Road trip with Darren Day 7

After sleeping in the car at an expressway road stop we got off to another early start. We decided to visit a famous shrine called Kompirasan which is as famous for the 1,368 steps as it is for the shrine to mariners. We arrived in the town of Kotohira well before 8am & it was already heaving with every shop trying to get us to park in their car park with an obligation to spend at least $20 on souvenirs. We opted not to & after driving down some tiny lanes found a business car park to park in - we weren't sure what company it was, maybe a bank but it was a national holiday so we thought we'd risk it.

It was definitely worth the risk as it was the closest place to the bottom of the climb where I'm pictured above.

Here is Darren at the top, oh no there's another sign & more steps, we're not at the top at all!








About 800 steps later we reached the top. There were some signs along the way letting you know how much further & the odd struggling pilgram.

It was a hazy morning but well worth the climb, I wasn't trying to look extra exhausted! Once you reach the time the huffing & puffing disappears & is replaced with a smile.






However Darren looks noticeably less tired. We were quite proud of ourselves as we went through the bowing, coin throwing, praying & clapping ritual as afterward we watched many Japanese doing a rather abridged version.

On the way down we decided to stop for a cold drink to celebrate, We had their national beverage, Asahi Super Dry.... it was almost 9am & seemed like the appropriate thing to do.




This stop was for Mum & her love of (baby) elephants.

Feeling very light headed (was that from the climb or the breakfast beer I wonder?), we were still on the way down, we stopped for a giant tacoyaki snack followed by a strong coffee before continuing on our way.






Back to where we started from! It's amazing how much you can accomplish when you get up early. It was probably only about 10am by this time & we set off on the next part of the journey.















Next we stopped in Takamatsu City to visit Ritsurin Koen, one of the most famous & very beautiful historical parks in Japan.

It was really nicely set up too with suggested paths, a map to carry & information in English.

A cute/funny thing was at the end there was a small broom for dusting off your pants & shoes, sooooo very Japanese & we enjoyed watching people intently duesting themselves down.