Backpacking

huge building with dozens of small restaurants selling the speciality. stepping out of the lift, we were met with a volley of Japanese welcomes as the owners fought for our business. We settled on a place ran by some Koreans and ordered some pancakes - and of course kimchi for Tak. Whilst we cross-examined a Korean soap on telly for bad acting and cheesy plot elements, the pancakes were cooked for us with great skill, taking a lot of time and effort. We were all defeated by various degrees by the size of the things.

Day 22: 21st February Cripple Creek Ferry

Matsuyama, Japan

Hiroshima has a clanky tram system, and this morning we took a rickety old example to the port. We were planning on taking a ferry across to Shikoku, a smaller island of Japan south of the main island of Honshu. As we got to the port, a ferry was just due to go, so we all legged it along the dock and jumped on in the nick of time, establishing a prime position right at the front in the warm.

We were all pretty zonked from a barrage of late nights and early starts, so the relaxed ferry ride was exactly what was needed. The scenery was beautiful; we glided past the Japanese

equivalent of the Mediterranean, past small islands packed with dense forest and small towns spilled onto hillsides. At one point we passed through a narrow channel populated on both sides by rows of houses. We even saw Japanese warships docked and flying the Japanese naval flag (the rising sin with rays), which looked pretty unsettling - the association of that flag to the Pacific War is still quite strong for many. Most of us nodded off at some point to arrive refreshed in Matsuyama.

A connecting train brought us to Matsuyama's compact city centre. We worked our way to the castle, perched up high above the city, via a few clothes shops (to be fair, the girls were pretty restrained, given that clothes shopping is a well-documented genetic female trait). The castle was accessible by steps, cable car or chairlift - everyone was in favour of the cable car given that there were no restraints to hold you to the chair (although there was a big safety net to catch you if you keeled over). We had timed it perfectly so that a Japanese tour group complete with flag-toting leader squeezed into our cable car, making it feel more like an Odakyi line train than an entertainment ride. Still, we were amused to see the cable car attendant lady give the car a couple of deep and meaningful bows as it ascended.