SHIKOKU 四国- IN PICTURES!

(Over-night ferry leaving from Shinmoji 新門司 ... 14 hrs to Tokushima 徳島　to meet Vinnie! Met Geoff on the way and he served as a background-info-giver regarding the area!)
(I waited for his boat to arrive... same ferry line, opposite direction!)


(Statue of Awa-odori dancers... famous dance in Tokushima/ Naruto 鳴戸　area. This is a good reference for the last sequence of pictures on this post!)

(Vinnie met the girls on the ferry; they had a rental car. The dude was touring on his motorcycle. Before we all hit the road, we sampled some famous udon. We hung out with the girls for two days and they took us in a direction he hadn't planned! It was awesome.)


(Mariko is cute with that flower in her mouth, don't you think?)
(Eri, Vinnie and Mariko pose at the Naruto whirpools... sweet!)

(Standing above a set of those said whirlpools)

(Whirlpoolin')

(Look closely if you can)

(Day 2, kayaking- on the 大平よ　－－Pacific! )

(Poor urchin never saw it coming... )

(The girls had to head back to Tokyo. Hate to see them leave, but love to watch them go...)



(This is the Pacific!)

(yes... it certainly is)
(we camped overnight with some other English teachers and this is the aftermath. I ended my dry spell, just to fit in.)
(23 samurai warriors who were killed during the transition from the Edo to Meiji periods. This next sequence is from a ride from a nice woman. It took us four hrs to hitchhike 15km.... she wasn’t the worst driver I have ever been in the car with, but I hadn't ever been carsick before either!)
(gorgeous garden and shrine on the top of the mountain. One of the 88 shrines that pilgrims must visit on their mission to pay homage at them all. That was a burly hike... those folks are strong to walk around the majority of the island in search for enlightenment)
(View from the very top... we had to drive through a green tea (ocha) お茶　field in order to get here!)

(Vin shows me how it's done)
(Iya valley's famous vine bridges. Traditional for the deep gorges of this inner Shikoku paradise.)

(Posing with one of the many bags of chips that we shared on the trip. Forget the "T&A" discussion; we decided that we are chip men instead of candy men. This one was pizza flavored. Not so shabby, if i remember correctly.)
(Vine bridge close-up.)
(From the other side. NO, we did not pay 500円 to cross it.)
(I couldnt catch the van of six cute Japanese girls. Dammit!)

(in Kotohira, Kompira-san... night hike. 863 steps and good discussion.)

(A late arrival in Takamatsu directed us to spend the night in this internet cafe. Not a bad night's sleep; not a great one either.)

(The teahouse in the middle of Ritsurin Park　栗林公園. We had tea ceremony here)
(What is that bag doing on the step? Prize to the person with the best answer.)



Those were all taken in Ritsurin Koen.

The next set is of the Awa Odori Dance.

(I met up with Geoff the next day before I left Tokushima and he said that this was his dance group. If he weren't working, then we would have seen him dance!)

Reader beware, the next set is of... well... let's just say that Geoff's absence didn't mean that there wasn't at least one gaikokujin　 外国人　involved....

Six long full days. Incorporating everything and missing nothing. It couldn't have been a more perfect trip. It couldn't have been longer or shorter or logisitcally any different. We had planned on heading north and then sweeping around to the coast. Our journey, however, went south down the coast and then swept north through the valleys and mountains... so we just followed along. The rest of it is just details and stories. Check out Vinnie's blog or facebook page for a couple of great videos. I can't believe it actually happened.

jane.