Japan - Day 11 - Matsushima Bay

We left Sendai reasonably early to catch an early boat trip around Matsushima Bay before the predicted rains came. We got there in plenty of time, parked our car at our hotel and walked to the pier. The boat tour was about an hour long, and you saw around 100 tiny islands. Very pretty.

After the boat trip, we walked around one of the two islands, which are connected by bridges to the mainland. It had some shrines and excellent views of the harbour.

Then we grabbed lunch at this fantastic ramen place, which was literally a shed in a couple’s front lawn with around five tables.

After lunch, we toured three temples from the Date Matasuma restoration period, founded by Date. We also visited the second island, which was much more extensive and had far more to see.

Then we walked back to our hotel. We stayed in a lovely traditional hotel overlooking the bay and tried the private onsen baths. The bath was great, and it had a fantastic view of the bay.

We were still full from lunch for dinner; we just got food from 7-Eleven and had some drinks at the hotel.