From the bridge to Oboke

After crossing the vine bridge, I got tired of waiting for the bus (which only goes two times a day) and thus walked back to Oboke station. Approximately 12 km of mountain road with a few tunnels along the way.

The first tunnel, only about 100 m long

 And the road goes ever on...

 The last (third) tunnel was the longest: almost 1 km with emergency stations along the way. The cobwebs I walked through made me believe that not so many pedestrians walked this route.

 But I got out!

 And there's the station!

 A final look at the river

Who doesn't want to return with this cute railway sign?

Crossing the Vine Bridge

In the Iya valley in central Shikoku, there remain three vine bridges of the type used in ancient times. According to legend, the Heike clan fled to Iya after being defeated by the Genji in 1185. For the Heike survivors, the vine bridges were easy to defend, since they easily could be cut.

I went to one of these bridges, the Kazurabashi, and crossed it, despite my vertigo.

 A first look at the bridge. Doesn't look too bad, eh?

 This path led to the bridge.

A secondary path leading away, presumably for those who get second thoughts about crossing the bridge.

 I'm getting close now...

 From here, the other side seems so distant...

Wait! Am I supposed to walk on that? 

 Apparently, I made it!

With the crossing accomplished, there was time to appreciate the landscape on the other side.

The Tokushima Crabs

With a lot of water in the city, the crabs are not afraid to walk the - well, not streets, but at least the pathways of the park - just like anyone. Here are two films I managed to capture of them.

Sorry I didn't get more: but they are easily startled.

Pictures of Tokushima

Some more pictures from Tokushima Castle Park, and Mt Bizan, overlooking the city:

Shikoku: first impressions

So, I'm finally in Shikoku. This is where I wanted to go for the last few days, but that typhoon held me up on the mainland. At least I'll have a few days on this island before returning to the inland mountains.

Because of the shortened timespan, I already know I can only reasonably find time for eastern Shikoku: western Shikoku and Matsuyama will have to wait until another time. Instead I plan for two days with Tokushima (east) as base, and then two tays with Takamatsu (north) as base.

Initially, Tokushima made quite and impression on me. A small town by Japanese standards, and very nice.

 I went out to Bandou to try to find the path of the five first temples. I found Ryozen-ji, the first.

 And the second, Gokuraku-ji.

 By now the rain was so heavy I was despairing of continuing. Still, I went on, but took a wrong turn.

 I found this small, seemingly abandoned temple.

With that, I had had enough and went back to Tokushima.