Japan

Hell on Rails

Or in fact nothing of the sort. Not sure why that's the title but anyway. I am now in Takamatsu, on Shikoku, in fact I've been on three different islands today (more if you count the ones I went across on a bridge).

After my first night in Miyazaki I did as I had suggested go and visit a small island, in fact a very small island, you could walk around it in about 15 minutes. But since it was a very pleasant, warm sunny day I hung around there for quite a while, walking round and clambering over the rocks, before getting sunburnt and going back to my hotel.

Yesterday morning I got up to head to Beppu, a couple of tiresome train journeys later and I was in Beppu, with a sudden realisation that I didn't in fact know where my hotel was. So after wondering around confusedly for a while I went and did the obvious thing, I asked the Tourist Information desk, who told me, and showed me which bus to get. Now I had been planning to get a ferry from Beppu to Uwajima here on Shikoku, but after arriving in Beppu quite late, and not getting anything done that afternoon, I was doubting the sense of this.

Instead, this morning I headed off to a couple of the hells from the title, these are bubbling, steaming pools of water and mud, volcanically heated. After two of the many hells it was getting towards midday though and I wanted to get on to my next stop (whatever that was to be, I hadn't quite decided), so I headed for the train station.

Now in order to get here I had to go back the way I came, so first I headed for Kakura on the Sonic LEX, from where I could join the Shinkansen tracks out of Kyushu and took the Hikari Rail Star as far as Okayama (Yes, again, I'm getting very used to that station), from where it was the Marine Liner LEX on a rather impressive trip across the Seto Ohashi bridge onto Shikoku (and over several small islands as it hops it's way across the Inland Sea). So, here I am in Takamatsu, and I'm not quite sure what I'm doing. I didn't get here till after most of the sights had shut so I haven't done much yet and other than one garden that is supposed to be very much worth seeing I haven't got plans for tommorow. Guess it's back to reading my guides again.

Posted by Haifisch at May 4, 2003 11:30 AM