1st Train
yeah yeah we're crazy... but we've got to catch the 1st train otherwise we'll not be able to see the sights we've planned for today. Furthermore, yesterday's news reported that today there will be どきどき雨 (doki doki ame) in the afternoon around 3pm. so i brought my brolly along. (i bought this brolly on 1st day in Kyoto coz it was raining the entire day. and this brolly proof to be rather useful later on)
anyway we've got to take the train to Awa-Ikeda, from there we'll need to take the bus that cost us 1250円 for a 1 way trip. the train ride from Takamatsu to Awa-Ikeda was about 1.5hrs. and we were the only occupants in the train carriage. hahaha... think its too early for the Japanese... and furthermore it was a sunday. the scenery outside the train changes from one that is near to the sea to one that is surrounded by green trees, rivers, rocks. as time passes, we were travelling into the Iya valley (祖谷渓谷).
Misty morning
we reached Awa-Ikeda station at around 7.15am. and the station was pretty much deserted.... but we know we're at the right station coz we saw the miniaturised kazurabashi (かずら橋) at the train station platform.
the 'fake' bridge on train platform
As we exited the train station, we asked the train station staff where can we take the bus to kazurabashi (かずら橋). and they juz pointed to us the way... and we walked... coz we realised tat the bus should be arriving soon... and between each bus is anout 1.5hr interval... and Awa-Ikeda town seems pretty 'dead' in the morning... hahaha... so we really walked very fast.
finally the bus station came into sight.
Awa Ikeda mascots
we asked the person how much was it to get to Kazurabashi (かずら橋) and he told us the price and i was shocked... coz i never thought that it would be so costly. anyway we paid it and waited for the bus to come at 7.30am. we happen to be the only occupants who were heading to Kazurabashi (かずら橋).
In the bus
and it was much later then i understood how come the bus ride was so expensive. coz the bus drove through Route 32.
On the bus
and this route is not for the faint hearted. and u really need some good driving skills! coz when the bus enter the valley, it had to undergo lots of turns and most of them are sharp turns and the road was really narrow... wide enough to allow 1 vehicle to pass through. on 1 side of the bus is the mountain, and the other side is the bottom of the valley where the river was gushing through the huge rocks. it was really a beautiful sight.
on our way to the valley
the valley
After about 1hr of bus ride, we finally reached Kazurabashi (かずら橋).
Signatures leading us to the places of interest
Kazurabashi mosiac
I guess u maybe wondering what exactly is Kazurabashi (かずら橋) and why we 2 crazy girls would travel so far just to view it. to be frank, its a very unique bridge made up of wood, tree branches and vines. there are a few of such bridges in Iya valley, but this is more accessible for us. This is one of the main attractions in Iya-valley. in the olden days, such bridges are the means for the people to cross the rivers. and i must say the bridge is really precarious looking... and crossing it... woah... initially u will b scared. by the way, it cost us 500円 to cross the bridge.
take a look at the pictures and u'll understand why we want to visit it even though its so tough to travel there.
Kazurabashi (かずら橋)
Frontal view of the bridge when u're going to start ur walk of adventure
The width between each branch of the bridge is about the length of my foot.
My foot & the wood planks
Scenery taken from the bridge
taken after we crossed the bridge
i believe children can't cross the bridge... even for me & my sister, we were holding onto the sides of the bridge whilst crossing it. and my sister commented that this is more dangerous than the one she crossed in US or Canada. hahaha... but its really an experience.
the scenery surrounding the bridge is juz amazing... really beautiful. we tried to snapped as many pictures as possible. hahaha... coz i know very well that i'm not coming back to this place anymore. coz its difficult to get there... and its not cheap to travel there either. after crossing the bridge, we went down to the river and take more photos. and also walked to the nearby waterfall, Biwa no Taki (琵琶の滝).
Biwa no Taki (琵琶の滝)
streams of water flowing through the rocks
valley reflected on puddles of water
Iya valley is famous for its soba and amego (that's grilled trout). we wanted to try but they are a little expensive. in the end, my sister and i gave them a miss. hahaha... coz we knew that we were running low on finance. (coz we did not change sufficient money. I forgot to factor in our accomodation money into the money that we changed. silly me)
after strolling around, it started to rain when we were leaving the place. we were really lucky to meet with fine weather when we were crossing the bridge and taking in the sights. coz its really hassle to travel or see things when its raining. heading back to the bus stop, this time, we took the bus to Oboke (大歩危) station. and this time round there were more passengers on the bus. all were japanese, except the 2 of us.
when we reached Oboke, we took some photos whilst waiting for the train to come.
and i must say that when i alight from the bus, i was thankful that we decided to stay in Takamatsu. Coz initially i had plans to stay 1 night in Takamatsu, 1 night in Oboke and 1 night in Tokushima. and for Oboke, its really really close to a dead town. u can finish walking the town in juz 1.5hrs!!! yeah... there's really nothing there... people who are there are for the adventurous sports like water rafting, trekking in the valley etc.
flowers at the railway tracks
Railway tracks @ Oboke station
Oboke Gorge
Bridge linking 1 side to another
Oboke (大歩危) train station
Train approaching
Bye bye iya valley
When the train came, we took the train to Tokushima.
this is the next town that we were going to explore for that day. and when we reached Tokushima, rotten weather again. the rain was even heavier than when we were in Kyoto. when we were there... we wanted to try Tokushima's famous dish. Tokushima Ramen!!! hahaha... so at the tourist information center, we inquired about the Naruto whirlpools (Naruto no uzino 鳴門の渦潮), Awa Odori (阿波踊り) and also the ramen. Pity that we juz missed the whirlpools and had to wait until the next day 1.50pm in order to view the whirlpools.... we decided to give that a miss. and instead juz concentrate on eating the ramen and watching the awa odori performance. the ojiisan at the tourist information center introduced us to his favourite ramen shop. it was about 5min walk away.
when reached there... we did not know which ramen was nice and how it looked like. coz there were no pictures and u've 1st got to choose the ramen u want and put the money into a vending machine to get the ticket. once u've got the ticket, head into the shop and give the ticket to the chefs/waitress. so we stood there and there were 2 high school students. we asked them which was nice. and they told us like 3 types and we juz chose 2 of the 3 that they introduced. and i must say... the ramen is unique... but its a little salty to my taste. the ramen was cooked in pork broth.
Tokushima Ramen
after the ramen, we walked a little further down to the awa odori museum. Awa Odori is is a dance festival that is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the obon festival in tokushima prefecture. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and musicians known as ren (連) dance through the streets, typically accompanied by the shamisen lute, taiko drums, shinobue flute and the kane bell. Performers wear traditional dance costumes, chant and sing as they parade through the streets.
luckily we only bought the performance ticket, we did not purchase the museum tickets. coz the entire performance was conducted in Japanese. I had to guess what the speaker was sharing with us. In fact he introduced us to various dance steps. hahaha... if i were to purchase the museum tickets... think they will be a waste of money. coz all the information will be in Japanese.
Awa Odori (阿波踊り) dance
Awa Odori dancer explaning the various dances and history of awa odori
Laterns are common sight in awa odori perfomances
Tomorrow we'll be leaving Shikoku and returning to Honshu. Very short time spent in Shikoku. But this had been a wonderful experience. That night as we walked back to our hotel, we discovered a huge supermarket just beside the train station. we bought some stuffs from there before heading back to the hotel and call it a day. I must say that Shikoku is an island of beautiful scenery!! a great place to come for relaxation and also to do some physical activity if u're up to it! =D
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