Golden Week: Shikoku part 1

Hello people! 

So I had arrived in Takamatsu in Shikoku, after a disastrous first day in Kobe. The 4 hours ferry ride was ok: I went to the 'women only' tatami room and tried to get some sleep without having to worry about my ass getting grabbed by some disgusting Japanese islander. By the way what if there are lesbians in the 'women only' rooms? Never though of that, right? 

After 3 1/2 hours they played a ridiculous pop song about how great the ferry company was - well I didn't get any of the words beside the name of the ferry company, but I guess the lyrics were laudatory. Can't imagine a choir singing "we're always late, we don't rebate, we have high mortality rate, and our fleet's from a balkan state"!

So, Takamatsu. The CS was waiting for me at the station and we went directly to their place. It was 1 am at that point, and I was just longing for a good night of sleep. But instead of that my CS asked me what were my plans for the day after, and he helped me build the perfect day. I wanted to go to the Iya valley, that is supposed to be wonderful. Though very hard to access without a private mean of transportation. Damn countryside! Can't they have highways and buses driving through? There was a train I had to take, then a bus, then I forgot. The Iya valley is famous for its かずら橋 (Kazura Bashi): weird hanging bridges, its nice river and one great onsen (hot water thermal source, AKA a spa). A day would be enough to see most of the things and go back to Takamatsu on the evening, so everything was fine. I had the timetables of the train, buses, even the price, and relative location of the onsen and the bridges. So I went to bed and got up early the following day. 

Statistically speaking, the odds were really high that I would screw up again. After the first day in Kobe, I had given up my hopes and dreams of enjoying myself and actually have a great vacation. Nothing indicated that my bad luck or stupidity would suddently reverse course or stop: but at least, I was aware that something bad was going to happen. And guess what? It did! 

So from what the CS told me, a one way train trip would cost about 15€, a stop in the spa about 10€, and buses and so wouldn't be expensive. So I had the equivalent of 60€ in my wallet, which should have been enough. Notice the 'should have been', suggesting the imminence of an unforseen event? 

When I got in the train and bought the ticket on board, the train clerk (by the way, did you notice that 'clerk' rhymes with 'jerk'? Coincidence? I don't think so) told me it was twice the expected price: 29€. Still tired, lacking strength and reactivity, I paid. Then I realised that it was f**** expensive and way not what I was told. I also realised that I didn't have money to pay for a return ticket, if I wanted to do everything I wanted to do and see that day. By the way, in case you were wondering, the ticket I had bought was just one way - I'm not that stupid.

Great way of beginning the day, right? So what did I do when I arrived in the tiny winy village of Oboke? What does a normal, decent human being accustomed to city life and its conveniencies do, when he needs money? Go to the nearest bank and draw money out. And what does a normal human being do when he needs money in the f**** middle of nowhere, on a national holiday? Yes, thank you damn Golden Week! Laugh. And cry. Of course the only ATM accepting foreign cards was the post office, and do you think they would be open on a national holiday? Mmmmh? 

Honestly, since I had already lost hope and faith, I suddently realised I didn't give a damn. I knew I wanted to see the bridges, walk a bit along the river, and go to the onsen. I would have liked to eat something at some point, but I told my stomac that food wasn't on the agenda. 

But if I could manage to do all this, I wouldn't be able to go home. And I did something that, I'm sure, you also do when you are out of resources: I postponed the resolution of the problem. Come on, I'll think about it later! Now I'll try to make the most of this lousy day. By the way did I mention it started raining? 

There is something that cheapos do when they want to travel without spending too much money. Something I had never done alone in my life, something that I knew is dangerous for solo women. Something that my parents warned me about. Something that I was dying to try. Hitchhiking! And guess what? It worked perfectly. I'm sure Japan is the only country in the world where a girl could hitchhike topless and still reach her destination without any problem. Try that in Pakistan!

So I hitchhiked. I showed my thumb, prepared my best smile and waited 5 minutes. Then a car full of Japanese tourists from Osaka stopped and took me to the bridge. By the way, hitchhiking is the best way on Earth to practice your broken Japanese (if you hitchhike in Japan - I doubt you can practice Japanese while hitchhiking from Niamey to Ouagadougou, but hey, nothing's impossible). So I passed my diploma in Smalltalking cum laude.
Arrived at the bridge, was nice. I didn't cross it, since the view musn't be that awesome while on it, and it costs the equivalent of 5€. And because money doesn't magically fall out of rich tourists' wallets - and I still have to work on my pickpocketing skills.

El bridgo

Damn rich organized tourists

Actually the bridge was nice, but it's still not the real, authentic Argentinian experience I'm looking for. So I left and walked a bit around. 

Forgot the name of the river.

So I walked around, had fun, and then took off to try to find the onsen and spend the little money I had left. I heard the onsen is just next to the river, and you can enjoy sauna, normal inside and outdoor pools. The idea of soaking in hot thermal water while watching the river flowing by was the only thing that was keeping me sane - it was the glue holding my mental stability together.

So I took extra care looking for it. The map I had on my travel guide indicated a location to the north - but my map wasn't very precise. So when I found a touristic board with the locations of every point of interest in the surroundings, I trusted it. Because of course, you believe local maps more than an outdated 2008 travel guide.

The proof

People, I hope you know where all this is leading: in the wall. I got a ride from a nice Japanese guy to the place indicated on this map. And when I got there, it seemed a bit modern, but I try not to judge people on their physical appearance so why should I do it for onsens? 

I got inside and tried to get a discount based on my low IQ, but I had forgotten my certificate at home, so I had to pay full price. 

By the way at that point, I managed to ask the jer... clerk if he knew the exact price of a train ticket back to Takamatsu, from a closer city - I was thinking that I could hitchhike for a few kilometers and then take the train.

And there I had a good laugh. He called the train station to ask, and then he told me that it would be about 13€. WTF???? So why did I pay 29€ for one way? He told me, and I managed to understand, that I had taken an express train, that was double the price. A local train would have lasted 1 hour more and be definitely cheaper. Do you think the Couchsurfer, who actually told me to take the express train, would have told me that? Take my word for it: trust no one.

Back to the modern onsen. I was considerably pissed, angered and willing to kill any bearer of the Japanese nationality at that point. But, as I thought at that moment, I was about to enter a relaxing and peaceful place that would help me access a state of forgiveness and leniency to this cruel world.

So when I entered the onsen, I was a bit surprised. Ok, the sauna is there, the indoor thermal pool is here. That's it? Oh wait, there's a door to the rear, let's check it out. As I opened the door, I felt that something was wrong. The river was way too far away! My sense of orientation had trapped me once again. This was not the right onsen. The map was addled.

The rear door was only leading to a 2m² small pool with a fence made of plastic bamboos, too high to enable people to see anything from the beautiful surroundings, made to protect the lady's intimacy from the men's look. Well guess what? You can stuff your plastic fence up your a** because I couldn't care less if some dirty perve wanted to check me out. I didn't risk not being able to go home just to sit around in some old water surrounded by PVC, not even being able to see the river, the valley, the nature! ! !

I officially hate the Shikoku tourism board and any people having even the tiniest relation to the tourism industry in Japan. Yes, I hate you all. Would it have been too hard to mention the good onsen on the map? I admit that I have my part in screwing up most of my travels, but this time you're the one that sucked. So damn you.

So I just lost it. I stayed in the onsen for about an hour, then left. Managed to hitchhike around and stopped next to the river, again. And walked. I was too depressed to think of other things to do in the surroundings - when life sends you that kind of bad waves, you can do nothing but acknowledge and grit your teeth. So I did. And kept walking under the rain.

The river was nice though.

But come on people, you know me. You know it takes more than two screwed-up days in a row to put me down. Since I was unable to decide on where to go, and not willing to risk landing in remote places with no cars passing by, and since it was raining, I decided to go home. But wait up: life was owing me one. I had arrived on a big parking lot next to the road, and started asking people going out of the shops if they were, by chance going to the next city on the way to Takamatsu. I asked 3 or 4 cars with no luck, but when I asked this Japanese couple, they said 'Koboke? No, we're going to Takamatsu!', it felt as if angels themselves were taking care of my fate and of my wounded wallet. So I had managed, just like that, to find a direct ride for a city that lies 80km away. Not bad for a beginner! 


Anyway. Just thinking of that day makes me shiver and regret that the end of the world won't happen in December. So I'll go for now.