Shibushi Ramen and Obi Castle

Well, today's big rainy day was a bit of a dud. It did rain on and off, but the thunderstorms they promised never materialized and we found ourselves in a small town with not much to do. Most of the interesting things in Shibushi involved being outside, and with the constant threat of rain, it didn't seem like a good idea to head out to the countryside. We had planned ahead, for a change, and had some cereal and milk with us for breakfast. Unfortunately, we lacked the necessities of bowls and spoons. Scrounging around by the coffee station, we were rewarded:

Teacups, a spork, and a tiny paddle spoon. MacGuyver eat your heart out!

After organizing stuff for tomorrow, followed by more sleeping, we got ourselves up and out to get lunch at the locally famous hakata ramen restaurant, Maruchon, whose name is very close to the 20 cent ramen packets most college kids have survived on at one point.

This restaurant opens at 7:00am, because who doesn't have ramen soup for breakfast? We arrived right at noon, and the place was already getting busy with the lunch rush. We were expecting a diner, but instead

Traditional tatami booth and HUGE bowls of ramen

We ordered the medium bowl, and it was enormous. The noodles were thicker than typical ramen, there was fresh garlic and ginger at the table, and it was delicious. Very light broth, lots of stuff in the bowl. Neither of us could finish ours. Another glowing recommendation!

Not wanting to waste the day, we decided to take the train into Nichinan, a town north of Shibushi, where there is an area called Obi that has preserved old samurai residences and the castle keep dating back to pre-Meiji era. Shibushi happened to be the very last stop on the regional train line, and it is not a very big line.

One platform. One track.

"Wanman" (one-man) single car train

The trip, even though it was only about 25 miles, took about two hours. Arriving in Obi Station,

we walked through the rain about half a mile to the old town area. There were tourist signs all over and multiple museums. For 610¥ we could have accessed all seven of the local museums (a good deal), but we just wanted to walk around for a bit and see the sights

Ornamental Carp Swim Zone?

Translation: Koi in the channels by the road

Japanese manhole covers are really something

View of the castle gate. These roads have not changed for hundreds of years.

Renovated due to earthquakes, overzealous Meiji anti-Shogunates, and time

Stairs to an old training ground in the castle

Now filled with centuries-old trees

It was a nice afternoon, even though a lot of it was taken up on the train. Back at the hotel, we packed up and prepared to face whatever rain might still stick around tomorrow morning. We have about 50 miles to ride, rain or shine, to reach Miyazaki, the major city of the area, and there is at least one major mountain peak between here and there