To Sasebo by Rustbucket

For Wednesday 12th October

How time has flown!!  Today we said goodbye the Goto Islands and returned to the mainland of Kyushu.  As our ferry to Sasebo wasn’t leaving until 10.50, we dawdled our way through breakfast and packing and ambled down to the port with loads of time to spare.  We were a bit concerned when we saw our ferry arrive!

Our ferry to Sasebo -  good grief!

The Goto Islands were very enjoyable and really exceeded our expectations.  The scenery was amazing, the see-through water was gorgeous and the people were very hospitable.  We enjoyed the more relaxed pace of the Goto lifestyle which is centred around the fishing industry, but we’re glad to be back to beds with mattresses, chairs with legs and easy-to-access Internet.

Sayonara Goto Islands

The ferry trip was rather sleep-inducing, so we stretched out on the seats on the outside deck and had a nap.  Sasebo is the site of an American Naval Base and we’ve discovered that there are a few hamburger places here!  With a sigh of relief, we disembarked from the S.S. Rustbucket and rode to our hotel which is only a couple of streets away from the port.

Navy Ships in Sasebo

We then went for a stroll down the main street and through the local shopping arcade, including a browse through the 100 yen shop.  I don't seem to be able to resist!

Church on the main road of Sasebo.

I couldn't face going up all those stairs on a humid afternoon!

Hair not shiny enough?

Back at the hotel, we had a nap, called home, then took ourselves off back to the mall for dinner.  The waiter proudly presented us with an English menu which made life much easier – and also gave us a giggle as “Caesarean Salad” was one of the items on offer.

While I’m typing, there’s an old movie on TV, with Mark Lester (of Oliver! fame).  It’s dubbed into Japanese and it’s quite hilarious to see this very pale little English face with Japanese words emerging from his mouth!  For some reason it didn’t seem quite so odd coming from Bruce Willis.

And so another day passes.  Sasebo doesn’t have a great number of touristy things to do, so we’ll be taking it easy tomorrow.