Sado Island (3 Nights)

We will soon learn that most of the places in Sado were closed on Sunday and Monday.
Not much choices, so for the first dinner, we went to a yakiniku place 2 blocks from our guest house.
Very reasonable meal although we were all smelling like well marinated smoked meat by the time we left. Back to the guest house for laundry.
Picked up some cute cherry size persimmons from the super market.

Still missing the Ikura in Murakami, so needed to make up for it here in Sado, known for their fresh seafood. Buri seems to be in season and the fried Aji was also good.

The last native Toki (crested ibis) passed away in 2003, so technically the toki is extinct in Sado. The center has since acquired tokis from China, rearing them to lay eggs, and hatching them and reintroducing tokis into the wild.

Soba for dinner sounded good after many big meals the past few days.
Not sure if we should be surprised that it turned out to be another big set.
Interestingly, it turned out to be their local udon, flat (like mee pok) and kneaded with seaweed, as such dark green.
The best karaage of the trip. Well fried, full of prawns, pumpkin, salmon... instead of fillers. All seasonal starters were also spot on, shredded crab, seaweed, sweet potato, etc

Rained the entire night. Nice to see the morning sun, even if it was only for awhile. Chilling with coffee in the guest house while looking out to sea.

Was difficult finding an early breakfast. Most places were only open past 10am.
Interesting that we eventually landed upon a Spanish cafe in Sado.
Enjoying the cosy cafe by a friendly couple before braving the rain again.

Coastal drive along the rugged coast line. Sado has been designated a geological park with numerous geological formations across the island. Big winds and big waves gives it a more dramatic feel.
Stopping at the view point for Tsubakio Benten Rock. A sacred rock formation on the southwest coast of Sado Island that is said to resemble Benzaiten (guanyin) playing the biwa.

A google map POI caught my eye while we were on the road. A brief stop at this interesting water top-up station. They do bulk sale of 5 types of water.
Station was closed on Monday, we managed to buy a bottle from their vending machine.

We drove to the Tub-Boat station near Ogi port, but did not like the environment. Seems weird to be tubbing in a commercial harbour area.
Drove further to Taraibune and found a much nicer backdrop with the Yajima bridge. Roads into Taraibune area were single car width, I guess that's what prevent bus loads of tourists there.

Short walk to the Ya Island where Teijiro Yamamoto's former villa stands (佐渡ヶ島・矢島旧山本悌二郎別荘), facing the Sea of Japan.

By now, we know that finding food in "off-peak" days in Sado is tough. After a few misses, we chanced upon this very cute cat cafe that serves only 1 dish , Japanese curry soup.
Yummy food and a friendly resident cat.

As you climb the flight of moss covered stone steps, you can immediately feel the air of mystery, calm, tranquility and power among the towering cedars.
Founded in 808, Seisuiji’s main worship is the 1,000-armed Kannon Bosatsu (Goddess of Mercy) and one of the temples on Sado's Seven Gods of Fortune pilgrimage route.
No momiji yet. The 1000 year old ginko stands in full green. The maples partially covering the temple still looks like many scenes out of Studio Ghibli animes.

After 15 mins of steep winding roads, we found the viewpoint.
Amidst the strong chilling winds and rains for the past 2 days, we were given 15 mins of clear skies and sunshine when we arrived.
What's still missing are the flooded paddy fields, to complete the postcard view where the paddy fields joins the sea and mirrors the sky.

Lazy morning ... breakfast in and clearing photos on couch. Thank you for preparing a nice healthy breakfast.

Visit to the ruins of the abandoned plant site that supported the Sado gold mine.
Had lunch at Kitazawa Terrace which overlooks the Kitazawa plant site. The hamburg of Sado black pork was very tender and yummy.

Worth the visit to get a sense of the complexity of the gold mine and quite mind- boggling on how they dug the longest 400km tunnel.
The various exhibits were converted from 2 old tunnels, very creative with robots and such, showing all the different roles in the mining industry.
Within the museum building, a chance to put your hands on a 12.5kg gold bar. A short walk to the open-pit mine and a viewpoint showing how much they dug such that the mountain split into 2. Worth at least 1.5 hours or more here.

Strong wind and waves !!! So strong that the fisherman did not go out to sea today, and as a result the restaurant at the guest house could not make arrangements for dinner as there were no local ingredients.

We tried twice to call/knock-on the yakitori place next to the guest house unsuccessfully. No choice, but to drive out to try our luck.
By now, we are learnt that everything needs at least 2 days advance booking here.
We tried to walk in to an Italian restaurant Ortonome (オルトマーレ)

They couldn't take us as they did not have extra ingredients for 5 pax. However, the couple was so sweet that they helped call at least 4 other restaurants before eventually finding some place for us. Saved us going hungry that night.
Definitely on our watchlist to eat at Ortonome one day.