Trains, Trains and more Trains

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Tuesday morning came and I had to pack my bag for the first time this trip. Fortunately I had plenty of room even with the souvenirs I’ve bought so far. I had a moment’s panic when organising my luggage to be forwarded to my hotel in Takamatsu – apparently they had no record of my booking! Turned out to be just a misunderstanding, although I’m not quite sure what the misunderstanding was. But the lady at my Kyoto hotel sorted it out fine.



So with my luggage joining me in Takamatsu on Wednesday (hopefully!), all I had to do was board a shinkansen to Okayama, then change to a regular train to head over to the island of Shikoku where I would be spending the next week. The journey was uneventful, although crossing to Shikoku was over one of the largest bridges I’ve ever seen – both in length and height. The coolest bit was the exits from the road above the railway tracks because they spiralled down to the ground below.



I arrived in Takamatsu just after half past two so I began thinking that I might be able to get an extra day trip in because there was only one thing I wanted to see in Takamatsu itself, and I still had a couple of hours. Some of that time disappeared when I called into the tourist information centre on the way to my hotel. The lovely lady had all sorts of suggestions for how I could spend my week and didn’t let my lack of enthusiasm for modern art get in the way of a long discussion about the “modern art” islands between Shikoku and Honshu. I can’t complain though, because amongst the many pamphlets she gave me was a “passport” which gave me discounts to some places in Tokamatsu.



I booked into my hotel, which is right near the station and possibly owned by Japan Railways. It is also right near the water, so a fantastic location. I have a small, but lovely room with an excellent view over the ruins of Takamatsu castle. With no luggage yet, settling into the room took little time and I soon headed over to check out the park which contains the castle ruins. The park itself is really lovely, and with the late afternoon sun I got some great pictures as I wandered around.



Afterwards, I had a quick explore around the local streets before heading back to the hotel to plan what I would do with my extra day. I decided I would try a really long rail trip because so far I have enjoyed sitting on the shinkansen, watching the scenery go by at great speed. But because the train is so quick, the trips have ended before I had had enough. In the end, I decided to make a long trip over to the island of Kyushu (via Honshu) and visit the castle at Kumamoto. It’s over 3 hours each way, so if that’s not enough shinkansen time, I don’t know what is.



That will be for Thursday, but Wednesday I was heading to the south of Shikoku to visit Kochi castle – one of the most complete, original castles in Japan. I boarded a train on Wednesday morning, and after a change at Marugame (which I will be visiting soon) I was on my way to Kochi. I was expecting it to be a nice train journey because central Shikoku is quite mountainous. What I got was nothing short of spectacular. I have been on a couple of the top train journeys in the world (the Canadian Rockies and Bergen to Oslo in Norway), and this would have to be up there with them. It’s a shorter journey – the spectacular section is only about an hour – which is why I guess it’s not as famous. I was going to just sit back and enjoy the ride, but in the end I had to try and snap some photos to attempt to show what it was like. With a lot of vegetation and a fast moving train, the pictures don’t do it justice, but you should get an impression.



Anyway, I arrived in Kochi and had about 1.5km to walk to get to the castle. It seems like a pretty nice city. The castle itself is on a hill overlooking the city so I could see it from some way off. Like most of the other castles I’ve visited, the grounds are beautiful gardens as well. It was a pretty hot day, so I was sweating quite a bit by the time I climbed up to the castle, but it was worth it. The castle is on the small side, but knowing it is original adds to its charm. There was not a great deal inside (one wing went off with a small exhibit on whaling in the past, which presumably was done in the area) and so, once again, the highlight was the view from the top. There was also a very nice breeze up there.



After having a good look around, I headed back down for a couple of drinks and an ice-cream before having a further look around the grounds. With little else to do in Kochi (there is one other place apparently worth visiting, but the bus there only runs on weekends), I headed out the back of the castle grounds and had a stroll along the river back to the train station. Unfortunately the return train trip back was done in the dark so the view was not as good. I had a little snooze and was back in Takamatsu in time for dinner. When I arrived, my luggage was not in my room as I expected. Fortunately, however, it was downstairs and they brought it up for me.





Tomorrow is an early start – the earliest so far. It’s a long way to Kumamoto after all!

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Photos

View from my hotel in Takamatsu
Looking at the Takamatsu Castle ruins

In the Park
Takamatsu Castle ruins

In the Park
Takamatsu Castle ruins

A Corner Tower
Takamatsu Castle ruins

In the Park
Takamatsu Castle ruins

Looking Back at my Hotel
Takamatsu Castle ruins

WTF?
The decoration on this train from Takamatsu was interesting, to say the least.