Nishigawa Canal Park

We caught the train to Okayama the next day and arrived midafternoon. We planned to spend the next two days with our friends Mikki and Sumi so I hadn't made any plans. I consulted Google and discovered that there was a a park nearby, and since it was a good day to take a walk we headed out.

We walked up a busy street for several blocks until we came to a canal lined with trees and benches. It seemed we had arrived. We could go left or right along the canal. Left was the easiest option because it meant we wouldn't have to cross that busy street.

As we wandered along, the grassy area beside the canal became narrower. The shops lining the street were a bit rundown, and some of the people sitting on the benches looked rundown, too. Then a woman with a somewhat concerned expression on her face approached us and indicated that we should walk in the other direction. How right she was! On the other side of the busy street, lights had been strung across the water. It was beginning to get dark, and when they came on, everything looked very festive.

The shops at this end of the canal looked much more appealing. We played with our camera and enjoyed the holiday atmosphere.

We walked until we came to some tall apartment buildings and a park with beds of brightly colored flowers.

As the day turned to night, the temperature fell, and we headed back to the station to find some dinner. Many of our friends had questioned our sanity when we told them we were going to Okayama, but walking along the canal had been a lot of fun.