第十二日 別府 - 大洲 - 久万高原 - 松山

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久しぶりにお日様のない朝だか、雨は降っていない別府。十分に観光客は来ているようだが、往時の華やかさはどこへ？裏びれた、リニューアルを待つホテルは多い。私達のホテルもそんな感じ。

いつもはのんびり一般道を走るのに、今日は早い時間のフェリーに乗るために高速を使う。佐賀関という大分の出っ張りから三崎という佐多岬の出っ張りに近い港まで約一時間乗る。今度は船が大きいせいか、やっと半分の面積が埋まる程度の車の量だ。こういう事でもなければ、おおよそ訪ねることのない四国のしっぽ部分である。風力発電の風車が尾根に毛が立っているように生えている。その数、見える範囲だけでも50位はある。

今日はワルターの懐かしの四国遍路旅を回想した日。自分が辛い思いをした（誰に強制されてもいないのだから、仕方ないじゃん・・って思うんですけど）久万高原への道。

車に乗っていても「まだ～？」と思うほど長いのだから、歩いたらさぞかし・・・。永遠に終わらない道のように思えただろう。なんて車って快適で便利な文明の利器！

ワルターの足の状態は昨日と同じで回復してはいない。足を引きずりながら、松山城と道後温泉を見学。どちらも外からのみだったが、明かりのついている道後温泉は昼間より一層風情がある。温泉はホテルに帰って入る。

突然友人の訃報が入り、お葬式に間に合うように帰宅しようと思っている。思いもよらない急逝だけに、気持ちも落ち着かない。両親の世代を見送った後すぐに同世代を見送る時が来てしまった・・。

After a meagre breakfast, we leave Beppu and take the motorway to Saganoseki, the port that will take us to Shikoku. The boat only leaves every full hour and I'm worried that we'll miss the 09:00 ferry. It goes well and we are at the harbour on time. From Misaki we take the only road on this narrow but long peninsula, which is home to a large number of wind turbines. There are said to be people heree who have already seen them turning. Today there is only a gentle breeze and they are standing still.

Our next stop is the town of Ozu. Today is my "nostalgia day" because I walked through this town on my pilgrimage in 2016 and 2021. We visit the historic old town, which is probably particularly well known to the Japanese because NHK films its historical dramas here. The setting is just right. 

On my last visit, you couldn't see the castle because of construction work on a bridge. Today I finally manage to take a nice photo. We continue on the difficult pilgrimage route up to Komakogen. At temple No. 44, I show Yumiko where she should have the police and fire brigade look for me if I ever dare to come here again. The stretch between temple No. 44 and No. 45 is particularly difficult and old white men like me tend to fall off here. 

On the way, I actually wanted to visit my "girl friend" Kayo, who used to run a kind of "pilgrim's petrol station" in her house. I find the house, but Kayo, who should now be in her mid-80s, wasn't at home. I explain to her husband, who is quite demented, why I'm here. May he pass on my regards. He'll probably have forgotten my order a minute later. Must write Kayo a postcard!

We find our hotel in Matsuyama surprisingly quickly. As we still have time, we visit the castle, which towers quite high above the town. You have to use a chair lift to get up there. It's too late to see the castle inside. We take a walk around the extensive grounds and take the tram to what is probably the most famous onsen in Japan, the Dogo Onsen. 

When I visited it in 2021, it was completely covered. Today you can admire it again. The construction work is due to be completed in summer. Then you all have to come and admire the construction.