Day 5
Very loud sound of music
mixed with voices all over the hotel. For God sake, it's 6am!
I have no idea what that
was but considering we only saw elderly guests I assume that's the early rise
call for them to go to the onsen before breakfast. Why everyone else needs to
wake up at the same time eludes me completely...
Jorge and Will skipped
breakfast today, it was going to be taken en route. Breakfast was at 8am and
they wanted to leave by 7-7.30am because they had a long ride ahead again.
Manuel went to the onsen.
I had 2 baths the previous evening so I passed it.
We had kaiseki breakfast
just like dinner. Kaiseki is the traditional Japanese cuisine. It involves
meticulous preparation of the ingredients and beautiful presentation. Usually consists
of several courses, some have so many courses you can't eat them all. Hotels
and ryokans tend to have the right amount to get you full without being
extremely expensive. Last night kaikeki dinner cost ¥1700 per person (£12, €14,
$15), an extremely good price for an amazing meal.
It may not come across in
the photos but this breakfast was quite filling.
A few photos of the hotel inner patio and mountain
view before leaving:
We checked out and headed
to the slide. No, Manuel did not forget about it…
The slide is in a
children’s play area. It is quite small for Manuel’s frame so instead of
sliding down he had to push himself down in the flatter areas and his thighs
got stuck on the bends so it looked like he wasn’t making much progress. He
still enjoyed it!
Heading to Kochi on route
56. The first part of the route is quite scenic and goes near the sea. We went
through a fishing village called Usa and it had a banner saying 'Welcome to
USA'. Funny!
If we had continued on the
coastal route it would have been much prettier but it would have taken us
longer. So we continued on the 56 to Kochi and headed into more populated
areas. Luckily we took the wrong turn twice and had good surprises.
The first time we headed
through a very coastal road and stopped by the side of a car with a man inside
that was having a nap on the sun. It was a very good spot for photos and photos
we took.
The second time we found
unattended food stalls with honesty boxes. I had seen them in the UK, specially
by the gates of farms, but had not seen them before in Japan. Japan however is
probably the best country to have them as when honesty is concerned they have
no rival. There was of course a drinks vending machine by it.
The brioches looked interesting and we took the
last bag (yes, we paid for it!). You can safely assume they had a filling. In
Japan, 9 out of 10 pastries have a filling. Japanese don’t like simple and
don’t do bland! Adzuki bean past it was and very tasty they were.
Katsurahama beach near
Kochi is long, sandy and lined with pine trees. There is a massive parking near
so we can safely assume it is extremely popular in Summer. There are a few
souvenir shops but the main square is in need of renovation.
Katsurahama is also known
for holding contests between Tosa fighting dogs, the Centre for this is on the
main square. On arrival to the beach the Aquarium is the first think you see,
the facilities aren’t that big and the only seal that can be seen from the
outside was circling a tub too small for its size. What else can I say: animal
welfare isn’t a priority in Japan… sad.
It’s considered one of
Japan’s most beautiful beaches. It is nestled between Ryuzu Cape and a mount
with a Shinto shrine. It’s pretty but I have seen better.
From the top of the shrine
you can see the next beach, Highashiminamiura, which is even longer. By its
side runs the road that took us to Katsurahama. One would assume that this road
would have big houses lining it with wonderful sea views. I must disappoint you
by saying that it is actually lined with graves, cemetery after cemetery. Death
seems to provide the best view in Japan!
I had to get my feet wet.
After all, I was on the beach in the Pacific! I was so distracted trying to get the best shot
of my feet that I completely missed a bigger wave and got my shorts wet. There
was a small scream, laughter from a few Japanese and Manuel completely ignored
me, texting away on the shade of the pine trees.
It takes half an hour to
get to Kochi from Katsurahama beach. We parked the car in a parking building
near the castle and walked into the nearby arcades looking for lunch.
Manuel got a sushi box as
usual. He keeps complaining the street food sushi doesn't have fish, it's all
vegetarian He is extremely happy with the price thugh, around ¥500 (£3, €4,
$4.4). How can you expect fish at that price?!?
I got fried fish. A
different twist on a bag of fries but a bit too greasy for me.
Kochi castle is very
similar to any other castle in Japan. I was hoping we could see the sea from
the top of the castle but as we reached the top of the hill and got to the
(paid) entrance of the castle, we realised we were not going to see the sea.
What you can see from the top of the castle is the same you can see from the
top of the hill: Kochi city laying in a valley surrounded by mountains.
Ok, we decided
to descend the hill through the garden and head on to our accommodation.
Now we were
going to leave cities and the coast behind and head off to the mountains. As
the roads started getting narrower and less busy and the forest thicker, the
temperature started to drop. It's always cooler in the mountains.
Mountains
followed by valleys where rivers run, mist on the top of the mountains, clean
and fresh air, colours of dark and light green mixed with golden and light
brown, roads zig-zagging around the valleys and many many tunnels. Japan is a
group of very mountainous islands. If it weren't for the numerous tunnels
that run under the skin of this country, travelling would be a very difficult
and lengthy mission.
Finding our
accommodation wasn't easy. No sign by the side of the road. Google Maps
wasn't getting enough 3G signal. We had to follow the GPS and it wasn't very
helpful. The road leading to the accommodation was extremely narrow and steep
and had uncovered gutters on both sides of the road. Jorge had sent a text
earlier warning about the road but we thought he meant the main road. No, he
did not! There were some moments of fear, specially on the last bend which felt
like it was impossible to be done without putting one of the wheels in the
gutter but we got there eventually. I am so thankful there were no incoming
cars!
Japanese
Eco-Guesthouse Kunelasob will be our home for 2 nights. It is a traditional
Japanese house in the middle of the mountains with views to Yoshino
river valley and Oboke Gorge. Toilet facilities are shared, there's no bath/shower (access to
local onsen is included), breakfast and dinner are included and are vegan. It
was Will's choice and one of our most expensive accommodations, ¥10800 per
person per night (£74, €87, $95).
I was really
curious to find out if it was worth the money. The views to the valley are
to die for. It's worth the money just to have a balcony with that view.
Jorge and Will
had been waiting for us for a while and although they had had plenty of tea the
truth is that they were cold and in need of an onsen. So up the narrow road we
went again (less scary on the way up) and to the local onsen which was in Hotel Obokekyo Mannaka in Oboke, 15min drive away. The onsen has a bath and sauna but I couldn't
get the sauna door open. There was another door near the sauna but I assumed it
couldn't be opened as well so I did not try. This was one of those times it
actually pays off to be nosy. It was the door leading to the rotenburo (outdoor
bath), which according to the boys was very close to the main road and anyone
in a truck could see inside... Could have been interesting!
Dinner was in
the common room. There was also a English couple and a Japanese couple staying
at the accommodation and we had dinner all together at the same table.
There are no
words to describe how good the food was. It was amazingly delicious! All vegan.
Even the dessert was vegan. I wasn't expecting this to be so good!
The Japanese
gentleman had brought in a shochu bottle. You are allowed to bring any drinks
you want. Water and tea are included (free of charge) and there is beer in the
fridge (which you pay extra for). The shochu was offered to everyone and we all
had a bit. Shochu is a distilled drink, quite strong. It's difficult to have it
straight so it's best to have with cold or hot water. It was a local shochu
make from chestnuts and it was very good.
Pilgrims tally:
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