Takamatsu

The Gardens worth a special journey

We had arranged to meet our friends, Julie and Andrew at 10am so we had a couple of hours to relax.  We boiled water in a mini pump urn, that looked like a rice cooker to make our morning coffee, then wandered out to find yoghurt to have with our muesli fore breakfast.  The day was overcast but fine, and we enjoyed watching the ferries depart to the islands from our window whilst having breakfast

It was lovely to see Julie and Andrew, who we had met on our South Australian bike tour.  We headed down to a cafe van on the waterfront for our second coffee and caught up on their travels in Japan to date.  We solved the mystery of our non-functioning eSIM - Simon had not received the message advising the access point name, which Julie was able to provide as they had used the same eSIM.

Julie and I then headed to Takamatsu station to buy tickets to Tokushima for the start of our ride tomorrow whilst Simon started putting the bikes together with Andrew helping by pumping up the tyres. That was meant to be my job, so I wandered off to find some pastries for morning tea.  Bikes sorted, we were about to head off to Ritsurin Gardens but were diverted by a performance in the nearby square.  We watched for a while as different groups performed before they all joined together for a finale.

It was a pleasure to ride through the city along a wide, flat bike path which was separated from pedestrians, and convenient underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists.  The locals were comfortable to ride down but we didn’t see anyone make the ascent. 

We met Julie and Andrew at the main gate and wandered through the start of the southern route of the park.  I had heard that there was a wonderful tea house overlooking a pond, but we decided to eat at the main cafe located in a beautiful building near the entrance.  Lunch was amazing and the servings generous but not too filling, leaving us room for the most beautiful desserts. Simon and I shared a Seto lemon dish which consisted of glass noodles in a lemon sauce with lemon sorbet and a chocolate ganache cake accompanied with salt ice cream.  We had only cycled 2.5kms to the gardens so not quite sure we had earned dessert - but agreed it was important to fortify ourselves for the weeks ahead.

We took the recommended northern route after lunch which was pleasant but not inspiring.  Then we returned to complete the southern route.  There are around 1400 pine tress in the garden, some over 300 years of and their branches are curved like bonsai.  We passed the small Higurashi-tei tea house, then the historic Kyu Higurashi-tei Teahouse originally built around 1700 and beautifully preserved, before passing the renowned Kikugetsu tea house.  The views grew more and more amazing, as we spotted people enjoying a boar ride in the South Pond dressed with feudal hats. There were a few boats doing the tours and the wearing of the hats appeared to be an integral part of the experience.  We then climbed Hiram-ho which is said to have been constructed to resemble Mount Fuji.  The view from the top was absolutely stunning, looking across to the Engetsu-kyo Bridge, with Mount Shiun-Zan in the background and the many shapes of the pines spread out before us.  No wonder Ritsurin Garden has been listed in the Michelin Green Guide Japan with a three star rating meaning it is “worth a special journey”

We finished the recommended South route as it started to sprinkle rain however, we made it back to the hotel without getting wet.  Simon packed the bikes in their new Rinko bags before we headed out for dinner 

Julie and Andrew had recommended a place for dinner which they had visited the night before and thoroughly enjoyed.  Julie led us there via a rather circuitous route which took us through some of the backstreets of Takamatsu.  She stopped to pick up some pre-ordered flowers which she presented to the restaurant’s owner in thanks for their previous night’s dinner.

We left it to the chef to decide what to feed us and enjoyed a feast of different flavours from sashimi, to skewers, BBQ’d scallops, little side dishes and the chef’s special sukiyaki. All very delicious and great fun.