Fukuoka to Kyoto

We got up early, and had a taxi take us all to Hakata station. There was plenty of time, so we had coffee first. Then we said goodbye to Steve and Kaori, and off we went.
First we took a Shinkansen to ShinYamaguchi, then changed to a two carriage diesel which chugged along to Yanago. There was some snow as we moved through Kyushu,

but on Honshu we went through the mountains, and had snow falling all the way to the coast at Hamada.



Even along the coast, there were snow showers, and drifts in sheltered corners. The scenery was similar to the north-west coast, rocky outcrops, tiny harbours and gardens squashed between the sea and the road.


At Yanago we picked up a second two-car diesel, which took us to Tottori, where we bought bowls of ramen soup from a kiosk on the station, then had to try to carry them onto the train. This was a third diesel, but this one had a great big front window.
Then we went through the mountains again, past the town of Ohara (thinking of Ros and Tony),

and suddenly there was no snow, and not long after we arrived in Himeji. I didn't know which route the train took, so it was a surprise to see the coast again.
From Himeji to Kyoto is wall to wall civilization - tiny houses squashed in between blocks of apartments and huge high rises. Not our sort of environment.

We got to Kyoto at about 18:00, took a cab to the hostel, then went for a walk to find somewhere for tea. We chatted online to Steve and Tim, and now it's nearly bed-time.