Exploring Matsuyama

I spent the day in recovery mode after all the drama of the day before. Breakfast, hunting for band aids, visiting Matsuyama Castle, a cool retro cafe, some unique soba, and some craft beers. This is part of my Shimanami Kaido bicycle trail trip. The Shimanami Kaido is a 70-80 km cycle path crossing six islands linking Onomichi to Imabari. It’s very well known and is covered on a million blogs and YouTube channels! I stayed in Japan for five and a half days. Day 1 was exploring Onomichi, days 2 to 4 were on the trail, and the last day was spent in Matsuyama.

Day 5 of 5-and-a-half days in Japan

Day 5

Breakfast

I slept okay considering my physical state. No blood on the sheets as far as I could tell. I tried to shower without getting the bandages wet and was quite successful. It took ages though and made my arm and shoulder ache a lot. I needed to change my dressings but the only open pharmacy had nothing and suggested Cosmos, a big chain that opened at 10. I walked towards the train station and found Tokaidai a cute old style Japanese café, and got some eggs on toast with a mini salad and coffee.

Next, I wanted to see where to catch the airport bus tomorrow. It wasn’t super clear but I bought a ticket on my app a bit later and I think I found the bus stop. I got to the big pharmacy store and got plasters then went back to the hotel cleaned up the two wounds on my body with some alcohol swaps and added the ointment. So with the ‘admin’ out the way, it was time to do something fun! I liked walking around this city’s streets.

Matsuyama Castle

I walked towards Matsuyama Castle but I ended up at the rear entrance and had to walk through a lot of grounds and park. If you’re ever there, the easiest way to get in is from the south side. Once through the wall, you walk up the hill between cool fortress walls. The walls are really high and solid looking just like you’ve seen any decent Samurai film. The whole of the grounds are free for people to walk around, even up to the top ground level. Up there, you can enjoy views to the city and the sea. There are a few gift shops and a small restaurant where I got some beef udon soup and a small sake. There was an egg on the udon, so that counts as a second breakfast, right?

You pay a fee to enter the actual castle building. It’s a great place and I spent about an hour or so going up all the floors and looking at the exhibits. I put on some armour and poked a musket out of the window. The views from the top floor were great.

Coffee-kan Akarenga

At the exit I took the cable car down. There is also a cheaper chairlift next to it! The exit leads to a little street lined with shops, cafés and restaurants. I visited another cute elderly person’s coffee shop and café Coffee-kan Akarenga (cash only!). There were bits of old movie and music posters and other bits and pieces around the cafe. They kept the shop money in an old wooden cash register, and even took an incoming call on an old black Bakelite telephone!

Then I walked through some arcades. The first one was huge and a old English style department store which I walked around quickly. Very Harrods “Are you being served?” vibes! Then I walked the full length of a couple of huge shopping arcades. They weren’t super busy. I saw some interesting dinner options, including a few Korean restaurants.

It was then I remembered the castle had a moat, so I walked to it while it was sill light out. This meant revisiting the south parts of the park in front of the castle. The lowering sun gave the whole area a lovely golden hue.

Then I walked to the train station and to my hotel. I checked my face again and the swelling in my eye was quite bad, like I’d been in the ring with Tyson! So, do I go out tonight with my sunglasses or regular glasses? I could put a small plaster over the reddest part of the black eye and put on my normal glasses (I’d managed to put the broken arm back on).

Soba and craft beers

I went out on the hunt for food and walked further than I wanted intended! I found a place near the Ferris wheel. It was SOBA TENPLUS a soba noodle place that accepted credit cards and with lots of complicated menu options. One of the staff carefully explained my options and basically chose for me! I had a citrusy craft beer with it which was very nice.

Then I walked back to a place that I didn’t go into before because only had a bit of cash left. As I’d been able to use my credit card to eat, I thought I’d use the rest of my yen up here. It was a craft beer pub called Bokke. I got two beers and spent the last of my cash. Had a brief chat with the bar manager as he asked about my face. Turns out he rode the Shimanami Kaido earlier this year.

On the way home I called Romana and showed my mother-in-law my bruise then I called again quickly when I got to the hotel. I watched a bit of Star Trek on Netflix and then I went to sleep.