New Places...

The time had come to travel a good distance across Japan to visit an entirely different area - Shikoku Island.

The journey itself turned out to be an incredible experience full of weird and wonderful things. Space age ‘Bullet trains’ that go at 250 kmph made the journey shorter than it should have been. We chose to stop in Kyoto and Osaka, to check out some of Japan's older cities. Two unique places, full of rich culture and history where the contrasts between old and new are everywhere...





These places were full of character and quirky things, we could have easily stayed for longer but time was pressing and we were on a mission for rural Japan. Check out this statue that was outside one of the restaurants.




We couldn't resist going in, when we did, it got even better. Not only was the food out of this world, but every table had Japanese models (manikins!) who sit next to you whilst you eat.

Trying my luck with the ladies… the conversation was a bit limited.

The walls were full of crude drawings like this one… if anyone can translate this I would be very interested to know what it says!

The whole place was completely crazy. We got back on the bullet train, after numerous take away sushi's, connecting trains and a night of sleep we woke up to the pristine beauty of Shikoku!

The view from the bunkhouse at dawn

Teru, local legend and head guide at Happy Raft met up with us and we got on for a paddle with the rafts on the Yoshino River.

Stunning river

Stunning setting

… and much better rafting than Minakami.

We had a few days on this river, a beautiful place and I really enjoyed sharing experiences with fun people. It was great to paddle and hang out with guides happy to be on the river, loving what they do and giving their all to share those experiences with the clients!

Thanks to Teru, Kanami and Happy Raft for all the photos and fun!