A very curious gentleman

Day 4
Finally slept properly.

Breakfast was simple but you could eat as much as you wanted. Served in the kitchen (how quaint!) as self-service: rice, miso soup, pickles and tea. We had been warned the day before we could bring food in if we wanted.

A Japanese guest washed her dishes after breakfast and I did the same with ours. Apparently I didn't had to but I didn't want to look rude.

My hair and skin today are uber-soft. I had forgotten how good the water of Dogo Onsen is. If I lived nearby I would get an onsen a week, minimum.

We left early. Plenty of road to cover to get to Shimanto, stopping on the way in Ozu and Uwajima.

Ozu is a very quiet town. We parked not far from the castle and walked up the hill.

Like many castles in Japan, if not all, Ozu castle has been rebuilt several times, last time was in 2004, following the original XVII century model and with early techniques using no nails or concrete. Inside you can see several models of how the construction used to be done (with funny figurines), a model of the several layers of the roof (plenty of layers!) and a replica model of all the castle buildings in the past.

As usual castles are good for viewing the surroundings from the top floor. This one however had very steep stairs to get up which were a bit scary to descend.

You can see how the typical Japanese town is nestled in the valley surrounded by mountains. Cities are not pretty, they are modern looking with a majority of new concrete buildings and houses. However all all of those buildings have a mountain view. Uau!

From the castle, we descended to the river and the idea was to walk by the riverside until we get to Garyu Sanso villa, our next destination. We did so but not exactly as planned.

The riverside was deserted apart from an old Japanese gentleman smoking his cigarette who turned out to be very curious. He approached us and started speaking Japanese. Slight problem there as his English was extremely limited and our Japanese as well. Manuel had the idea of using Google Translate to communicate. The gentleman loved it!! He wanted to know where we came from, where we were going, what we were doing, told us he had found a French couple on the same spot a few years before and also engaged in conversation. The lot!

The funniest thing was that he was using Manuel’s mobile as a walkie talkie, getting his mouth very close to the mobile, talking loud and literally spitting the words on it. Hilarious! I was so grateful it was not my phone being covered in spit.

We eventually realised that Google Translate is limited and the more you want to converse the more it gets it wrong. The gentleman used very long sentences which doesn’t really help. We tried to tell him we were going to see the villa and he understood we wanted him to take us there… And there we went... with him.

We walked by the riverside as planned and alongside the city walls which we understood were actually flood defences, he showed us the big doors that would be closed in case of flood. We learned something we wouldn’t know if we hadn’t met him!

When we got to the stairs leading up to the villa we had another miscommunication. We were saying ‘thank you and goodbye’, he understood we wanted him to walk us up. And there we went again. He stopped half way through panting to tell us he was 80 years old and a bit old for so many stairs but kept going. I wonder if the smoking as anything to do with it as well.

Arrived at the entrance of the villa we thought it was going to finally be it. But no way! He took his shoes off, entered and presented us to the villa employee as a couple of Portuguese he had brought in to visit the villa. THEN he said goodbye, put is shoes on and went away. What a character!

Garyu Sanso villa was built in the late XIX century by a successful local family of merchants, when Ozu was a centre for manufacture and trade of wax extracted from plants. The interior cannot be photographed but it is exquisite and is inspired by the Imperial villa of Katsura in Kyoto. 

The garden is small with a even smaller door. 

It is very shaded and has a very bijou feel.

At the far end of the garden there is a pavilion on piles that overlooks the Hiji river, a very good location for afternoon tea and romantic evenings if I may say so.

Walking down through the old city we found Obanahan-dori, a street preserved since the XIX, lined with former merchant homes on the left and former Samurai homes to the right. It has a canal running underneath with pretty vases made from bamboo and carps swimming around. 

We were very excited with the carps and a Japanese lady started speaking to us. We quickly had to say ‘nihongo wakarimasen’ (don’t understand Japanese). She did not speak English so we left it there. We had had enough of Google Translate for a day.

Uwajima was our next destination because I was set into seeing the sex museum at the Taga Shrine. We had a bit of a problem however, we couldn’t find the shrine. We drove through very narrow roads, parked in private parking but the shrine was nowhere to be seen. In truth, it was also very hot and mucky and we did not feel like leaving the car and go hunting for this shrine for God knows how long. In the end, Tripadvisor reviews weren’t really that good and we weren't really that bothered.

Change of plans and we decided to drive down to the western cape of Shikoku, Ashizuri, where there is a hotel with an onsen overlooking the sea.

We drove through valleys and towns. Blue roofs are very popular in this area and I must say I really like them. So colourful and bright!

There is a lot of vegetation, plenty of pine trees and a lots of bamboo which creates a good contrast. The green of the pine trees and the yellow of the bamboos.

After 2h of driving and still far from the cape we decided to abort mission. It was getting late and we still had to drive through the Shimanto river valley to get to our next accommodation. So we left the pretty coastal road with aquaculture and headed off to the river.

Shimanto river is Japan's last free flowing river, it has no dams, the river banks are covered in pebbles and rich forests cover the sides of the river. Pure water flows along the length of the river. It is a beautiful sight indeed!

Driving through the narrow riverside road is an adventure. Slow driving is essential as it is actually a main road and being jealous of the extremely well positioned houses along the river side is unavoidable.

We followed the river to the sea, passing through Shimanto city, the quaint fisherman villages of Takeshima and Shimoda and all the way to the coast. 

We stopped at Tosaseinan Large Park. We went up an interesting looking observation deck over Dosaki cape, for an amazing view and good photos.

We could also see a slide. Manuel couldn't help himself and we had to go and see it. I barely managed to convince him that sliding down at sunset could be slightly dangerous. I had to promise to return tomorrow morning. All right!

The sunset was beautiful. Pity photos can't make it justice.

Looking at the map to see where our accommodation was we realised it was in the park and just next door from the slide. We now definitely have to return to the slide tomorrow!

Shimanto no Yado was our accommodation but on arrival all was written in Japanese so I had to show the booking confirmation on my phone and politely ask if we were on the right place. We were indeed! 

I didn't realise the hotel was this good when I booked it! Facilities are great and views are to die for.

I still don't know how I feel about reception staff wearing masks. Oh, the Japanese and their masks! Apparently to reduce the effects of hayfever... but indoors?!? Don't take me wrong, the lady in reception was very nice and polite and really went out of her way to help us (not many employees spoke English) but all I could read were her eyes, I never saw the rest of her face. Definitely mixed feelings about it!

We arrived almost on top of the deadline for dinner. We did not have dinner included but Jorge and Will were really tired after a very long day of cycling and needed food and bed quickly. So getting in the car and going out in town looking for a restaurant wasn't an option,

Will hadn't finished his shower and the reception lady was already knocking at our door wanting to know what we wanted for dinner as we had to place the orders asap. We decided what to eat en route to the hotel restaurant and sat waiting for the food.

Jorge and Will asked for an extra portion of rice, what they got was their rice bowls completely full,ours were at 3/4. Communication can be hard!

After dinner we went to the onsen as we had had no time before. I was surprised to see a few women in the onsen, I had assumed it was a bit too late for the average Japanese.

The onsen has 2 hot baths and 1 cold bath for anyone using the sauna. Windows were completely steamy as usual so I couldn't see outside. I had a very good bath and a shower and as I was leaving my curiosity gave way and I followed a women through the back door. And there the rotenburo (outside bath) was!

The outside space is quite spacious. There are beds to lay and a good sized rotenburo. It has a small garden and there is nothing better than soaking in a hot bath hearing the wind through the leaves. The trees are tall so I assume there isn't a view during the day, which is quite sinful considering the wonderful location of the hotel.

So after a great meal, 2 baths and 1 shower, off to bed I went.

Pilgrims tally:

For 1000 years, pilgrims have been traversing Shikoku island in a clockwise direction, stopping at each of the island's 88 sacred temples, 88 being the number of sins that the Shingon Budhist doctrine proclaims a man must cleanse himself of before he can achieve enlightenment. Pilgrims are easily recognised by their white clothes, conical straw hats and sticks with little bells.

I'm keeping a tally of how many we see on the road.

At the end of today it stands as 2/3 (2 Asian looking pilgrims to 3 Western looking pilgrims).