This is a draincover from just outside Tottori City in Tottori Prefecture. It shows the major tourist attraction of the area, the Tottori Sand Dunes.
The dunes cover an area of almost 30 sq k, but is decreasing due to several man-made (read bureaucrat-made) factors. Often referred to as desert, this is simply not true as there is too much rainfall.
The dunes were formed by a combination of ocean currents and prevailing winds. The sand was originally the Chugoku Mountains to the south.
The dunes get about 2 million visitors a year, mostly Japanese. Very early in the morning is the best chance of seeing the ripples in the sand before they are wiped out by the hordes of tourist tracks.
The highest dunes are about 90m, and do offer nice views over the coast.
That's amazing... I'd never heard of these before. I really hope to see them before they're all touristed out (I realise the irony implicit in that statement). We have a similar structure (though on a much much smaller scale) here in South Australia. Still... 90m high sounds incredibly tall.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Incredible. I didn't know about them too.
ReplyDeleteSuperbe et impressionnant!!!
ReplyDeleteEn France nous avons la dune du Pilat dont la hauteur varie en permanence entre 100/115 mètres de haut...