TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

Japan, Niigata and Yamagata Prefectures, Kairi Joyful Train Ride This blog post describes my experiences taking a tourist train for the first time. The trip was in August 2023 when I traveled to Niigata Prefecture for the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival. A sign in Car No 3 of the Kairi Train, Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan (2023) ****************** Watching train documentaries on Japan's NHK World Channel, I had always wondered what it would be like to experience a ride in one of Japan's so-called tourist trains. The opportunity to actually ride on one presented itself when I visited Niigata Prefecture in August 2023 to attend the Nagaoka annual Fireworks Festival. I extended my stay in Niigata by an extra day and night so that I can actually catch a ride on the Kairi Tourist Train. The icing on the cake was that my 7-day Japan Rail Pass allowed me to ride on the Kairi in Car 1 without any additional charges. I just need to make a reservation in advance. I originally intended

Currently in the midst of my 27-days Pan-Asia 2023 trip, I have been regularly recording my travel experiences on a daily basis. Due to patchy internet connectivity during large parts of my trip, I have mostly return to the "old ways" of recording events of my voyage, using the traditional pen-and-paper method.  As I am currently traveling with a bunch of my favourite fountain pens and journaling notebooks, this method has proved to be a reliable way for me to record and capture my daily adventures faithfully before fading memories fog out the details. In my current travel, I have been moving from city to city, lugging all my belongings with me. It was a tiring experience and one that is not really enjoyable. Nevertheless, I got to see and experience more things that I would otherwise be able to. In a day trip to Tsuruoka in Japan's Yamagata Prefecture, I managed to get a little off the beaten track and witnessed for myself the raw beauty of Japan's natural heritage a