I had made the main train trip and disembarked with no issues, but then found I needed to wait about half an hour for a train to go to the folk village I planned to investigate. After the local train there was a bus trip...again a delay...would I ever get there?? The instructions I had ben given at tourist information were to get a particular bus and alight at the second stop......so I did as I was told. Got off, looked around, seemed a bit bigger than I expected - large car/bus park......oh well, follow the crowd. I had not wandered far when I started to get a bit suspicious.....anyway there were interesting shops to look in and a sign pointing to a temple. Not wanting to miss anything, I followed my nose and found a lovely, quite big Buddhist temple. Lots of folks about having lunch etc, I realised that this was one of the 88 temples that pilgrims visit. In fact this was temple 84 on the list. I enjoyed the peace and watched life - animal and bird as well as human for a while then decided that I must get back on track, or I wouldn't gt to Shikoku Mura. Now which path takes me there.......well to cut a long story short, I followed several paths but not having a map for this area was proving irritating and I decided to return to the bus stop to ask. Of course no-one spoke English in the shops....but a very helpful Chinese couple asked if I was OK. I explained what I was looking for and they took me under their wing for a while. They chatted amongst themselves (in Chinese) and between us we came to the conclusion that I had overshot and come a stop to far! It was anothr half and hour or so for the bus to come and Mrs Chinese spoke to the driver to establish where I should get off. He said the bus didn't stop there on the return trip, I needed to see the mountain (!!) and walk down to the village....Grrr!! Mrs Chinese established an alternative route if I got off elsewhere and legged it...(risky!!).
As we sat on the bus I decided that there was a danger I'd get to the village, but end up missing my train home as this wasn't supposed to be being undertaken at after 2.30!!
I was disappointed but have already been to 2 such villages, so cut my losses and returned to the main Takamatsu station to decide what or where to go instead. I asked if there was a museum and how to get there....yes...and by local train....in about 35 minutes....
Now you can call me a wimp if you like, but it was cold and I was fed up...and the return train to Okayama was on the platform and leaving in 20 minutes.........so I got on it and went home!
Now although this wasn't one of the better days, I did see some fabulous thread balls with little paper bits inside. They could be mobiles or just have one on a little stand....yes I thought they would be nice, until I saw the price. I don't doubt that somebody had spent a lot of time making them, but at the end of the day, it was only a small thing and it might get spoiled in transit...and I would be £25 or more worse off! I wish I could work out how they were made as they were like temari without the stitchin, but with no insides...if you see what I mean. I regret not having bought one now, but I had also though tI would see more of them elsewhere.... ah well!!
Station artwork...
Buddhas....
Here the badger is reveered, so lots about!!
The temple had a pagoda with 5 floors....
Look who popped in for a photo shoot...more than likely blurred as it took me by surprise!
The views from near the top of the mountain...
Along one of the paths that didn't go anywhere I wanted!! Wonder who it was that lived here and what the story was!
I had forgotten I also went into the grounds of the old castle,....surprising what I remember when I see the photos!!
A bridge over the gravel garden...
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