The White Heron Castle

Feeling a bit jaded after yesterday’s exertions, we had a bit of a lie in, skipped the hotel breakfast which had not been particularly exciting, and instead had a very pleasant one of smoked salmon rolls and pastries in the French-themed cafe, Vie de France at the station, before catching the bullet train to Himeji, a forty minute ride away.

On arrival, the castle peers down at you from the far end of the wide main avenue that leads from the station. It is one of the few remaining original Japanese castles, most of them have been rebuilt or restored  having been destroyed by fire, earthquake or wars, and its nickname derives from the distinctive white walls.

It is also very popular! Having been cunningly designed with narrow gateways, a maze of passages and unscalable fan-shaped walls to withstand attacks from enemies, it was never actually attacked. However, the hordes of tourists that now descend upon it now find themselves winding their way slowly through said doorways and passages and bottlenecking at the numerous steep wooden stairways. We gave up after the 3rd floor and headed back down. It is far more impressive inside than out to be fair.

Also attractive were the Koko-en gardens next door (in extras).

By early afternoon we were beginning to fade so headed back on the train, armed with a late lunch of sushi picked up at the station, and got packed ready for moving on again tomorrow.

For dinner we went back to sample more of the array of dishes at the restaurant from two nights ago. On the way back from the hotel our waitress from last night came running out from a different restaurant where she seemed to be doing a shift tonight, just to say hello. It’s typical of the charming and friendly way we’ve been treated throughout our trip.