Rejuvenated by the soak in the onsen we departed early from Tsumago heading towards the Iya valley. A taxi from the hotel to Nagiso station we then train back to Okayama (four trains) where we pick up our hire car from Toyota car rental. It is also at the car rental where we meet up with Gary and Jane and their family, making six adults and seven kids in the group. Jane being fluent in Japanese she also becomes our guide and translator.
With our Carolla sedan loaded up and with the destination entered into the GPS we set out. Thankfully the GPS will give us directions in English, however the menu and buttons are all still in Japanese – and so we will have trouble with any other destinations!
Today is our first day with some rain, with steady rain all morning since leaving Tsumago. Thankfully we’ve just been travelling, and so have kept dry. As drive out of Okayama the weather is clearing.
The two-and-a-half-hour drive included the Great Seto Bridge, a series of bridges connecting Honshū and Shikoku islands by spanning five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. The size of the bridges is impressive. The final hour of the drive took us up into the inner mountains of Shikoku, with dramatic mountain valleys and gorges, and winding roads with blind corners and only the width of a single car in many places. Descending into our campsite at dusk along the narrow treacherous roads, it certainly feels like a remote and difficult area to enter – which is why it has historically been known as a favourite retreat for defeated warriors and people on the run.
The campsite host showed us to our bungalows (wooden traditional style cabins) and we setup our foam mats and sheets we brought with us from Australia. And we headed to bead with the sound of the river rushing over the rocks.
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