Shikoku

Today I set out to travel round the western part of Shikoku, a large island in the Seto Inland Sea connected to the mainland by rail, bridges and ferries I’ve never been here before and this is going to be a whistle stop tour. Timing is everything as the key train connection I need to make is only every 3 hours.

The Shimanto LEX takes me from Takamatsu to Kochi (Shikoku) via the interior of the island including the picturesque Oboke Gorge. Similar to previous days, once away from the urban area the train starts climbing into the hills and then dives through some lengthy tunnels emerging in a deep valley with the river alongside. There are some small station halts here clinging onto the side of the hill and nearly every village has a station served a few times a day but not by this train. Once past Oboke the train starts to descend again towards Kochi.

At Kochi I have an hour or so before the next train and grab an early lunch at a bakery chain called little Mermaid. Some snacks too; a lychee soda must be worth a try, right? It is time for the 1149 Dosan Line Ashizuri Limited Express to Kubokawa. On time of course.

At Kubokawa by chance - yes really- the Tosa Toki no Yoake no Monogatari, a sightseeing train with dining on board is waiting for its return trip. That’s the white one in the photos.

I’m changing onto the Yodo line, a rural line that runs 3 or 4 times a day cutting across from the south side of Shikoku to the west side at Uwajima. It’s a single yellow car but at weekends an open sided vehicle is attached for tourists. The line follows the Shimanto-gawa River which has two notable features (1) it is uninterrupted by dams and therefore said to be the last clear-flowing stream in Japan and (2) there are chinkabashi, or low water crossings, spanning the river at regular intervals. The bridges' distinguishing feature is a lack of guardrails to prevent them from being washed away in a flood. I manage to get a photo of a couple.

The Yodo line is barely troubled by passengers on my trip. 5 in total during a 2 and a half hour journey until the last 20 minutes when a large group of school kids board. The cost to keep it running with dozens of bridges and tunnels must be substantial. One last train takes me the final 90 minutes onto Matsuyama; a marathon journey over.

Dinner is karage fried chicken and rice washed down with some local sake. Actually I should call it Nihonshu as sake is the generic name for alcohol too.Meer informatie