I think a day and a half was probably enough to see the highlights of Nagasaki, but certainly not long enough to sample all the delicacies. I took advantage of 100 yen price (compared to the 3000-6000 won in Korean guesthouses) to do a load of laundry (free soap!), though I should have paid closer attention to make sure there was enough water and the detergent dissolved. When I pulled my clothes out of the washer to hang them up, there were still clumps stuck to my jeans. Damn you speed wash!
I spent most of the day doing travel research and making decisions. Before noon I went out to find some chanpon, a “Chinese” noodle dish that Nagasaki is famous for. Apart from the Dutch, the Chinese were the only other foreigners allowed on Japanese territory for some number of centuries, so much like Incheon, Nagasaki had a thriving Chinatown.
After the noodles, I decided to track down “Castella” cake, a kind of sponge cake brought by the Portuguese (??). It was sold in gift packs in all the tourist shops, and a few of the old stores sold very fancy versions, but I found a sort of packing and distribution center where they sold of the extra bits at wholesale prices. I bought one rather hefty pack and shared it with the people at the guesthouse, while I drank my afternoon coffee.
Eventually, I decided to take a jog and followed one stream which is crossed by a number of old, famous stone bridges, then did a loop around the harbor, which was full of sailing vessels. Two Japanese, two Russian, and a Korean ship had docked for the start of a week-long sailing festival. The ships, all built between 1984 and 2000, appear to be mainly used for training and these sorts of cultural exchanges. The town was overrun by baby faced Russian sailors in their uniforms, though, I am sorry to report that they did not appear to have permission to go drinking.
For dinner, I went to what I suppose was a fairly famous restaurant that claims to have invented a dish called “Turkish Rice,” which is basically just a Japanese take on western food–some rice, some spaghetti, a salad, a steak of some sort topped with gravy. Surprisingly, I wasn’t handed an English menu, and the pictures were hard to make out, so I picked one where I read the kanji to be “True Turkish Rice” and was served lamb chops. I followed the feast with a “Nagasaki Milkshake,” which is another one of those famous cross-cultural culinary specialties of the city. Not so much ice cream based as ice plus cream. Still, quite nice.
| Laundry | 100 |
| Chanpon | 850 |
| SIM card (1.5 GB — 30 days) | 2160 |
| Castella | 350 |
| Turkish Rice + “Milkshake” | 2030 |
| Total: | 5490 Yen (351 RMB) (USD 52.33) |
I had a long day ahead of me, so I was up early to have my breakfast pack and get to the train station in time for the 8:31 commuter (i.e. cheaper) train to Isahaya where I needed to transfer to a different railway to reach Shimabara. I must have spent close to two hours researching time tables to ensure that I could have a couple hours to see Shimabara before hopping on a ferry to reach Kumamoto.
Fortunately, I had enough time over my coffee to get a bit of info on the long awaited Mueller Report. Wasn’t that exciting? It’s almost a good thing I had to spend the day out and about to distract me from it.
After getting off Shimabara’s one-car train at its one platform train station, I headed over to the castle with my luggage in tow. It was a short walk over and a short climb up the hill, and fortunately I was able to leave the suitcase with the ticketing office at no extra charge. Japanese castles are usually quite impressive from the outside, sitting up on hill, surrounded by a thick wall and moat that is overgrown with vegetation. Inside the are often mini-museums and this one was special for its display of Christian paraphernalia. The early Christians in the hidden churches really clung to the secret symbols on everyday items. I definitely need to rewatch “Silence,” maybe for Easter.
On the castle grounds, there was also a gallery dedicated to the artist who made the main sculpture in Nagasaki’s Peace Park and a museum of “Folk artifacts” that turned out to be way more interesting than I thought it would be, a warehouse of tools and household goods both ancient and “near ancient” (i.e. 20th century). I took the secret back exit out of the castle to visit the nearby street of old Samurai houses, many of which have people living in them, but a few are preserved and open to the public for touring. The most interesting thing about the alley is probably the stream running down the middle of the gravel road. I saw cars in garages that open up to the alley and I don’t know how anyone can drive that.
I swung by a restaurant to grab lunch before picking up my suitcase. With suitcase back in tow, I headed to the city’s central arcade, and mostly followed it south with a detour to the “carp stream.” Shimabara is blessed with so many springs, that the city basically has streams running everywhere. I checked off a couple of other items on the tourist itinerary and found myself at the ferry terminal well before I expected to. There was a ferry to Kumamoto leaving in about ten minutes, and although I had noted nearby foot baths on the map as an option to kill time until the ferry, I decided to go ahead and take the earlier boat.
Apparently, it is a thing to buy seagull food (only available November-April) to kill time on the hour long voyage. I noticed signage that there was a free shuttle bus available to take passengers to Kumamoto Train Station so I was excited to save money, but there was a bit of confusion with the woman taking tickets on the boat. She spoke no English, and I could gather that she was asking me about the shuttle bus, so I kept nodding and saying yes. When we pulled into port she handed me a ticket for the shuttle bus, which was a fairly short ride into town.
I didn’t feel up to walking the half hour to where my next hostel was, so I hopped a city tram. This is one of those cold, but functional Japanese hostels. I thought it was weird that it opens directly into a shopping arcade, but there isn’t much choice of budget accommodation in Kumamoto. After checking in, I had a brief rest and headed out for a run along the river, which had some paths, but not really suitable for jogging. Dinner was a bowl of local-style ramen, but I am not quite a connoisseur to really appreciate the differences.
| Local Train | 460 |
| Shimabara Train | 1430 |
| Shimabara Castle | 540 |
| Lunch (Guzoni) | 1180 |
| Ferry | 870 |
| Streetcar | 170 |
| Hostel (2 nights) | 334 RMB |
| Ramen | 700 |
| Cold Tea | 100 |
| Total: | 682.8 RMB (USD 101.79) |
Running Total: 23327.7 RMB (USD 3477.85)
Daily Average: 284.5 (USD 42.41)