Sayonara #5

Monday was Saying Goodbye to Country day. In a whirlwind week of lunches, coffees and packing, this was my down time when I truly realised I was leaving. I'd purposefully left the whole day free and mid morning headed off down route 32 towards Tokushima and my favourite hang, Iya Valley. Yoshino River runs through Tokumaisha and is famed throughout Japan for its lusciously clear turquoise waters. I stopped off for some traditioanl Iya Valley soba noodles and then hung a left over the blue bridge and down the old route 32 towards my favourite swim spot. This is where I used to come to cleanse myself of "city" grime and stress before heading up to Chiiori when I was volunteering up there most weekends.

It was a beautiful hot summer day. Perfect for going up into the coolness of the mountains and frolicking in a fresh water river. As if the yama-kami knew I was coming they had filtered the river especially for me and it was clearer that I'd ever seen it. In the midst of a severe drought in Shikoku it was also a lot lower than usual. The temperature was perfect and I spent almost a couple of hours swimming, sitting on rocks in the midddle of the river, drying off, jumping in again and playing in the rapids further up. Eventually a sand fly came and reminded me I had other places to say goodbye to and no matter how far underwater I swam it persistently bugged me to get a move on. I dried off in the sun on a rock, said thank you to the river kami, and feeling at peace with the world headed on down the road.

The rest of the day turned into a road trip of my favourite places and routes. The old route 32 winds along one of the subsidiaries of Yoshino Gawa, barely more than one lane for much of the time with hair-raising blind hairpin bends and steep drop offs down the cliffs. Even though it takes all concentration to stay on the road and you don't really get much time to check out and appreciate the view, its one of my favourite roads to drive on ever.


I headed out to Higiashi Iya, past the road that leads up to Chiiori, and up towards Tsurugi San, the second highest mountain in Shikoku, which I am ashamed to say, I have never climbed.

From Tsurugi I headed back home, down through a different section of Tokushima with its own unique charms and vistas. When I finally got home I was in a state of melancholic contentment. when i first came to Shikoku i said I wanted to try and get to know one region of Japan well, rather than see as much of possible of the country, and these mountains have been one of the prime instigators of my love for this island. Thank you.