9 April 2007 – 四万十川

I went to Shimanto on 9 April. It was about 3 hrs journey from 高知市. 四万十川　is the longest and clearest river in Japan. I heard this from 今中さん　and wanted to see how beautiful the place is. So I decided to go, even though it is not that accessible.

I met Ben on the way to Shimanto. Ben is a Scottish and he is taking one month holiday in Japan. He travels by himself and he has sisters staying in Japan areas like Hiroshima. He is going to Beppu, taking a ferry from 宇和島 (Uwajima). So we chatted on our way there. He works as an environmental researcher. Quite interesting job. But I cannot remember his face anymore except for his chestnut eyes. Haha. Thanks to Ben, I managed to catch the train on time, almost miss it coz I went toilet and bought water. Ben helped me to carry my luggage when I alighted from the train. He was surprised how I managed to carry such heavy luggage.

I took a bus to another place, 屋口内 (Yaguchinai) from the train station. I waited almost 2 hrs for the bus. I met an old couple at the train station. They were also waiting for the same bus. We chatted and they came to Singapore last year as they have a relative working in Singapore. They said Singapore is nice and clean, but hot. Anyway, am glad that the youth hostel owner, 佐藤さん was there to pick me at 屋口内 .

I met Karen too. She is staying in England and came to Japan for tour with her sister, Jackie. Karen is an actress in England, doing musicals etc and she has taught English in Kochi 10 plus years back. Jackie is a high school teacher in Melbourne. She told me they have about 3 months holiday per year!

There is another Japanese guy, staying in the youth hostel. He is very quiet and we did not talk at all. I feel he is quite honest type. Will see if I have the chance to talk to him.

I stayed alone in a big room with 4 beds. Oh my gosh, the window, rectangle size, is big! I can see the mountains, the garden and the green trees from my room. So beautiful.

We had a sumptuous dinner at 7pm. There were spagetti, wine etc. Oh gosh, this is much better than the hotels. Mrs Sato is really a good cook.

I slept around 10.30pm (Spore time 9.30pm). Coz nothing to do! Haha. No TV, only BS channel and nothing much to watch. I can’t get any signal for my mobile phone either. This place is separated from the rest of the world. Anyway, I will have a relax day the next day.