Kotohira 琴平 + Iyakei 祖谷渓

8th October - 9th October

Today we take the local train to our next destination which is a more rural village of Kotohira further inland on the island of Shikoku. Quite why Inside Japan had picked this particular small village is not especially clear other than it is one of the island’s most famous tourist attractions which turns out to be a Shinto temple (think Torii gates and you’re there). This particular temple is at the top of a hill with a 1368 step ascent. A fact that seems to be the other reason for picking it.

We’ve been travelling around Japan for over a week now and, with our attention no longer solely fixed on what train or bus to catch, we start to take in details of everyday life that are different to home and yet so common here.

There is generally very little theft in Japan to the extent that if you inadvertently leave say your phone at the table of a cafe when you leave, it will still be there hours later when you go back to look for it. There is virtually no pickpocketing and if you were to drop something precious it is much more likely for someone to run after you to return it than to pocket it and walk on. The only exception is umbrellas! With a climate that can change a sunny day into a thunderstorm in an instant and then change it back to sunny again a few minutes later, you never know when you are going to need an umbrella. Rather than go to the trouble of carrying one around all of the time, there is always a rack of umbrellas that you can ‘borrow’ from. Once the rain stops then you simply return the umbrella to the next rack that you come across. Brilliant!

Another thing that is ubiquitous is the humble drinks vending machine and seemingly often in the most unlikely places. The drinks are priced low so that anyone can use them without worrying about breaking the bank. Apparently it is relatively easy to get a drink for free out of them by shaking them until the power switches off and the door swings open. Why, I hear you asking, is it so easy to cheat? Well, the thing about Japan is that it has a lot of earthquakes and when these are of a magnitude equal to three pissed Brits vandalising a machine there is a guarantee that at least stranded citizens will have access to fresh water and a few energy drinks. The Japanese are so socially conscious that they wouldn’t dream of taking advantage of the apparent weakness in the machine’s design.

We arrived before check in at the next hotel so we dumped our bags, had a simple but very good ramen type lunch and then took in some local ‘highlights’. Shown here is Japan’s oldest and very impressive kabuki theatre with the original building (now much refurbished) dating back to the start of the Edo period (beginning of the 16th century).

The sake museum was a little less impressive.

There was only one thing left to do before check in and that was to climb the steps!

Pauline and others in the party with knee, hip and feet issues take their time getting back to the hotel for check and I peal off to charge the ascent alone. As I walk up the constant aroma of incense reminds me of my bedroom as a teenager in London using the smell to mask from my parents the odour of other, shall we say, less legal burning substances and being naive enough to think that it was working.

At the halfway stage there is a bunch of temples as well as a slightly incongruous offering of a ship’s propeller in gold painted timber. All falls into place once I visit the neighbouring museum building to discover that the whole mountain is dedicated to the god of seafarers. Silly me for not realising that in inland mountain would carry such a meaning.

By now some others in the party had caught up with me as, for some unfathomable reason, they had bypassed the seafarers offerings museum. We pushed on to the top only to find that the views to the surrounding areas below were obscured by some overgrown trees. Where are those guys with leaf clippers when you need them?

We had become ‘the group within the tour group that always walked to the furthest point available on any place we visited group’. Catchy title huh?

Back at the hotel Pauline had checked in what was by far the best room of the whole tour. Beautifully fitted out in every detail. (Sorry, should have tidied the bed up before taking the photo🙄)

It’s hard to tell how long ago hotel bedrooms are in Japan because everything is so well looked after. The wear and tear is massively reduced by the rule that shoes have to be removed on entry into all rooms and most certainly before stepping foot on the tatami (matted floor covering).

The facilities in the room go on and on. The last surprise is our own private hot spring onsen bath complete with sliding screen to the outside world.

A surprisingly good day is rounded off with an included Kaiseki meal where we all dressed like locals in our dressing gowns!

We have been lucky with the weather so far as we have managed to avoid any significant rain. The next day is no exception with temperatures up in the high twenties Celsius. The humidity is high though so it is good that we are on an air conditioned bus for our trip to the Iya Valley today. A valley famed for its natural beauty with staggeringly steep gorges and thick mountain forests, a relief from the endless urbanisation at the north of the island.

First stop is for the grandly named Oboke River Pleasure Cruise. However, any connotations of luxury, entertainment and trip of epic proportions were quickly washed downstream as we boarded a dodgy plastic dingy with a stinky outboard engine and chugged slowly up the gorge.

We looked at some interesting 200 million year old sea bed rocks whilst we were forced to listen to an over loud tannoy that was playing a badly recorded English version of description as to what we were seeing. Banal would be a generous word to use in a review of the content.

Luckily we had ‘sitting on sharp stick’ to fill us in on what we would surely have otherwise missed. (For any US citizens reading, this is an example of sarcasm).

Within ten minutes the boat did a u turn and back we went. Hardly a cruise and, honestly, not a great deal of pleasure.

Next was the scary monster museum which, you’ve guessed it, was pretty lame and wasn’t even the tiniest bit frightening.

Lunch next which included fish on a stick. Delicious! Although the matcha tea jelly next to the orange was a bit weird in taste and texture.

We then went to look at and cross a rope bridge which would have been how the small local population would have moved across the river in the 12 century. Easily constructed and easily taken down if they wanted to stop any tourists coming in.

It was pretty cool except for the fact that the wisteria ‘ropes’ were not actually doing as much support work as the wound steel ropes were that they concealed.

The river bed below was much more pleasant and left us thinking that it would have been much more rewarding to have walked along that for a while rather than visit the not very scary monster show or sit on the not pleasure cruise plastic boat.

There’s always an opportunity for a good group photo though which is nice.

We saw some nice scenery from the bus window as we whizzed back to base which this left me thinking that it’s all well and good being on a group tour to see more places than you would alone but blimey, some days are so rushed that you feel like you haven’t really seen a place at all.