The guesthouse had free breakfast in the morning and as I wasn’t in a rush, spent a few hours eating toast, drinking coffee, and reading the news/studying Japanese. Sometime after 8, I packed up and checked out leaving my stuff at the guesthouse with plans to return by 4pm to pick it back up. I took the train up the coast to spend the day at Matsushima.
Matsushima is a little town on a bay full of small islands that are covered in pine trees. It is considered one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. One could see everything of note in 2 hours, but I had a whole day to kill, so I spent a lot of time chilling out on benches enjoying the view and keeping my solar charger in the sunlight. I wasn’t sure how the power outlet situation would be on the ferry and I wanted to make sure my phone would last all day.
There is also a Buddhist temple (Zuigan-ji) that dates back to about 800 AD (but reconstructed in the 1600s). I wasn’t happy about paying a whopping 700 yen entrance ticket, but it included a small museum and the temple was actually more of a national treasure than a temple. It strongly reminded me of the Kyoto castle, a series of beautifully painted rooms that one could look into (all photography strictly forbidden) and a rock garden in the back. By the time I left, I was really impressed.
I decided to put together a lunch at a convenience store, which conveniently had a counter with seats. While I could have hung out there in the air conditioning longer, I wanted to spend more time out in the sunlight apparently.
There is a good sized island (Fuku-ura-jima) in the bay connected by a long footbridge. I forked over the 200 yen toll to use the bridge and made a leisurely loop of the island, attempting to nap once on one of the benches.
Around 3pm, I caught a train back into town, reaching the guesthouse just before 4pm. I grabbed my suitcase and immediately headed back to the train to go to station closest to the ferry port. I could have taken a bus from the train station to the ferry port, but figured it was okay to walk the 3km, especially as it gave me a chance to swing by a big Aeon supermarket. Along the way, I took a small detour to see two scenic “spots” in Tagajo. They were a pond and a hill.
I bought a ton of food at the Aeon and walked the rest of the way to the ferry terminal. I bought the cheapest ticket available, and as I waited the 45 minutes before boarding began, I started getting really excited for the ride. Well, I wanted to crack open the whisky and eat my snacks and dinner. On board, I made myself wait before drinking. I thoroughly explored the ship (which has a set of cabins reserved for people traveling with pets including an animal play area) and enjoyed the grand bath (on-board onsen with jets) before claiming a set at a bar looking out the window with my bag full of drinks and food. I bought a bucket of ice from the onboard shop and a cold soda water from a vending machine to make whisky sodas.
I enjoyed my meal (salad and cold Chinese noodles), but looking at the restaurant, I might try that if I ever take this ferry again. It was a buffet (not quite sure if unlimited) with a pretty good spread for only 2000 yen.
I had kind of figured from previous ferry experience that there would be several crowds of people drinking, and I could share some ice/whisky with other people, but most of the revelers stayed in the restaurant. Before I even realized it, I had nearly finished the bottle and was good and drunk. I poured the last glass and decided that I’d like to watch a movie, so I returned to my cabin (which was a 30+ bed dorm room). It was quite spacious and the 10 or so inhabitants were well spaced out. I watched ten minutes of a movie before I wanted to pass out and didn’t want to finish the whisky.
| Zuiganji ticket | 700 |
| Lunch (Salad, yogurt, chicken/egg rice bowl) | 691 |
| Coffee ice | 151 |
| vending machine drink | 100 |
| bridge toll | 200 |
| Pasmo topup | 500 |
| Aeon groceries | 918 |
| Ferry ticket | 8300 |
| Ice | 120 |
| Sparkling water | 110 |
| Pocky | 190 |
| Total: | 11980 JPY (826.6 RMB) (USD 119.8) |
Running Total: 37483.8 RMB (USD 5432.3)
Daily Average: 320.4 RMB (USD 46.43)