Weather:
Sunny and very, very hot though, a least there was a bit of cloud
cover.
MP3
track of the day: Story - Monkey Majic
Though
my breakfast did indeed look well presented, there didn't seem to be
a lot there. Plus, I'd also received an omelet due to having no
choice. I there and then decided that I preferred a buffet style
breakfast set-up to a fixed menu. Once I'd finished everything I
could eat, I departed the restaurant, grabbed my bags and handed in
my room key. As I approached my car I noticed a rather brightly
coloured caterpillar trying to climb up one of my tires with little
success. As I left the car park I gingerly rolled out of my parking
space as to not kill said caterpillar.
My
first stop for the day was a little town called Ozu. In fact my
guidebook had highly recommended two small towns – this one and
Uchiko – and Ozu I came to. I arrived at almost 9am and yet, the
sun was beating down. I parked close to the town's pretty little
castle and photographed it to death before walking along the river
bank to get to the western part of the town. Here I photographed two
old buildings and went down a small street with 'white-washed' walls.
With the flowers out it was very pretty indeed although, the street
was a little small.
With
Ozu done in forty minutes I pressed onto Uchiko. My guidebook told me
that the 'sightseeing' part of town was close to the town hall
however, what I didn't know at the time, was that there were two town
halls as said town is spread along a large valley. I spent the first
twenty minutes driving down streets which I thought were 'okay'
however, the map in my guidebook did not correlate to what I was
seeing and I couldn't understand why my guidebook had given it such a
good write up. It wasn't until I stopped in the town hall that I
discovered that I was in the wrong park of town. I drove twenty
minutes or so to the other town hall and found a car park. Uchiko had
become rich through the production of wax. Many of the grand
buildings I was witnessing looked out of place in such a small town
(reminded me of Omaru, New Zealand). I toured the streets
ending up in a refurbished Kabuki theatre. It was very interesting
indeed; made totally out of wood, I went under the stage to see how
the revolving floor worked.
Once
I'd looked around the theatre I proceeded back to my car. Before
getting there I drank a whole bottle of juice and photographed a
temple plus a reclining Buddha. The car was red hot and my t-shirt
was soaked through. I therefore turned the engine on and put the
air-conditioning onto maximum as I changed my t-shirt. I left Uchiko
at around midday, heading for Matsuyama. On the way I had two old
gentlemen flag me down to tell me about my rear-right tire. I hope
this isn't going to happen as frequently for the rest of my trip.
One
hour later I arrived within the city of Matsuyama. I was starting to
get hungry which, on this holiday, was very unlike me. I wondered if
it had to do with the amount of breakfast I consumed this morning …
or the heat? I found my, very posh, hotel and put my bags inside
before parking my car. On reception was a lovely lady who couldn't go
enough to help me. With her pigeon English she helped me sort out a
route to Matsuyama castle – the attraction for the day – and
where to look for something to eat. She also made me a member of the
'APA' – the hotel chain I am staying with – which allows me to
check-out one hour later for free amongst other things. Once I had
finished talking to her, I read my guidebook and formed a plan of
action for the day.
I
cannot begin to describe just how hot it is. I had only walked a
couple of paces from my hotel and I was sweating like a pig. The
thought of climbing up the mountain to Matsuyama castle was a
frightful one and I quickly decided that I would use the rope way no
matter the cost. Firstly however, there was a garden at the base of
the mountain opposite my hotel. It's name was Ninomaru Shiseki Teien
and even though I only spent 20 or so minutes in it, I was delighted
with my decision to pay the £1.50 entrance fee. It was a style of
garden which I had never seen before. It was a square which had been
carved up into gravel – or stone – rectangles. Some of these
rectangles had been flooded and it was all rather bizarre and yet, at
the same time, I loved it and it is certainly an idea I shall keep
for my own garden. The best thing was that you could go up a small
path and look down on the whole garden … It looked really cool.
Once
I'd seen the garden, I walked all the way around the base of the
mountain to the rope-way station. It cost £2.00 each way plus £4.00
to go into the castle. Being absolutely fed up with the ridiculous
heat my patience was non-existent and so I opted for the full
'round-trip' ticket … forgetting that I was planning on walking
down the mountain as the mountain path finished a lot closer to my
hotel than the rope way does.
Once
at the top I only had to climb ten or so steps before I made it into
the castle. It's a lot similar to a lot of other castles spread all
over Japan however, the view was spectacular. I was also glad to see
that, just like Himeji castle, a lot of thought had done into it's
defences with dead-ends, murder holes and optical illusions. The
castle wasn't as big as Hemiji castle however, it was larger than
Osaka castle. Due to the lack of exhibits inside, it took me around
thirty minutes to see all of the castle, before I left and ate an ice
cream.
With
my second t-shirt of the day soaked through, I decided to head back
to my hotel to freshen up. Before doing so I stopped at a tourist
shop and was pleased as punch that I managed to get presents for
everyone who needed a present. It wasn't until I had reached the base
of the mountain that I remembered that I had forgotten to buying
postcards. So what? I hear you cry. Finding postcards in Japan is
very, very difficult … and they had some! I saw them and thought to
myself, “I need to get some of those” however, I must have
forgotten again before I went to the cashier. It was too late now; I
was close to my hotel and I certainly wasn't going to walk back up.
After
a shower and another change of clothes, I hit the town again with
only two things on my mind. Postcards and somewhere for dinner.
Matsuyama had been a very kind city to me so far – and I've enjoyed
it a lot; the park around the base of the castle is quite lovely –
however that kindness disappeared when I couldn't find a decent
restaurant and both of the book stores I went to hadn't even heard of
postcards … let alone have any. I went to McDonalds for tea and had
their biggest burger (with pineapple … yum), a snazzy drink
and an ice cream. Once again I felt that this lot probably wouldn't
keep me full all night and so I went into a convenience store to pick
up snacks for tonight and cakes for breakfast tomorrow as this hotel
doesn't have a breakfast meal option.
Speaking
of 'breakfasts at hotels'. You may have noticed that I have been
having a lot of my breakfasts at my hotels. I haven't really done
this before because I always felt that they were a little too
expensive. Now that I have tried it I have to say that, I think, my
mind has been changed. Sure, a hotel breakfast can cost around £7
here in Japan (I can buy a breakfast for £2.50 at a store)
however, you usually get a buffet where you can eat as much as
you want and the food is good. Fresh fruit, salad and fish has – I
believe – kept me going and feeling much more energetic than my
usual 'McDonald’s rubbish breakfast'. The only annoying thing is
that, most hotel breakfasts start at 6:30am and, if you want to beat
the traffic, 6:30am is when you ideally want to leave. I now have no
more hotel breakfasts; my last hotel comes with breakfast however, I
think that I'll be leaving before it is served.
Tomorrow
I am back off to Takamatsu.
Toodle
Pip!
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