Amanohashidate

Yes, that’s its name, and its one of the three most beautiful views of Japan, being the other two the islands of Sendai and the Gate of Hiroshima.

The sand pit of Amanohashidate is known for its 1.5 kilometers length filled with pine trees and a beautiful blue sky. I didn’t have prepared going there but one day after one of those parties I remember that it was really close to where I was staying (around 2 hours) so I just woke up, but my cameras in my bag and headed towards north.

Taking the JR line from Kyoto station it took me like 1.40 minutes to realize that I pretty much didn’t know where my stop was or even if I was in the right train, so I asked one guy in the smoking area (not that I smoke, but it was on the way to the bathroom) so of course this guy didn’t speak any english nor spanish but the point is that he kind of gave me directions and for my comfort he was correct, so I got off at this station which I don’t remember its name and headed towards the tourist office.

The lady at the stand gave me some directions and told me that the best to do in Amanohashidate is to climb the two hills from where you’re supposed to see the sand pit. So I climbed the south hill, it was actually pretty close to the train station, in fact the whole town was quite small, anyway I had to hop in one of this chairs that carry you up (I don’t know its name), and the fun part is that there wasn’t any belt to protect you, you just had to hold up with your hands.

Once up there the idea is that you turn your back towards the sand pit then you open your legs and you bend and look between them (yeah I know, kinda kinky), and so of course I did that though I didn’t notice anything special, so I climbed down, took a ferry and went to the other side essentially another island just connected by this sand pit.

Again I climbed up this mountain but now by foot because it was not that far, again the view was nothing special. However things got more interesting on the way back, I decided to walk along the sand pit, go to a nice restaurant for a hearty lunch and then back to Kyoto.

While I was walking along the row of pine trees the clock hit 5.00 pm, it was a nice hour, you know the sun is striking from the side instead of from the top and hence you can get really nice pictures, but anyway I got to the bathing area and that was striking so much that I decided to spent a few minutes there (even though I was running out of time because the last train was around 7 and I havent had lunch yet). Anyway in the sand pit I took my shoes and socks off and went in the water, it was at a perfect temerature, it had barely any waves like if it was a lake, the sand was beautiful, I think added to the fact that I was all by my self (there was people around me but not with me), I was in the other side of the world with nice water on my feet, all that made the place be one of the best of my trip.

Uh! I forgot to mention, I like company when I travel, but I always enjoy travelling alone.

When I left the sand pit I said “I am alone it has been a beautiful day, I am going to have a nice meal in front of the sea in the best restaurant I see”, so I saw this beautiful place and went in for my surprise it was only a café and they didn’t have any food, so I was there starving with an over priced glass of cold red wine (still don’t know why they serve it cold). After “enjoying” my self in front of the sea I took off went right into the next convenient store, bought my self a bowl of cold udon and hop into the next train towards south.