Bus Tour

Yesterday was awesome! Dan, myself and five of our friends took a bus tour down to the next prefecture. The bus toured all over, to various tourist spots while driving though the mountains. We started out at 8:00 a.m. and were home at 7:30 p.m. It was a full day, but very memorable!

After a 3 hour bus ride we were dropped off at Aizu Wakamatsu train station. We took a scenic train tour that us to a famous straw roofed train station. I have never seen anything like it. On the inside there was a fire pit that continously burned to heat the station.

After seeing straw-roofed train station, we hopped back onto the bus, ate some lunch (good ole rice!), then headed to Ouuji. Ouuji is a town where all the houses have straw-roofs. It was pretty cool! The flags that you see flying in the picture are Koi fish flags that are hung every year for boys. May 5th is children's day in Japan and Koi fish are hung to encourage boys in strength and courage. In the spring koi fish swim up river and waterfalls, so parents hang koi outside to encourage boys to have strength and courage in life.

After visiting Ouuji, we went to this great place (I don't know the name) that had a suspension bridge that connected two mountain sides together. The water was aqua green and gorgeous. In the distance there was also a beautiful red bridge that you can see in the distance.

The last and MOST beautiful place we visited was Tsurugajo Castle. There were hundreds of cherry blossoms in full bloom and made this white castle look gorgeous. We walked around the grounds and looked at all cheery blossoms, we had ice cream and took our picture in kimono and samurai outfits. It was a wonderful day and is now ranked as one my most memorable trips.