We are at the port of Kochi, Japan on the island of Shikoku, the smallest of the four main Japanese islands. The city is the capital of the Kochi Prefecture. This is a last minute change to the ship’s itinerary. We were schedules to cruise the Inland Sea. However, the fishing fleet was also scheduled in the area at the same time. The fishing fleet trumps a cruise ship, at least in Japan. On the other hand, the city gave us a grant welcome with the pier lined with drum groups, a school band and a good part of the local population.
We were provided with a good city map, a lot of city information, and a bus shuttle to the city. We took the shuttle. It was a great decision because we went through three tunnels in our thirty minute ride to the city. Like a lot of cities, they have put a bridge over the main channel to the city and our ship is too big to go under the bridge. We are docked at the new container port closer to the ocean.
Our shuttle took us to the main bus stop in the city. Very close to the main covered shopping arcades in the city. Sandra was still looking for more tops, so the first hour was spent in women’s clothing stores. At lunch time, we stopped at a small coffee/lunch restaurant. Lunch included a small cabbage salad, a main plate (fried rice or curry rice) and tea or coffee. A very inexpensive but very delicious meal.
We walked the length of the arcade and ended up in front of the Kochi Castle. This building was built in 1603 by the founder of the city and strong man of the area. The castle was destroyed in the great fire of 1727, but was rebuilt in 1748. There are more than 100 steps to get to the entrance of the castle. We opted for a view from the bottom.
We took a different way back to the bus station. We followed a street that was setup as The Sunday Market. Again, a lot of everything that can be sold. At one end, there were antique dealers with some neat stuff. Next to them were the hardware stalls with every type of knife made in Japan. Too bad airport security is so diligent. The ride back to the ship was another 30 minutes of seeing the sights.
The pier was still crowded with bands, vendors and folks enjoying the show of a big ship in the harbor. At 6:30 P.M., in the middle of dinner, we set sail and pulled out of Kochi, a very nice port that Cunard will use more often in the future.
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| Coming into Kochi Harbor |
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| Crowds everywhere |
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| Flags waving |
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| And the band |
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| Old men working hard at being old men |
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| The founder of Kochi |
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| Kochi Castle |
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| Another view of Kochi Castle |
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