Well, I didn't find my camera. We set off at 8am from Matsuyama to Takamatsu and I ran back to the cafe but it was closed. I asked at the information desk and apparently it's closed all day on a Monday. Meanwhile Donald was checking with the train station staff and the police but with no success.

So, a fortnight's worth of amazing photos, not to mention my evidence of the spoon bending, lost forever! I know I can get copies of Jim and Don's snaps but it's not the same... And I'm having to retrain the reflex inbuilt in me that sees something amazing and tries to capture it on film! But I can't dwell on it anymore because it's not going to get less annoying. I just have to get a replacement at the earliest opportunity.

Today has mostly been a gruelling day of travel. Got the 8.11 train to Takatmatsu from Matsuyama, then the 11:09 train to Okayama, changing to the Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka at 12:28 before getting the train from Osaka Namba to Gokurakubashi at 14:40. The journey to Gokurakubashi was amazing: we snaked up the mountain (our ears popping all the way) through dense green pine trees, looking over this beautiful landscape of green. When we arrived there we had to get the funicular railway up to Koyasan and then the bus down the other side of the mountain to our hostel.

The three of us are back to sharing a room again but it's a traditional Japanese one with sliding screen doors, a low table with seats that are cushions with wooden backrests and futons to sleep on. Koyasan is a raised tableland in northern Wakayama-ken and its main attraction is the Koyasan monastic complex. We're off to explore the temples tomorrow but tonight we settled with lots of cheap beer, saki and udon noodles.

Take care, love you all x x x