Tottori Sand Dunes - Beautiful sunset and starry sky

📌 Tottori Sand Dunes 📅 2023.04.20 The last stop of the trip was the Tottori Sand Dunes. Can you experience the feeling of running in the desert? I checked online and it seems that there will be some activities like YOGA on the sand dunes, paragliding, and camel riding, but I didn't seem to see anyone doing these all day. Maybe they are not held because there are too few people coming. 🤣 The only activity I saw was camel riding, but it seems that for the protection of animals, you can't ride it. You can only simply ride on it or stand next to it to take pictures. The charges for riding and standing next to it to take pictures are different. Camels are of a certain height, and to climb on they require a short ladder, but it feels fairly stable when you sit on it. I've heard that camels have a bad smell, but I don't think so. Maybe it's because I'm not seeing them in a zoo and there's no poop around, so they don't smell bad? I also tried the crane. I've never skied before, so it was my first time to ride a heavy crane. There were no fences, only a safety net under my feet. I wasn't too scared, but I was more nervous about getting on and off the crane. I was worried that I would be pushed down if I was too slow. Haha Sand dunes are probably the place with the least light pollution among all the other places. In order to catch the chance to watch the sunset and the stars here, we arranged our accommodation nearby (another reason was that the last bus out of the city would be gone before sunset). It should be noted that the accommodation found nearby on the Internet is either right next to the sand dunes but without bathing facilities, or a farm stay 20 minutes' walk away. Because I had to go back to Hong Kong when I woke up in the morning, I had to have a place to take a shower, so I chose to stay at a farm stay. There are pear orchards all along the way from the sand dunes back to the farm stay. Everyone here grows pears. If the season is right, there will probably be some families staying here and picking pears in the pear orchard. However, we came at the wrong season, so the road was deserted. It was probably the most rural place I have lived in Japan for such a long time. There were not many people following the car, so it was quite comfortable to walk. It was just that I would not dare to walk alone at night. The owner of the farm stay is a young mother with two children. Check-in is very casual. We planned to put our things down before going to the sand dunes, but there was no one at the farm stay. There was only a note left by the owner saying that she was out. So we also left our luggage and a note explaining that we were going out to play. We went back to check in before watching the sunset. When we got back, the hostess had already placed our luggage in the room. We felt embarrassed to carry such heavy luggage. The farmhouse has small houses on both sides, one for their family and the other for guests. Because we were the only ones booked that night, we didn’t have to worry about disturbing others when we walked to the shared washbasin, etc. (The walls of Japanese houses are made of paper 🤣) And then I saw the real kotatsu for the first time in the room! ! ! (I tried it out of curiosity at night, and after climbing in, I really didn’t want to climb out. Although it was a bit cold at night, it was a pity that it was not yet time for the heater to be used☺️) After failing to watch the sunset a few days ago, I finally succeeded this time! Still, it was so touching to see the sight of it falling on the horizon. I stayed a little longer until the sky got darker to look at the stars. Apart from the lights facing the sea, there were not many lights around. After dark, I could see many stars by looking up! I tried to take a picture of the starry sky, but failed. There were only a handful of people there, and most of them left after sunset. We were the only ones who stayed there after dark, and it felt like we were being thrown into the desert for adventure. The wind at night gets colder and colder, so if you want to see the stars, remember to bring an extra coat to keep warm. Also, if your night vision is not as good as mine, you should bring a flashlight. The sand dunes are mostly sloping and downhill, so it would be very dangerous if you make a mistake and go down a steep downhill slope. Also, restaurants and other places close around 5 or 6 o'clock, so you probably won't have anything to eat after watching the sunset. Fortunately, it seems that most convenience stores in Japan are open 24 hours a day no matter where you are. The bad news is that in these rural areas, convenience stores are also far away. After watching the stars, we waited for a long time for the bus which was almost about to stop running, bought dinner at a convenience store about 20 minutes’ walk from our accommodation, and then walked back to the farm to eat. Because I bought a round-trip ticket to Osaka, I started my journey back to Osaka the next day. The journey took about three hours. I had a meal on the way, changed trains at Osaka Station and watched the Osaka Police Band perform. When I got to the airport, it was just in time to check in. I can praise myself for arranging the itinerary time perfectly 🤣 #Tottori #Tottori #Sand dunes #Sunset #Starry sky #Tottori Sand Dunes #Sign up for hotel test sleeper