TL;DR – It is time to take my second big travel day deep into the south of Japan
Disclosure – I paid for my flights, accommodation, entry, and everything you see purchased in this article.
Exploring Japan –
I had always planned to go back to Japan one day, and had started making plans to go back in 2020. Then, well, 2020 happened. But late last year, I finally had the chance to put those plans back in motion as I flew out of Melbourne for Osaka, and thus my time in Japan began.
After the existential dread of looking down the central core of my Hiroshima hotel, it was time to start one of my big travel days deep into the south of Japan, to a place I have never visited before.
Instead of getting one big JR Rail Pass this time, I did so because that got extremely expensive since last time I was in the country. I had purchased two local rail passes that overlapped in exactly one city, Fukuoka, Kyushu. So, that was my destination today, but not my final destination. Also, my apologies to the train conductors for getting a touch too close to take this photo; I had not realised I had crossed the yellow line.
While I had been to Japan before, I had never been south of Hiroshima, and I had never been off Honshu before, so this was all a new experience as I dived into new territory.
I thought I was prepared for train stations after my previous trips, but Hakata Station did test me as I tried to find the exchange to pick up my Kyushu pass. I think I went in laps for an age, before a nice lady at the tourist office pointed me in the right direction. [Hint: it was right behind where I was standing]. I was not able to spend a lot of time in Fukuoka, but I did want to have a look, on what turned out to be a very damp day.
As I arrived, they were starting to put up the decorations for Christmas, and I did like the Mario-themed Christmas Tree.
But if I was going to be in Fukuoka, I did want to do a bit of shopping, and I spent more than a small amount in the local Pokémon Centre.
Then it was time to get back on the train, this time heading due south to my base of operations during my time here, Kumamoto.
It was a long day, but thankfully, there was a shopping centre right next to the train station, so once I had situated myself in my hotel, it was time to have some MOS Burger for dinner. That orange drink was a seasonal special, and can I say it was delightful. The perfect end to a long day.
