Today it was time to say goodbye to the Tiny House and head to another area of Shikoku. It was such lovely accommodation we would have liked to have stayed longer!
We had a fairly long drive to where we’d be staying next, so we went a scenic route with some stops along the way
Jofukuji Temple
First we went just a few minutes down the road to a temple know for it’s autumn colours, which were apparently at their peak. We parked down by the road and walked up the hill past some tea fields to the temple.
Sugi no Osugi
Next we headed into central Otoyo and visited a small shrine known for having one of the tallest cedar trees in the country, which is estimated to be 3000 years old.
It’s very hard to tell how massive the tree is in a photo! But it’s 60m tall and has a 20m circumference. Also, while it looks like two trees, it is connected at the root.
We then drove for about an hour an a half through pretty valleys and small towns
We stopped at a couple of michi-no-ekis along the way where we picked up some local Yuzu snacks and ice cream
Nakatsu Gorge
Our main stop for the remainder of the day was Nataksu Gorge. Here we spent a coupel of hours following the various nature trails along the river and into the gorge.
There were various bridges back and forth over the river and it eventually climbed up into the gorge to a waterfall
We then followed a path away from the river up to a viewpoint and another waterfall.
We then retraced our steps back to the start of the trail, looking out for the seven gods of fortune statues that were dotted about – we found 6 of them
Then it was time for the final stretch of scenic driving up to Matsuyama city, stopping at another michi-no-eki along the way. There was a walk along the river to a rocky viewpoint at this stop, but it was already dark by the time we were there, so we gave that a miss!
Matsuyama
Eventually we got into Matsuyama, the largest city on Shikoku – quite different to the middle of nowhere we’d been staying in before! The traffic was very slow near the city and our hotel was quite central. We were staying at a Toyoko Inn, a basic business hotel we’ve used a lot in the past – very cheap but reliable.
For dinner we popped out to a Coco curry a few doors down the road and I had a fried chicken with winter vegetable curry.
