We moved on from Fukuoka along the northern coast to explore some more remote areas. The journey along to Matsue was lovely, with the train tracks often right on the edge of the sea. On arrival we stayed in the Terazuya Ryokan which turned out to be our best accommodation experience of the trip so far. Not only did we have a vast room to spread out in, out hosts were wonderfully friendly. When we came down for breakfast in the morning the mother demonstrated the elaborate Chinese Tea ceremony for us. Later her son showed us how to write our names with Japanese calligraphy pens and the father sang some incredible old songs which were all about Sake. It was great fun, and a treat to find people so enthusiastic to share their culture.We also had fun exploring their town, with it`s castle and moat. We went for a boat trip around the lake which turned out to be a bit surreal. You can see from the pic that we went under some very low bridges which meant the roof had to come down so we could squeeze through. Our fabulous guide also decided he would sing for us, which also brought the roof down...