Kyushu & Shikoku Travel - 松山市 Matsuyama

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Arriving late in Matsuyama, the Tan Tans were famished and went to hunt for good izakaya the moment that they dumped their luggage. They are luckily to find a place with great kushi katsu and yakitori.

 

Our little feast when we first arrived in Shikoku!

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IMG_0856 I liked the way they hang their scopes.

 

Matsuyama is famous for 2 things;

  1. Matsuyama-jo (Matsuyama castle)
  2. Dogo Onsen (Japan’s most famous and oldest onsen)

Our first stop was Matsuyama-jo which is within walking distance from our hotel (Toyoko-inn of cos, cheap and good).

 IMG_0867 Our alternative transport up to the castle other than walking. Seems like a modified ski lift.

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Matsuyama-jo is situated on a high hill giving it an panoramic view that enable it to detect enemy’s movement. A pity that from the various signs that we saw, it seemed like the castle was burned down multiple times by lightning and vandalism.

IMG_0887 View of Matsuyama from the castle

IMG_0893 Cute Japanese kids on a outing to Matsuyama-jo.

 

Our next visit was to Dogo onsen which is the oldest and most famous onsen in Japan. An interesting thing about Dogo-onsen was that you can opt the “commoner” package which is the most basic package at 300yen that consists of just the basic “Bath of the God”. Whereas, the most expensive package cost more than 1200yen which includes bath robe, dedicated Botchan’s resting room as well as tea and snacks. Tan Tans are commoner.

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After the fabulous soak! Look at how radiant Mrs Tan Tan was.

And she got even more radiant discovering the POM shop!

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IMG_0938IMG_0923 Some of the POM juice we bought!

IMG_0922And POM soft-serve…wahahaha.. .

 IMG_0915Famous snack in Matsuyama – Botchan’s Dango.  Oh, anyway Botchan was a character in this famous novel that features a guy who moved to Matsuyama and everyone in Japan knows about this novel. Botchan’s dango comes in 3 favours and was extremely tasty!

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We also caught this clock tower performance – just like at the difference!

 

IMG_0866 The gathering of all the public transport. Bus, Cab and Tram.

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An unique classic tram which the Tan Tans did not managed to get on. Disappointing.

With that, the Tan Tans say goodbye to Matsuyama and made their way to Takamatsu by highway bus. Another 3hours on the bus.

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