At this time I have visited all of the major islands in Japan but Shikoku, so it was a must on my list.
I planned to go there via ferry from Wakayama to Tokushima. It was another blistering day and I couldn’t resist the temptation as I coincidentally passed a water park in……….. In other circumstances I would usually resist going to these kinds of things solo but I figured I would give it a go for ¥1,130 ($13ish).
It wasn’t anything super impressive, but there were a few slides, a whirlpool, kids section, other smaller pools and an Olympic sized lap pool.
It was okay, but I confirmed that going to these places would be much better with friends / family. Actually I remember a Japanese fail of mine here: lining up for a slode a kid asks me ‘なんでますか？’ I’m like.. .wtf does that mean. So I gave him the I don’t know what you’re talking about look. Then i realised he must’ve been saying ‘並んでますか （ならんでますか）？’ missing the ‘ら’ or maybe he was speaking the local dialect which doesn’t pronounce it very strongly…. But yeah tough language. ‘何出ますか’と言ったと思っていた.
I rode on towards Wakayama but didn’t make it too far before I started pouring rain for the first time in what felt like weeks. I took some shelter under a shop front and the owner / wife invited me in (:
I finally felt like I had some energy now it was cooler and the sun was down, so I made some decent progress towards Wakayama and camped along the riverside.
I was going to go for a swim but pretty sure there was a yeast factory nearby as it smelt really bad, so skipped the shower.
The next morning I rode to the ferry and arrived in Tokushima without any hassles. I went to an internet cafe and wrote up my plans for the remainder of the trip then met up with my couch surfing host Kazuma.
The dude was 19 so I figured we’d have some quiet drinks and chat at his house. On the eay back after grabbing some beers I remembered the drinking age for people in Japan is 20. So I had just bought for an underager :O
We talked late into the night about random stuff, the guy wants to come to Australia to do a working holiday once he graduates, so is on couch surfing to learn English (although we talked in both English and Japanese).
I did my first piece of calligraphy before going to bed. Thanks a lot Kazuma, see you in Australia!
Cycling Around Japan 