Oh we do like to be beside the seaside

Monday 5th April
Before I add today's story, I must relate a conversation from yesterday. One of the young Japanese women at the hostel was trying out her English and asked if we'd had a good fright! (she meant on the prane).

Today has been another beauty! We started off with a visit to Hikone Castle, which involved a climb up many steps, followed by a couple of very steep climbs up the staircases inside the castle – but the view was worth the effort and the castle was truly beautiful. Along the way, we came across this avenue of cherry trees and tripods. Although we're not coming across huge numbers of Western tourists, we have certainly seen many Japanese people out and about appreciating their country's treasures.



We should have guessed that we were in for a long climb to the castle when we saw the box of walking sticks that were provided at the start of the steps.



















Before leaving the castle, I had my first taste of octopus balls. Perhaps I should clarify that statement! I had 'takoyaki', which is a doughy ball about the size of a walnut cooked with a small piece of octopus inside. It came in a container with 8 balls with some sweet soy sauce and it was really yummy. I couldn't convince John to try it (it's the tentacle thing), so he had a 'sando-ichi' from the convenience store. (That's what the Japanese call a sandwich). We got away from Hikone later than expected as we had trouble finding a 'gasorin stando' (yes, that's a petrol station). We finally found one, worked out how to use the prepaid system with the help of an obliging Japanese man and then headed up the lake towards Obama.











The scenery was wonderful, and very varied along the way. We passed through a number of towns and some small villages nestled at the bottom of the mountains. Before we came to this area, we hadn't realised how very tall the mountains are, but it became obvious when we saw snow on the top of them! There were many rice paddies and vegetable gardens, mostly being tended by old folk. The traffic in this area was much easier to deal with and there were plenty of areas for us to pull over for rests along the way. We had to go through a number of tunnels and this time I got spooked because I remembered that we are in the land of the earthquake and we were driving with enormous mountains above our heads! We reached Obama in need of tea and a pee – and what better place to satisfy both needs than McDonald's! We got chatting with May, one of the staff who spoke very good English (it turned out that she was a Filipino). Her husband runs a chopsticks factory and shop a few minutes away from where we were, so she asked us to wait 10 minutes for her shift to finish and she took us out there. We were presented with 2 black chopsticks each and shown how to use a grinding machine to make patterns on them. This proved to be easier said than done, but we now have our own hand-made souvenirs as well as a few souvenirs and gifts that we bought from the shop. We'll have to post the chopsticks home as I don't think airport security would be happy for us to take sharp pointed implements on the plane. We then shared some Japanese seaweed tea (poor John!) and some nibbles with May and the young woman who worked in the shop. They were both really delightful people and were very interested to hear about our travels and our mode of transport. There aren't too many tourists in this part of the country as most visitors stick to Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, so we were a bit of a novelty.
We then set off for Ano, a small fishing village, where we had booked a night in a traditional-style Japanese Inn. What a fantastic decision that turned out to be! The room had tatami mats on the floor and a low table with a Japanese teapot and cups and the most amazing sea view from the large window. We checked in, after a bit of a problem with language, but I just got enough to understand which yakata (dressing gown) was for me and which was for John, to establish the correct floor numbers for the men's and the ladies' bathrooms and to confirm that we weren't having dinner at the Inn. We got our gear up into the room and then went back into Obama for dinner. On the way we did a quick ride through the village and saw a man pegging seaweed on the line (another 'first' experience!). In Obama we parked near the railway station as we've found that there are always restaurants and cafes near the stations, but tonight we had a bit of trouble finding something suitable. One likely looking place didn't have prices and we're a bit wary of that, but eventually we decided to brave a little bar that had about 7 or 8 people sitting around inside, including one woman, so I knew I wouldn't be intruding in male territory. The other guests thought the whole thing was hilarious and we heard the word 'gaijin' among their conversation. It was all very good natured and we were happy that we'd found an 'ordinary' place where the locals go for a beer and a chat. The cook was a real character, and spoke just like in the movies, with lots of gutteral tones, yelling and laughter. He quickly whipped up 4 plates of skewers of beef, pork, fish and chicken and assorted green things in between, which with a large drink each came out to around $14.00! The other guests were very friendly and dragged up any english words they could remember – quite a memorable night. Speaking of beer, I decided to have a beer with my meal and then John reminded me that there is a zero blood alcohol limit for driving in Japan. Fortunately, I made it back to the Inn without falling off or otherwise attracting the attention of any police ossifers. When we returned to our room, our futon bedding had mysteriously removed itself from the cupboard and set itself up on the floor. We took turns to go up to our respective public baths. John shared his with a Japanese guy and their conversation was limited to 'Hallo' and a nod – but I had the gigantic ladies bath all to myself! I'm SO loving these baths which seem to induce a state of unconsciousness in the weary traveller.
Oyasumi nasai (good night!)