Destination - Iwate Prefecture! (part 2)

 The show must go on - day 3: Bus stops are our friend. 

Yes, bus stops are our friend, unfortunately not many buses stop at them. Today's plan is to visit the Takamura Kotaro Memorial museum. The problem is that there is no bus stop near that location. So, we get off at this stop and we'll walk 4 kilometers to the museum. Of what fun!

Well, there is an upside to this situation, the country side is beautiful. The walk goes by quickly because we're surrounded by golden fields of rice and the sky is full of wonderful clouds.

We're on the right track, the sign says it's only 1.5 kilometers to go!

The walk would probably be even quicker if I didn't keep stopping to take pictures.

We are not alone.

We are in the middle of nowhere and suddenly we arrive at the sports center where parents are watching their children play soccer. 

It's not far now! We're only a few minutes away!

So, here's what happened. We arrived at the museum and the first thing we asked the staff was where is the nearest bus stop to take us to Hanamaki city; where we plan to eat lunch. The staff kindly informed us that the nearest bus stop was the same one where we started. We will need to walk 4 kilometers back to where we started. After a quick check of the bus schedule on line and we will only have about 40 minutes to goof around the museum and then we'll need to return to the bus stop. Time is critical, if we miss the bus to Hanamaki city it'll be 2 more hours before the next one. And, lastly, there is no photography in the museum so I have no pictures to share. Sorry!

Information about Kotaro Takamura

On the road again! Heading back to the bus stop.

The clouds were so beautiful I decided to switch my camera to monochrome (black & white) for a little change.

I should probably use monochrome more often, I think this is nice.

Fortunately for us the weather is perfect.

Passing by a farmer cropping rice by hand.

I wanted to do a comparison of black & white versus color. First this scene in B&W.

Then switch the camera back to color and take the same picture. 

I tend to like the B&W picture a little bit better.

We made it back to the bus stop on time and after a nice bus ride out of the countryside and into the city of Hanamaki we arrived here. The bus driver told us this was the closest stop to the Maruakan building where we planned to have lunch. This place is like a ghost town, almost nobody on the streets.

The Marukan building is in the center of the picture, the restaurant is on the 5th floor. It's the top floor with all the windows. The town may be empty but the restaurant was packed! It was an excellent dining experience. Some information here

Day 4: The last day! Free time in the morning.

After breakfast we packed our bags and decided to visit the small gallery attached to the Oosawa Inn before checking out.

The gallery is the original Inn and it's on the other side of the stream. We have to cross this bridge to get there.

Looking through the trees one can see a riverside hot bath.

Walking around the gallery.

The gallery has many rooms, each room has many items from the old days.

At the entrance to this room is a kind of fisheye device that they recommend people to take a picture through it. So, we did.

On the way back over the bridge to the main Inn I took this picture of one of the outdoor riverside hot springs. Photography of a bath is frowned upon, but there were no people in comprising situations so I did it! 

This is an old photograph of the same bath. It was on display in the gallery.

One last picture of our Inn before we get on the free shuttle bus to the Shinkansen station.

Shin Hanamaki Shinkansen station. 

And, here comes our train! Time to go home.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Bonus shots from Yokosuka!