Tottori sand dunes

Took the limited express super Inaba train all the way from Okayama to Tottori which was included in our JR pass and took about 1.5-2 hrs to reach. 

After dropping off our luggages at Morris Green hotel Tottori which was next to the station, we went back to the station and took a bus that goes to the sand dune. We can’t use the IC card for the bus so we have to pay by cash when getting off.

Unfortunately, the sand museum was not opened when we were there and we did not see any camels around, guess we arrived during the off peak season?

We decided to walk to the edge of the sea passing by this pool of water called the Oasis which seemed quite dried up. 

View from the top.

The wind was quite strong and blowing sand everywhere. The sand dunes was not v big and can be easily finished walking in less than half a day. 

For me, I like the desolate landscape of the sand dunes. I had been to several sand dunes before such as the ones in Death Valley, Wadi Rum in Jordan and the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. 

View from the Oasis as the wind caused ripples through the water.

Back at the visitor center playing with this drink machine. It had interesting drinks such as banana chocolate latte and hoji cha latte. So cool~ think I spent some time trying out the several different drinks as it’s quite cheap at 100 yen each. Besides this interesting drink machine, we also managed to watch a documentary show of the sand dunes(in Japanese of course) inside the visitor center. 

For lunch, we went to the large souvenir store directly opposite the visitor center. There was a shop selling food such as chirashi don, kaisen don, etc. You just need to order the food at the entrance (where the cashier is) and then with the ticket, just pass to the server. Water and tea were self serviced and you are free to chose to sit anywhere. Feels like a canteen area more than a restaurant actually. We ordered the salmon don which was their recommended. My god! It’s the freshest salmon I ever taste. I can’t even describe the taste. Best salmon ikura don ever eaten!

Hubby was also very stunned at how fresh and good the salmon was. Haha...

After that, we went snacking around the souvenir stalls as there were many free samples put out for tourists to try. We ended up buying a lot of food....oh dear...

Directly just outside this souvenir shop was the bus stop to go back to Tottori Station. It was the same bus stop which we got off also as it was a loop bus. Think it cost about 460 yen for a single trip. 

The strong wind by then had turned into a even stronger wind and causing a sandstorm. Everyone was hiding inside the store waiting for the bus to come instead of waiting at the bus stop. 

Good bye Tottori Sand Dune~!