Sand Dunes in Tottori

Howdy? It’s me! Mr. Wada on duty! Why so high? It’s summer. Not like pros though, I and Mrs. Wada have been trying outdoor stuff last few years. Now, time for camping has come.

Camping in Tottori

Camping in Miyajima, which we tried two years ago, was quite something. It was a great way to save up as well (a rental tent for 4-5 people costed only like 2,000 yen). If you are interested, you can check the details below.

 

This year though I’d thought of camping somewhere nearby during one of the holidays, but we want to visit the Sand Dunes and the Sand Museum in Tottori Prefecture.

Then the same idea as our Miyajima (camp) trip came to my mind.

“Why not visit and camp in Tottori?”

 

Drive up to Tottori Prefecture

We drove up towards north from Okayama.

 

The weather wasn’t great, very unstable at first. However, after passing through the mountain roads it cleared up. Yeeey!

drive01

Depressing

drive02

 

drive03

Relaxing

 

Explore Central Tottori

After 3-hour drive, we got to Tottori. The city itself looks rather small. We were in the central but kinda quiet.

cantral02

Downtown, Tottori City

 

Wow, official skateboard field. Skateboarders can’t be bad here (it’s only my impression of them. Sorry)

central02

 

The First Starbucks in Tottori Prefecture

Hey look at that, this is the first Starbucks store opened in Tottori Prefecture recently. It was on news because Tottori was apparently the last city to have a Starbucks store in Japan (I remember the first Starbucks store opened in Okayama, in mid 90s).

starbucks_tottori_01

Front

starbucks_tottori_01

Drive Thru

starbucks_tottori_03

Seats outside

We decided to take a break and grab some coffee.

starbucks_tottori_04

We had a little unexpected encounter. As I entered the store, an employee was handing the menu out. He looked at Mrs. Wada and seemed to realize something. Mrs. Wada also realized something. I had no idea. It turned that he used to work at a Starbucks store in Okayama where we normally hang out, so he remembered us! Wow.

He told us that he was transferred in this branch a month ago. I don’t know how long he would stay in Tottori but I wished him good luck. It was a nice surprise anyway. Quite unexpected though.

starbucks_tottori_05

Dog-friendly!

 

We like visiting Starbucks Concept Stores lately. Know what they are? Please check this post if you are interested.

 

Sunaba Coffee

Oh by the way, actually there IS another well-known cafe before the Starbucks, it is called Sunaba Coffee. Many Japanese call Starbucks “SUTABA,” and this is SUNABA……..well, it’s obviously a silly joke (Sunaba means sand pit. I kinda think it’s smart that it is still related to sand!). This place also has been featured on many TV shows, so we wanted to take a look at it but it seemed even busier than the Starbucks! How weird…

sunaba

Sunaba Coffee

 

Lunch time

We walked around and found this place called Dora-Meshi. This place serves 500-yen rice bowls.

lunch01

lunch02

I picked this one. Stewed tender beef on rice.

 

lunch03

Mrs. Wada’s. Pork-don? I think.

Burp! It was delicious and gave us energy to continue our journey.

 

Drive down to Tottori Sand Dunes

Alright, now we are heading to the campsite and the sand dunes. The campsite is very close to the sand dunes, so our plan was to check-in at the campsite first and visit the sand dunes.

After driving about 15 min, we got to the campsite.

I can see the sand dunes already!

drive04

 

drive05

camp_site01

Hmp! Some people are intentionally blocking the parking space by their chairs!

It was still early, so we decided to drive around.

 

Sengan Matsushima (Geopark)

We drove down the road, then saw this sign.

drive061

Looks neat.

 

We followed the signs and got to this place called Sengan Matsushima. Let’s go take a look up there!

sengan_matsushima01

Sengan Matsushima spot – sign

 

sengan_matsushima02

path on the way to the spot

 

sengan_matsushima02

path

sengan_matsushima03

Sengan Matsushima view

Hmmm. It was harder than I expected….but see, it’s a worth trying. Beautiful!

 

Make Our Camp!

Alright, we headed back to the campsite to prepare our tent.

Yanagijaya Campground
Address : 1157 Hamasaka Tottori city
Tell : 0857-20-3227
Website: http://www.city.tottori.lg.jp/www/contents/1335848117565/

It’s admission free! But it doesn’t provide any tools, etc.  So be sure you take all you need for camping and stuff.

Yanagiya_campsite01

Camp site’s reception

Yanagiya_campsite02

Looking for a place for tonight.

Yanagiya_campsite03

Watching my men working hard

Yanagiya_campsite04

Done!

OK, now we’ve got a place to stay over tonight.

 

The Tottori Sand Dunes

Now what? We are off to the sand dunes!

sand_dunes01

A path to the sand dunes.

sand_dunes02

The map

sand_dunes03

See the sign saying “Be careful of heat stroke”?

 

sand_dunes04

It was after 16:00 but still hot….

sand_dunes05

Great view.

sand_dunes06

Starting point (it’s not going to be easy…)

 

sand_dunes07

My find! A Toy Story soldier guy… (I swear I didn’t make it up!!!!)

sand_dunes08

Almost there!

sand_dunes11

Sunset view from the top of sand dunes

sand_dunes10

Everyone is waiting for the sunset

sand_dunes09

Beach is just behind the sand dunes

sand_dunes12

It was as beautiful as we expected.

After that we visited a supermarket nearby for BBQ party.

super_market


Got food for BBQ and drinks. There is also a Family Mart across the street.

 

BBQ Time!

I found that I forgot to bring a portable lamp but it was pretty bright by the lights of other campers. Good relief.

Camping and BBQ party in Tottori

Had a great BBQ and fun talk. Our friend told us stories about his Boy Scout days. Interesting.

To be continued.



Booking.com

You may also like...

5 Responses

  1. ᐃᓄᒃ ᑭᕙᑖ says:

    You all look so happy! Must be the beer.

    The dunes and Sengan Matsushima look very nice

  2. Wren Diamond says:

    I love camping! It can be a little hard for foreigners to find information about them and to understand the rules for booking and paying. It would be awesome if you put together a post of top ten camping destinations – I’d read and share it with my foreign friends!

  1. 2016年5月19日

    […] was a cool night and no mosquito or bug got into the tent. I hurt my butt a little though.Camping in Tottori DAY 1: Sand Dunes and Starbucks – The Wadas On Duty It was rather early. We grabbed some food for breakfast and drove around until the sand museum […]

Leave a Reply