Waking up each day...

In February I had 3 weeks of parents observations (classes everyday with parents watching/participating) and was rather tired out from the stress of it all. At the end of my last week of parents observations out in the sticks where I have to stay in a yucky hotel 2 hours away from home, I rushed home quickly and took off again for Shikoku.

Feb 21st ~ Feb 25th>
I flew out early Sunday morning to Osaka then literally ran out of the airport and caught the bus into town where I ran some more to get tickets for the highway bus to Tokushima; I was really close to missing the bus, what with not knowing where the bus stop was and then having to run around and find the ticket counter when I got to the bus stop it was rather amazing that I made it.

Once in Tokushima I met up with Samet (Yeah! 2-nen-buri datta yo!) and we set off on a lengthy train ride to Oboke where we waited for the Hotel car to come pick us up. The hotel was awesome!

It's a Japanese style hotel on the slope of a mountain (amongst other mountains) along a beautiful river. They of course have wonderful onsen baths; with the rotenburo (outdoor bath) at the top of the mountain, you actually have to get on a cable lift to go there! Beautiful surroundings, relaxing bath (as it was off season, there weren't that many people, plus it was still rather chilly and rainy, so when we went in the rotenburo (sheltered though) we have the place to ourselves.

Day 2 was a long train and bus ride from the east side of Shikoku to the West. We made our way to Matsuyama, famous for Dogo onsen; Japan's oldest sento and also the set for the well-known anime movie "Spirited Away". We stayed at a very reasonable priced hotel (we'd say it was really really cheap for what it was,) The room was tiny but very cozy and had everything we needed (even a mini washing machine tucked away in a chibi wardrobe!) and most importantly for me, it was nice and clean.
After checking in, we went up to Matsuyama Castle, we didn't pay to go inside the Castle, we were happy to just take photos around the outside. Dogo onsen was awe-inspiring on the outside. Unfortunately the inside was big contrast to what we'd expected...
To add insult to injury when I went to have a look at the ladies onsen at the hotel, I was amazed and extremely impressed with it; the entry was electronically locked, you have to press a button on the intercom that has a camera attached, and when it/someone(?) recognised that you're female, it would unlock for you. Inside was nice and clean, they provide all the amenities that you would need, even the creams and toners (not really really cheap ones either,) there was even a minus-ion facial steamer thing and an advanced set of scales. The bath was set in nice marble slabs and they even had a sauna and jet spa. Sadly as it was rather late and we'd already bathed at Dogo onsen, I didn't use anyway of the mentioned facilities.

Day 3 was off to Beppu, we got on an AnpanMan train and got off about an hour or so later, maybe an hour and a half? I can't remember. When we got off the train we tried to look for the bus that went to the port. We ended up just walking, it took us like about 30 minutes, with all the baggage we had, it was tough.
By the time we got on the ferry, we were exhausted and hungry so we got some ice cream. After that we got cup noodles from the vending machine; just what we needed. When we got off at Bepput port, we took a taxi to the supermarket where the bus stops on the way to the place where we're staying and got groceries for dinner.

...... to be continued