Wed 30th April – Miyako to Unosumai
DW:
The walk finished yesterday and today was a chill day. We are nearing the end of the holiday and need to begin the decompression phase. We got the train south to spend a night in a seaside ryokan. We stayed in a quiet little town that we pottered around a bit in and had a quiet afternoon with some naps and books.
CR:
Unosumai was the smallest town we’ve stayed in. Again I am surprised that even though it is a coastal town absolutely none of it overlooks the water. It’s nearly entirely facing the monstrous concrete seawall. I suppose that’s not bad in and of itself but it does make it different to my expectations.
Most of the houses in town are small box like structures. There are three ramen places for lunch, a 7-11, a few services and a dessert cafe and that’s about it. I found it interesting how prevalent ramen is in Japan. I didn’t realise it comprised such a big share of restaurants.
Declan chose a really comfy Ryokan for tonight. Not too many photos from today as we didn’t do too much. We feel like we’ve got a pretty good sense of the Iwate coast and as Dec said are starting to wind down before our flight out on Saturday.
I’ve been enjoying my time hanging out with Declan.
DW:
For some reason Caitlin keeps saying she has enjoyed spending time with me. It makes it sound like I spend half the year in Antarctica and this is the only time she gets with me every year.
CR: Many of these 10 people are sipping a beer at 10am. I guess if you are a high trust society you earn certain perks like beer in the morning on train.
CR: We’ve not understood the significance of shrines in Japanese culture. How do they play into daily life? They are much smaller and less ornate than Buddhist temples in Thailand. We’ve not seen anyone at one outside of Tokyo.
CR: Mimigcooks can you chuck a like on our Instagram debut?
CR: This was really nice. It’s been so much colder up North than we expected so it’s a perfect climate to have outside bath. Maximum Summer temperatures don’t get above 22degrees. We spent most of the afternoon in our hotel room. We read, finished Jury Duty (recommend it on Amazon Prime, thanks mum for log in) and Declan definitely did not have a nap.
CR: It has been a lot of seafood. It’s nice but I am looking forward to more variety of food in Australia (not to mention oceanic style coffee!).
The private onsen looks so inviting as does your dinner!! You are now insta famous. Will send separately. Call days are good days xx
The blog has been a very entertaining and informative read. I would not have enjoyed that walk, too hard, so just as well we didn’t come. I am surprised by the lack of other hikers on the track. Onsen life has a lot to recommend it.
Is there a proper platform for the train because from the photo it looks like you have to hop off by jumping onto the ground which seems unusual. 10 am is to early for beer. I’m guessing the people on the train are retired. As I’m naturally slow I was concerned about the strict time check to alight from the carriage.
If that was the real height of the old sea wall they never stood a chance.
If the same size tsunami happened off Coffs about 60% of the town would be completely destroyed.
I enjoy how you have become influencers in a small town food industry.
Thanks to both of you for doing the blog and enjoy your last couple of days in Japan.
There is a proper platform for the train 🙂 train infrastructure is a point of pride in Japan as far as I could ascertain.
Yes, the people on the train did look pretty old. But to be honest, most of the people in those coastal towns were pretty old. It must be hard keeping young people there.
Dad you would have to be very prepared when leaving the train!
Thanks for reading the blog 🙂