Japan trip, Day 9

Monday was the last day of our tour. After breakfast, we continued our journey to Oboke Gorge, one of three hidden mountain regions of Japan.

Oboke is the valley located upstream of the Yoshino-gawa River. "Boke" means "dangerous to walk along," and Oboke (big "boke") was named for its jagged V-shaped rocks and narrow path which, no matter how carefully or slowly one, makes walking dangerous. We enjoyed a boat ride and took in the unique view of the gorge.

That was before Evelyne and I were the only people in our remaining group of 20 to climb the 1,368 stone steps to the Kotohira-gu Shrine, a Shinto shrine. We rushed through as we didn't want to be late for the tour bus.

In Takamatsu we visited the Ritsurin Park, a masterpiece of Japanese landscape 100 years in the making and just a bit nicer than our own garden ! This sprawling park features beautiful ponds and pavilions, with Mt. Shiun as the perfect backdrop.

From there, our private coach takes us across Awaji Island through a series of spectacular bridges. In the evening we continued to Kobe, where we enjoyed a Wagyu beef dinner...