Overdue & Abbreviated

A very quick vacation round-up:

Wednesday: drove to southern Awaji Island, camped on the ocean. I proved how utterly horrible I am at building a fire.

Thursday: Up at dawn, catch whirlpools between Awaji and Shikoku, but due to low tide they aren't exactly whirling. Spend the morning seeing the first temples of Shikoku's famous 88-temple pilgrimage, then hit an onsen and head towards Iya Valley. By the time we reach Iya, typhoon rains (seriously, not an exaggeration)are in full effect. Camping is not fun, but we stick it out.

Friday: Rain and the road conditions (all single-lane, curvey, up-and-down) make travel in the valley hard, so we only get to do half - if even - of what was planned. Spent a good chunk of the day at Chiiori house (expect a full post on this soon) and then headed east and checked into a hostel. It rained with only brief pauses the entire day.

Saturday: It finally stops raining as we leave the valley, but landslides and a number of other causes have shut down the few roads out of the valley. Each road proves even narrower, steeper, and more frightening than the last. Every time we think we find a detour, we get another closure. We have to change our destination entirely and end up heading back east instead of to the southern tip. We finally reach Tokushima city at about 5pm and at this point have spent about 8 hours driving about 100 kilometers (~60 miles). This was not fun. We head into the city for the evening and try to forget everything that happened on the drive.

Sunday: Tokushima proves to be a blessing after the previous day. We get in some hiking to make up for the rained-out trip planned in Iya and then see a few more of the 88 temples before heading home. On the way, we make an impromptu stop at a coastal beach and have a great time. Colleen's wedding ring ends up in the ocean and now both of ours are underwater somewhere. We finally arrive home at 8pm salty, smelly and in need of showers.

It was a pretty great trip despite the weather & road dramas. Next vacation: USA, in three weeks.

Mike