Golden Week: Shikoku part 2

Shikoku! 

The rest of the trip was considerably better. The day afterwards, I spent the morning in Takamatsu, visiting the Ritsurin koen, self proclaimed 'one of the most wonderful gardens in Japan'. Which was nice, but now I know I won't fall for that kind of scam again, especially for 5€. Judge by yourself. 

What'eva.

The garden was nice, though not the best I saw or will ever see. Of course still better than Görlitzer Park. Anyway, spending 2 hours there allowed me to see interesting things about Japan.

Who said the natality rates are sinking?

Child labour in Japan: cute hats, uniforms, no whips.

Those kiddies were picking tea leaves. How nice! So next time you enjoy a cup of Sensha, have a nice thankful thought for them.

The rest of the park was also interesting: 

No need to fight, Sauron: you can't control the Ents.

Then I left and went to eat Udon. It's a kind of thick noodles made of wheat, and are supposed to come from Shikoku, though I can't confirm this information since I don't trust anybody anymore. 

Unluckily for me my camera battery died, so no pictures of the Udon. Too bad, since the restaurant was really nice: first you pay, they give you a bowl, you cook your own Udon, then you add some toppings (I went for tofu), and things like chives and sesame seeds. Then the broth. And you cry because it's so good!

Then I left for Itaka, on the west of the island. My travel guide wasn't saying a word about this peninsula but I gave my impulsivity a go, and decided to go there. Plus, there was a nice normal CSer (speak: not Japanese) who was ready to welcome me. So this time, I double checked the train infos and switched for a cheaper local train. Which went along the beautiful scenic coast. I changed trains at Matsuyama for Yamatahama (yep names can be confusing here), and the ride lasted longer but it was worth it. Watching the sunset from a train is not bad. Well there will plenty of that during the trans-siberian experience, so I shouldn't start bragging about that. 

And finally I made my way to Itaka, small port village at the beginning of the Sadamisaki peninsula. The CS was a lot of fun to be with, it's always cool to meet people who understand irony! Those two days were a lot fun, but I still managed to screw up, at least a bit. And as I arrived, it started raining. Of course.

The road to the end of the Peninsula is supposed to be breathtaking at some point, because it gets so narrow that you can see both the Pacific Ocean and the inland sea (there's another name for it but who cares?). So when it rains, you can see that:

Nice view

So, yeah, basically rain sucks. And of course, I tried to hitchhike, but try that when clouds are vomiting cats and dogs and we'll talk again. After 3 minutes I stopped and caught a bus, that had magically appeared out of nowhere.

Arrived to the last city on the peninsula and didn't feel like hitchhiking further, though I could have gone further: the road continued for 10 km, leading to a lighthouse. This will be referred to as one of the most stupid ideas of my life: Apparently, and this I learned of course later, the streams of both the ocean and the inland see form, when they meet, weird 'whirlpools' on the surface, and it's supposed to be beautiful. But of course, I was lazy, saddened by the weather, not willing to stand under the rain for another hour in the hopes of finding a nice person who could take me there. 

Because you have to know that not all cars would stop for you: hitchhiking is not Japan's national sport, so it's definitely weird for them. But some are willing to help, so they stop; and if they do, it's almost sure they would make a huge detour for you, or even make a U-turn to help you reach your destination. Anyway, I now prefer to ask car drivers going out of parking lots, because they are already stopped and you have the chance to talk and smile and pretend you can speak Japanese. 

So I didn't feel like waiting and getting too wet. By the way I noticed in Chile that my shoes have a hole, hence my recitence to standing with my feets in a puddle. So I just walked around, and for the record, by doing that, I also got wet. But at least I was walking. I walked on the shore and had fun - it was wonderful. 

Wuthering heights

Then I went home with a nice Japanese guy who drove me back to Itaka. He told me he had just been to the lighthouse to see the 'whirpools' and that it was absolutely gorgeous. For a few seconds I could picture myself killing him, stealing his car and driving back to the lighthouse. But my conscience, sense of morality and the fear of being caught and deported were stronger, so I just smiled. And went home.

The day after that, I had to head back to Matsuyama, where I would spend 2 nights (before taking a ferry to Hiroshima). And of course, cheapo as usual, I decided to hitchhike, passing through 2 nice cities on the way: Ozu and Uchiko. And the weather was sunny that day: why not give it a try?
From Ikata to the next city, you can take either an express way, or take a less travelled road going along the sea, that should be quite cool. I had started walking a bit in this direction, and it was so nice I just stopped and went for a swim. Thanks Photoshop and Tara-san!

Greenpeace 'stop whale hunting' campagne

I wanted to take this road to the next city. So I walked towards this road a bit, and after a few meters, I raised my thumb and one car stopped. This is when I discovered that lying isn't always a good thing: because when I said some crap about me having to take a train and being late, the guy gave me a ride, which was very nice of him - but then he made a U turn and took the expressway. Adieu nice scenic route. Which was very nice of him. But still, I was so pissed that he didn't take the route with the view. I tried to tell him that I would prefer to avoid taking the express way, but since my case was built on the fact that I was late and going to miss my (fake) train, I couldn't said anything when he said the other route was quicker. Which, again, was nice of him. Still: DAMN. YOU. MORON. By the way this is typically French to insult somebody who just helped you. Or typically me. Get used to it.

After another change of lift, I arrived in Ozu, famous for its more or less newly rebuilt castle, which I didn't visit because it looked ugly, and to be honest, it was too expensive. I was sweating my ass off to get free rides so I was not going to waste money in stupid new age castles. Instead, I went to Garyo Sanso, an old Japanese house built a loooong time ago. I lost the flyer saying when. It was cool.

View from the patio

View from the tea house, which is a small house hanging over the river

With my friend, who won an Oscar© for her interpretation of the leaning Tower of Pisa

Vous aimez? C'est chez moi. C'est francais.

After that I headed to Uchiko, hometown of many things, such as the oldest Kabuki theater in Japan: the Uchiko-za theater. Wait, somebody's telling me in my earphone that the oldest theater is located somewhere else, so forget the last sentense. This time I didn't lose the flyer and I can tell you it was built in 1916.

Thanks for ruining my picture, suckers. May your child be crack dependent in 15 years

Stand-up comedy night: Tom Cruise's come back

The rest of the city is supposed to be nice but I thought it was way too touristy, too clean, too over-priced. Damn you all!

So again, I hitchhiked to Matsuyama. It was cool: I basically found the road, waited at a bus stop, raised my thumb, waited 7 minutes and hop, somebody stopped. This was a funny conversation: from what I understood, he had just spent the weekend in the mountains visiting his 97 year old mother who was running a marathon. Seriously? Ok, if you say so. He gave me oranges and dropped me in the center, so this guy is basically number 1 (Update: got a ride today from a festival back to Kyoto, and the 2 guys were quite fun: they invited me to their housewarming party next month - I said I would come if they had champagne).

Matsuyama! What is there to say about this city? With about 2 Million the biggest of Shikoku, and I still felt like I'm in Bédarieux, France. Quiet, but still funky (well, Bédarieux is not really funky, actually). My Couchsurfer was a crazy Japanese puppet master. He gave me this wonderful yukata (kimono for the summer or for indoor), with which I walked around one evening.

In a mall. People were looking suspiciously.

Otherwise, I went to the Dogo Onsen, a big common bath with hot thermal water. Come on, I told you already what onsen are. Focus!

The back of the Onsen featuring the winners of this month's contest 'old fart'

No need to lure me with your gap-toothed smile and your loverboy pose, I won't get on your man-powered bike. Don't you have self-esteem?

 After that I went to visit the castle, which, this one, is worth the visit. And I realise now that I don't have a full picture of the castle, but just google it if you're interested. You're here to read my witty and acerb comments anyway, who cares about the pictures?

View from the Castle

It was quite fun, because it was possible to try on samurai outfits. Which I did! By the way, I should feel bad for not respecting your traditions and your culture, dear Japanese people. But hey, I'll apologize when you'll manage to pronounce my name correctly.

My Ledge, King of Fashion, ruler of the Hipsters, I take an oath to protect you until my very last breath.

Before leaving for the ferry station (and being f**** late for it), I went to visit the temple n°51 of the list. Wait, didn't I mention it? Soooo sorry. There is a pilgrimage that freaks or retired people do in Shikoku: there are 88 Buddhist temples (named after the crazy 88's of Kill Bill) and, well, 2 hours before leaving the island, I felt like visiting at least one. So I went to the closest, and it was interesting. My first Buddhist temple, b****! There was something like a tunnel linking the temple area with a road on the other side... No freaking idea why.

Entrance to the Palace of Pankot

You know that feeling, when you are in the dark with no clue where you are going or where the path is leading, you start thinking about The Blair Witch Project, or about Rec? Creepy.

New ways of hiding cell phone antennas

So, this is a pagoda of the temple, but I still need to find out which one is the freaking temple, since there were many different constructions. Buuuh too complicated.

After that, I ran fast to take the ferry to Hiroshima. Yeepee! Ferries are so cool! I discovered my new passion. After graduation I'll enroll as a marine!

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.