Today we were leaving the Matsuyama area and heading back to the Iya Valley to spend our last night in Shikoku in a fancy Ryokan. I planned a scenic route through some areas we hadn’t visited yet.
The megaliths of Shirashi-no-hana Cape
Mike had spotted something on the map near our hotel described as megaliths, so we went to see what it was.
Ishizuchi Highway Oasis
As we were going be spending most of the day in rural areas with no shops, we made a stop at a large michi-no-eki whilst we were still on the expressway and picked up some bentos to have later for lunch.
Besshi Line
We left the expressway and headed towards the mountains, following a pass call the Besshi Line. We were immediately greeted with pretty autumnal views
The road started to wind higher and higher up into the mountains
Our little Toyota Aqua hybrid had no problems with the steep roads
Once over the highest point the road followed the Dozan River as it gradually went downhill through the valley. Unfortunately a couple of places I had picked out for walking breaks happened to be closed on Tuesdays, but we still found a few places to stop and break up the journey
Ikadazu Mine Ruins
The Besshi mountains used to be a massive copper mining area and dotted all over the place are things to do with the old mines. One that was right next to the road was an old mine shaft you could go into.
Tsuneyamaohashi Bridge
As we carried on through the valley, the river became a lake due to the Tomisato dam. We stopped and walked over a bridge to see the view.
Fujiwawa Bridge
Past the dam and back to following a river, we stopped and walked over another bridge. This one felt incredibly high up!
Tomisato Gorge
By the next stop we’d made it down to the same level as the river. We went for a short walk through Tomisato Gorge, where I definitely didn’t slip on some rocks Mike had just told me to be careful on and later realise I’d cracked a rib… no… course not!
Suiha Highlands
We made a brief stop at Suiha Highlands to see the view over the mountains. During the summer it’s also a flower park, but there wasn’t really anything growing this time of year. Unfortunately it was just starting to rain once we got there, but we did mange to see the view before the clouds came in fully.
Back down from the highlands road was a waterfall next to the entrance to a long single lane tunnel. The waterfall was tall, but lacking in much water when we were there, but Mike did spot a freshwater crab hiding near it (and I stole his photo of it)
Iya Valley
We left the besshi line and carried on towards the Iya Valley, down some very narrow twisty roads. We briefly stopped at another viewpoint just before the hotel
Hotel Iya Onsen
We got to the hotel at about 4 and settled into our room with it’s amazing views right out over the valley.
Our room had an open air onsen water bath overlooking the valley view too, but we wouldn’t be using that just yet…
The hotel has it’s own cable car that runs down to the river. At the bottom there are public and private riverside onsen baths. We had a reservation for the private bath at 5, so made our way down to that.
The reservation was for an hour and the water was a very nice temperature that allowed us to actually stay in that long! Usually onsen are 42 – 44 degrees and you can only sit in them for about 10 mins, but this was a pleasant 38-39. It looked out over the river which was illuminated as the sun set.
After the bath it was time for our dinner. It was the usual multi-course kasiseki meal you get at Ryokans, except I had booked us the Nabe option, so some of the courses were replaced with a huge sake and miso hotpot you cook at the table with loads of local sliced pork, tofu, konnyaku and vegetables. It was really good!
After dinner we returned to our room, where the futon beds had been laid out for us.
