Weather: Sunny high of 19*C
Started the morning with Uwajima City’s favourite dish: Hyugameshi – fresh sliced sea bream dipped in a sauce containing raw egg and soy sauce, sake and mirin. It is supposed to be served atop piping hot rice… but I’m not a fan of raw egg on rice so I just dipped the fish in the sauce and ate it that way.
The interactive map I’ve been using henro.org is great. I can put in my destination and it will tell me the best way to get there…except for going to temple 44. I checked at Uwajima City and it showed me a ridiculous route. My Henro guidebook said to catch a bus from Matsuyama Station, so I went to Matsuyama Station and tried again. This is what the link showed me.
I asked at the Tourist Information Centre and they pointed me to the correct bus. The bus ride only took 1 hour and 20 minutes as opposed to the 1 day and 2 hour journey the interactive map suggested. It was also a fraction of the cost.
I made it to the half way point Temple 44 (Daihoji)!
I am staying at a place near Daihoji in a town called Kuma-kogen. Walking down a street in the town there were hinamatsuri dolls everywhere! I’ve never seen so many in one place! Today, apparently is the last day they are displaying the dolls.
At 3pm there was a siren (like a tsunami warning siren) and then an announcement that I couldn’t understand partly because of the echoes from the loudspeakers and partly because there were words I didn’t understand and then a bunch of fire trucks, police vehicles, and ambulances started flashing their lights, wailing their sirens and speeding down the road. I started to freak out, but then realized that no one else on the street looked worried nor were they running for their lives. It was a mountain fire, luckily it was put out quickly. In mountainous areas, I found out, there are 3 sirens: one for fires, one for earthquakes, and one for heavy rain (which may cause landslides)…tsunami…not so much. 🥴
KotsuKotsuLife 