Thursday, May 25, 2017

(Japan Oct 2016) Day 5: Visit Kurashiki. Stay Okayama

Day 5 (4 Oct 2016): Arima onsen to Okayama. Visit Kurashiki. Stay Okayama.

In the morning of this day, we took a train (with a few transfers along the way) from Arima onsen to reach Shin-Kobe station. Then from Shin-Kobe station, we took a Shinkansen to reach Okayama station.

Boardning train at Arima onsen station. It is a non-JR train, so you cannot use your JR railpass for the journey between Arima onsen to Shin-Kobe station.

Transferring to the Shinkansen at Shin-Kobe station.  If you notice carefully, the trains on the platform at this station is curved and tilted.

We then deposited our luggage at our hotel near Okayama station, then headed out again to take a short train ride to Kurashiki.

A few years ago (Nov 2011), I visited Kurashiki with my cousin M, but this is the first time my hubby would be visiting Kurashiki.  
It is a nice town to spend a few hours strolling through the streets of Kurashiki if you happen to be at Okayama.

Okayama station



From Okayama station, it is just a short 17mins train journey on local trains via either the JR Sanyo line or JR Hakubi line to reach Kurashiki.  
Arrival at Kurashiki station


From Kurashiki station, it is about 15mins walk through the sheltered shopping streets to reach the canal area in Kurashiki.  I still remembered that Cousin M and I kinda got lost in these streets during our 1st visit to Kurashiki back in 2011. Haha.  






Ahh, a familiar sight.  I recalled buying snacks from this shop in 2011 with my Cousin M, and this time round, I also bought some munchies here with my hubby.  



Finally managed to walk out of the sheltered shopping streets, and approaching the old town area.





Finally, we arrived at the canal area at Kurashiki.  
















Drinks being kept cool


After our visit to Kurashiki, we headed back to our hotel at Okayama.  
According to weather forecast, there seemed to be an approaching typhoon the next following day, therefore we decided to change our itinerary and just spend the next day shopping at 1 of the shopping malls near Okayama station, since we don't really want to venture out too far on a typhoon day.

I usually use JMA website to check for weather forecast and approaching typhoons during my Japan trips.  Weather in Japan can vary alot from day to day, so it is best to check up on the weather beforehand, so that you know what to expect.

For this trip, even though it is supposed to be the beginnings of autumn season, but the 1st half of our trip felt like summer, whereas the 2nd half of our trip felt like winter.  It felt as though autumn has been skipped over entirely.  
So for the first week, we felt extremely hot, while for the last few days of the trip, we felt extremely cold. 

Go next to Day 6: Okayama


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