Piczo

Kochi Sightseeing With The Masakis

So I live in Kochi city but on Shikoku there are 4 main prefectures (or states.) I live in Kochi prefecture and until this weekend did not realize just how amazing of a place it really is. I woke up on Saturday morning with plans of laying around and doing nothing. I had a brief Japanese lesson with my host father, but he had to get to work so he couldn't stick around long. At noon Naoko woke up, with plans to take me to the Ryuugado caves. So we packed up and headed the 40 minutes to the Ryuugado caves just outside the city. They are a truly maginificent work of 15 billion years. Basically you walk up a mile thru these ancient cave shafts that contain thousands of bats and dripping water. I got soaked and for the first time since I've arrived I felt cold! The caves were home to ancient Japanese people as well. We could only spend a little time at the caves as apparently we were going on a vacation along the Kochi-ken coast. Back at home I threw a bunch of stuff in to a back pack and headed out for our first stop: Shimanto City. The city is where the huge firework festival we were attending was. It is about 2 and 1/2 hours away from Kochi City through lush wide open beautiful mountain side. I have probably never seen so much beauty in my life. It was like driving thru Colorado and Vermont but right next to a crystal clear Carribean ocean. The drive took us through these mountains, along clear gurgling rivers, burning rice fields, wild flower fields. There are many places in Japan, and most are nothing like Kochi. Most are more high tech, crowded, and less unspoiled. And though Kochi is a bit boring, driving through the mountains along the coast, I realize there is no place that I would rather be than here right now. We arrived a little late as the fireworks have already started. Let's just say that if American firework shows steal some ideas from the Japanese, then in a couple years we are going to have some wicked shows. But although the fireworks are impressive, I think listening to the sound effects made by the viewers are more funny. For instance, my host father almost choked laughing so hard at a loud boomer. These people really like to make a lot of noise over the fireworks and it is kind of cute. Afterwards we walked along the city for a little while and grabbed dinner at an "Italian" restaurant. After dinner, we continued to walk until we went back to check into the hotel. I got my own room which was good because it was small. Small meaning I smacked my head on the shallow room at least 3 or 4 times during the night. In the morning we got out early to explore the Dragonfly Park in Shimanto City. Actually there weren't many dragonflys at all. So we went to breakfast and from there took a half an hour drive to the Tatsukushi Coast. From the moment we pulled up to this small paradise I loved it. The water was crystal clear and beach had no one in sight. Out in the distance the strange architextural underwater viewing station floated and boats came in and out of the shallow bay. My host family decided to take a nice ride on the glass bottom boat that would lead us out into strange rock formation island. The boat ride was very cool but it was a little hard for me to fit as my legs were too long to squeeze into the seat. But when we arrived I was suprised at how cool the rocks actually were. Old and out of the way, the island never gets many tourists but it is very fascinating how truly beautiful the area really is. I've heard the popular quote, "go not where the path leads but take the less beaten path." I can honestly say that the Tatsukushi Coast is definitely that less traveled path. Back on the main island we realized we had to head out and hit the Ashizuri Coast, which is the Southernmost point of Kochi-ken. The thing about Kochi is that there are too many mountains to make a straight road so they created these annoying curvy roads up and down the sides of the mountains. The Ashizuri Coast is a giant cliff that looks out onto the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean. After the longest and most painful curvy road ever, we arrived. We hiked thru a small forest to the old lighthouse that looked out and took some pictures. Then we hiked back to another point that looked out and saw everything. It was so beautiful, one can't acurately describe it. We couldn't stay long, as we headed out for Ohru Beach. After another long curvy road, we arrived and hiked another mile into the woods. I think that the woods here should be considered rain forests. The Beach, practically empty except for a few locals and American surfers, was paradise. I have never been to a more beautiful beach in my life. The water was so clear, that we could wade out half a mile and still see the bottom. The water was extremely shallow and the surf was perfect, so Naoko, Otosan, and myself headed out into the water for a nice long swim. It was so nice and warm and clean and like nothing I could really truly tell you about. The waves were small and tide was perfect for gentle wadding. I layed on my back floating and staring up at the perfectly blue sky. Naoko and Otosan laughed while splashing in the waves. It was a truly perfect summer moment. Sadly, though, we had to leave and make the trip back into Kochi city.