Having checked and doubled checked the ferry schedule, I knew I had some time in the morning to follow my regular routine before needing to pack up and get to the ferry terminal. I ate a breakfast of tasteless donuts and a banana purchased the night before as I didn’t know when I would have a chance to eat again. Yesterday’s rain had intensified into periods of short downfalls, but fortunately, by the time I left, the rain had agreed to a ceasefire, and I was able to walk the couple of kilometers to the ferry terminal. As I looked back at Beppu from the boat, I could see clouds drooping low over the mountains, supported only by the thousands of pillars of steam pouring out from the earth.
The three hour ferry ride to Yawatahama got a little bumpy in the middle, but I was able to spread out in the open second class area, access WiFi and plug in my phone to keep it charged. I studied and napped and enjoyed the ride.
Yawatahama is a tiny little town and I walked the fifteen minutes from the port to the train station to take in a quick assessment. As if by magic, everything in the schedule was working out smoothly. I bought a ticket to Matsuyama and waited less than ten minutes for the next local train. I know the express trains are a lot faster (and more comfortable), but its crazy that the price is basically double. The local train, basically just a single subway car of a train, stopped at about 15 or so local stations, some so small, there was barely a roof and a platform. The scenery of Shikoku is better than I was expecting, but the constant drizzle of rain is somewhat worrying.
There was another foreigner, a backpacker by the looks of him, on the train. We didn’t talk. He pulled out a white vest at some point of the journey and put it on. It looked ridiculous. The train reached Matsuyama in about 90 minutes, and though it is the largest city of Shikoku, we went from country side to suburbs to the train station rather suddenly.
I walked the five minutes to my guesthouse, which happened to be right next to the train station (I’m not liking the nearly constant sound of trains coming in and out). Strangely enough, it has the same name — Casablanca — as the guesthouse in Nagasaki, though there is no relation. It is a converted set of apartments on the 8th floor of an apartment block. I checked in with the owner, who was decked out in traditional garb, and spent the afternoon relaxing in the dorm suite. There are two bedrooms, each converted into 6-bed dorm rooms with a connected balcony, a spartan common room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Strangely, there are only two of us here (a Dutch guy), so it is weird to think that it will be fully occupied on Saturday–the beginning of the Golden Week. It wouldn’t be so nice sharing a single toilet and bath with 11 people.
In the evening, I wondered over to a nearby supermarket and splurged on dinner, buying a salad, a pack of chicken meatballs, and a plate of spaghetti. At the checkout, I noticed a display of glues and decided I should finally get around to fixing my shoes (where the front of the right shoe’s sole is flappy). I heated up and had dinner at the guesthouse and spent most of the evening looking through another introductory Japanese textbook I found (“A Complete Language Course and Pocket Dictionary in One!”).
| Ferry ticket | 3100 |
| Train ticket | 1280 |
| Beverage | 130 |
| Guesthouse (3 nights) | 8600 |
| Groceries | 1229 |
| Total: | 14339 JPY (917.7 RMB) (USD 136.1) |
Running Total: 25826.7 RMB (USD 3830)
Daily Average: 296.85 RMB (USD 44)
Oh brother, this daily average just keeps ticking up slowly…