Chapter 46: CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Reads: 209
Comments: 1

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

"Well little buddy, today's going to be a long drive. And not a very interesting one, either. Route 56 from here up to Matsuyama car ferry port stays away from Shikoku's west coast almost all the way."

Beeep!

"But maybe that's just as well. This way we won't be slowed down by looking at the scenery because I know from last time there's nothing to stop for. That'll let us get there faster. Maybe I can get in one or two ohenro temples while I'm waiting for the ferry to leave at 10 tonight. After all, there are eight in Matsuyama."

Be-beep!

We made it to the Matsuyama car ferry port by 4 o'clock. "Plenty of time to visit a temple or two, little buddy. And if it's close to the the ferry port, I'll do it on foot. That's really doing the ohenro!"

Be-beep!

When it was my turn at the ticket window "Ah Miss, I have a reservation for first class. My name is David--"

"Oh yes. We've been expecting you. We remember you from last time. Not many gaigin use this ferry and certainly not in reserved first class. Here is your ticket. Are you taking your motorcycle with you like last time?"

"Yes please. How much is it?"

She told me and I paid. "Miss, can you tell me if there are any ohenro temples nearby?"

She frowned. "On foot?"

I nodded,

"The closet on foot would be more than a hour each way. However there are some temples and shrines near here that are nice." She gave me the directions.

"Well, I guess they'll have to do. Thank you very much for your help."

"Well little buddy," as we were waiting in line to be boarded. "The temples and shrines she told me to visit were okay. But nothing like No 38, Kongofuku-ji. At least they helped me kill time before we can get boarded. And I also got in a quick snack at one of those revolving sushi shops. I know there's no real restaurant on board."

Beeep!

The boarding master began loading. Cars first, natch. Then the trucks. Then finally us bikers.

"Well little buddy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you here strapped to the hull rail again."

Beeep!

"But remember, now that our trip around Shikoku is over, tomorrow we'll be back home again."

Be-beep!

I headed for the stairway to the passenger decks wondering how first class would be on a bottom berth this time.

As I reached the second class deck carrying my saddle bags and motorcycle gear, a different steward gave me the same nod towards the second class cabin. When I showed him my first class ticket, the same look of astonishment and the same, "I'll show you to your cabin, Sir."

The same four person cabin with with two bunk beds each with upper and lower berths. I put my own luggage in the same place as last time. "I hope this gives you enough room to go to the toilets if you have to."

The same looks of relief from my cabinmates that this gaigin speaks Japanese!

And as soon I lay down on my lower berth, "Yeah. This is much more private and comfortable than an upper."

No gregarious beer-buying roommate this time. Which was fine with me. I didn't want to be so hung over tomorrow when we had to disembark at 5am that I would have to spend two and half hours taking in strong coffee at that coffee house. Though I would need their morning service breakfast to get us all the way back to Kyoto.

I did allow myself a beer from the vending machine in order to get to sleep as early as I could and drank it at the window table. Another roommate came to drink his vending machine cup sake to the small table as well. We exchanged greetings. But it was clear he didn't want to continue the conversation.

Which was fine with me, as I snuggled into my lower berth and got to sleep quickly just wanting to get back home.

Submitted: June 21, 2024

Romance romance japan gaijin travel-in-japan japan-1970s

Like
Shelfit

Chapters

T
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64

Add Your Comments:

Sign in to write a comment

Comments

B Douglas Slack

Shame the trip will be over soon.

When my parents visited me in Misawa, I went with them on a trip down to Tokyo. The base booking clerk shook his head and said "no first class on train." So my mom said, "What about second class?" He was amazed that Americans would travel second class. It was a wonderful trip. We met all sorts of people. Pretty much every stop we made, someone would open a window and call the sake vendor over and get a bottle. By the time we got to Tokyo we were pretty wasted. Big party,. Great trip.

Bill

Sat, June 29th, 2024 1:32am

Author
Reply

Yeah,
Those are the kind of trains I traveled on back in 1967/67 in my fourth year of five years of Antioch College's Antioch Education Abroad (AEA) system. I once paid twice as much for a first class seat and it was so much nicer. Now there are no first class seats on JR trains, only "Green Car" at only 50 percent more. The Haruka Express from Kansai Airport to Kyoto is really nice and my wife and I always use the Green Car after a 14 hour flight or so coming back from the U.S or Europe.

Ken

Sun, June 30th, 2024 10:55pm