As we tried to squeeze through, there were two people waiting on the other side. Now any sensible person would think that they were leaving room for the two of us to climb through but no, they were standing right in the middle of where you were coming through. The result was that I (Moritz) hit my head on the hard rock and had an abrasion about 7cm long, which stung even more because of the sweat. Instead of making room for the next people, the two people blocking the way stared at me like a car as I held my head. Even though this moment once again made me doubt some people's ability to think for themselves, the beautiful nature gave me other thoughts, which also distracted me from my aching head. At the end of this cave visit we also found the real highlight of this temple, namely a 41m long, lying Buddha statue. That was definitely very impressive. After we had looked at them enough, we strolled through the temple complex and then went back to the train station. Before that, however, we got a bottle of Ramune (Japanese soda that tastes a bit like Uludag from the kebab man) and some soft ice cream. Soon our train arrived and we went back to Fukuoka.

After we got there we wanted to explore some of the sights in Fukuoka. The first destination was the castle ruins of Fukuoka, where you could only see the outlines of a castle with a little imagination. From there we continued towards Ohori Park, but since we both got a bit hungry we had to wait a while longer to get to the park. So we chose a nearby restaurant. When we got there, we quickly realized that Jule might not find much here, and there were no prices on the menu. All of this was reason enough for both of us to be brave. So we got up and left, apologizing on the way out. The whole thing was a bit frustrating and since we were both very hungry by now we had to quickly find an alternative. So we looked for something new and quickly got there. When we arrived at our destination, a very nice man greeted us in his restaurant and made it clear to us that he would probably only open in 5 minutes. Nevertheless, he asked us to sit down and wait a moment. Since he barely spoke English and we only had a poor command of Japanese, communication was quite difficult. Nevertheless, we somehow managed it and he explained to us that in order to order we should write the dishes on a piece of paper. None of this would have been a problem in the Cyrillic alphabet, but unfortunately we are at the other end of the world where a different character system is used. After thinking for a long time and translating the map using Google Lense (not sponsored), we were finally able to draw the Japanese characters that corresponded to the food of our choice onto a piece of paper (writing would be an exaggeration). In fact, we managed it quite well as nothing was missing from our order. We were even allowed to enjoy a small portion of the house in the form of pickled pork offal, although I (still Moritz) ate both portions so as not to appear rude. It's fine in itself, just not really my cup of tea. Anyway, the rest of the food was great as always. After we paid, the man asked us where we came from (which we somehow understood despite the language barrier). We said goodbye with a bow that was as deep as either of us had ever seen (in case it didn't come across already, the guy was really so friendly and laughed the whole time).

Before we went back to our hotel we took a short detour to Ohori Park, a beautiful green space in the middle of a lake in the city. All was well with the world there and I can say with certainty that it was the most beautiful park I have ever seen. Even though I wrote a “short detour”, we still spent quite a while there and watched the sunset. When the sun disappeared we made our way to our hotel. Beforehand, however, we got something to drink so that we could end the evening in a relaxed manner.

Day 13

On the last full day in Fukuoka we decided to go to Itoshima and look at the “married stones” and the Tori Gate in the sea.

Since this destination is a little over an hour away by bus, we were excited to see how the journey would work.

But of course we first had breakfast from the convenience store (I wonder how many times you can read this sentence??) and then we set off from the hotel around 10:50 to look for the stop.

Of course we couldn't find it because everything was only labeled with Japanese characters and we had to find a plan B.

Now it was a 30 minute train ride and a 30 minute bus ride. When we got on the train, we weren't sure whether we could even get through because the train changed its route halfway through. So we got off as I thought we needed a new ticket. Apparently we didn't need this and I was just so happy when we finally arrived. It was all way too much stress.

Now we only had to wait 38 minutes for the bus.

But that was okay too. I bought Moritz an ice cream, we drank another Sprite and in no time we were on the bus. The bus ride was one of the best we've ever had because the view was beautiful. We drove along the sea, through small forests and villages.

When we arrived in Itoshima, the shrine was quite crowded; everyone wanted to take pictures of him. At first I was afraid that it would be too crowded, but 100 meters away there was NOTHING going on. Only 4 people surfed, but no one swam in the sea.

It would be too strange if there had been people in the water here.

The Japanese are very concerned about UV protection. At 34 degrees, they walk around with long pants, a long sweater with a t-shirt over it, a sun hat, a mask, a parasol and probably several layers of sunscreen to protect themselves from the sun. You couldn't do any of that in the water! So we had the sea to ourselves.

It was a pleasant temperature in the water, only the sun was shining brightly.

So we jumped into the cool water and refreshed ourselves a bit.

Moritz then decided to build a sand fortress and I continued swimming in the water.

At the same time we both collected shells and beautiful stones.

After a while, a big treasure suddenly appeared floating in the water: a 4 meter long bamboo trunk, which I spent the next 30 minutes working on. Since it was still hollow, it could be used as a “swimming noodle”, more likely a swimming trunk.

So we spent some time on the beach. But at some point we got hungry and looked for something to eat.

In a small bistro we had a burger and fish & chips.

Moritz then bought us dessert, melon floats for him and a coffee and ice cream shake for me.

At around 5:00 p.m. we took the bus back, which we found the first time we looked.

The ride took about an hour and we had beautiful views. We drove past the sea again, through villages and forests, before arriving back at the hotel.

We just cleaned ourselves up quickly because we wanted to visit a shopping mall, which was 50 meters from our hotel.

It’s called “Canal City” and when I saw it I knew why. A small canal runs through the Mal, which you can apparently also take a boat through.

Very impressive.

There we browsed through the shops and discovered a small arcade on the 6th floor, where I tried out a few crane machine games while Moritz played his beloved drum game.

I even won a plush toy!

As we headed home we grabbed something to eat and drink and then went back to the hotel room to continue watching “Spirited Away”.

We also discovered that Moritz had turned into a crab. The poor guy got really sunburnt. Maybe we should have taken more UV protection with us...

After our drink, a DELICIOUS 9% lemon/orange mixed drink, we were thirsty for another one. So we went outside to have another drink while we explored the city.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the last drink and that was also a big mistake... I have to pull myself together just to write it.

We also hadn't fully considered that we had to take the train for 6 hours tomorrow...

But more on that in the next post.

Thank you for reading :> We hope you enjoyed reading and wish you a nice day.

Moritz & Jule