Viking Gems of China and Japan Day 23 – Highlights of Kochi
Last night, after I had published yesterday's blog, we received a strange announcement over the room's loudspeaker: Code Alpha, Room 5099. Announcements are generally only done in the common areas, not guest rooms, which was odd. Code Alpha is cruise lingo for a medical emergency. We've had plenty of those on our various cruises, so we knew what the call meant. After that, there weren't any other announcements, so we didn't think much about it.
Then, about 2:45 in the morning, I woke up to what sounded like an engine operating at full blast right outside our room. It didn't take long to figure out that we were undergoing a medical evacuation in the middle of the night. Access to the exterior areas on decks seven and eight was restricted so emergency personnel could work unfettered. We aren't sure exactly where the winch area is on this ship, even though we've had a helicopter evacuation done on this same style of ship on our world cruise. The helicopter stayed with us for nearly an hour, finally departing just before 3:45. We docked at 8:00 this morning, so the medical issue must have been severe enough to warrant a helicopter evacuation four hours before docking.
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| Kochi is mainly an industrial port, but there is a cruise port here |
Japan is comprised of four main islands plus tons of small islands.
Hokkaido is the northern island and the only one we haven't visited. We were supposed to stop at Sapporo, but severe weather prevented us from docking. Honshu is the largest island and holds Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka, and Tokyo. The south island, Kyushu, is where we were yesterday in Miyazaki. Nagasaki and Kagoshima are also there. Today, we are in Kochi on the island of Shikoku, the smallest of the four main islands.
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| Our approximate location is marked with the red star - you can see Kobe to the north, where we will be for the next two days |
Kochi is a city with a population of approximately 300,000 residents. Due to its proximity to the Pacific, fishing is big here, as is seafood in general. The city is also rich in Samurai history.
Our 12:30 tour today, Viking's included tour, Kochi Highlights, took us to a beach and the Kochi Castle Museum. We didn't have enough time to take the shuttle into town and be back before our tour, so we wandered into the terminal and browsed the few vendors set up there. Then, we headed back to the ship so we could grab a quick lunch before our tour.
We made the short drive to the beach.
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| We passed several cemeteries along the way |
The first stop was Katsura Beach, a short drive from the dock. The beach was pretty, but not a good relaxation beach. The "sand" was actually small gravel and quite rough. Secondly, there is no swimming due to the rapidly changing current.
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| There were lots of statues and monuments along a walk around the beach area |
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| Sakamoto Ryoma |
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| If there's water, Arlona is going to touch it |
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| Surveying the Pacific |
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| Our ship, in the distance |
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| A pretty little temple toward the end of the beach |
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| Arlona liked the mascot painted on the lighthouse |
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| We boarded the bus and took in the sights as we made our way to the next stop |
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| I hope that doesn't say "Welcome" |
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| Lots of buildings had external staircases |
Our next stop was the entrance of the Kochi Castle. Our tour didn't actually go to the castle, but it did give us a great photo spot. Kochi Castle is one of just twelve Japanese castles to have survived the fires, wars, and other catastrophes of the post-feudal age. The castle was originally built between 1601 and 1611. Fires in the 1700s damaged many of the buildings, and they were reconstructed in the mid-1700s.
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| The entry with the castle high up in the distance |
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| Yamauchi Kazutoyo 1546-1605 |
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| He was a General and a member of the Brotherhood of Assassins |
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| We walked across the street to the Museum associated with the castle |
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| Tapestries at the entrance |
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| We were invited to try on traditional wear |
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| It's definitely me |
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| We were able to try a six-color additive stamp process, where you stamp the same page six times with different color stamps to form the final image |
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| Another whirlpool charm to fend off fire |
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| The blades were stunning |
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| A terrace on the second floor provided another excellent view of the castle |
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| Many of the lights and posts on the street were adorned with this glasswork |
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| We took advantage of some free time to hit up one of the ubiquitous 7-Eleven stores that dot Japanese cities |
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| Pollack Roe and Butter potato chips |
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| Truffle and Japanese Black Beef - a limited edition |
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| Fishermen's Ajillo - Oyster and Mackeral, a 2025 limited edition |
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| Arlona opted for a ¥300 ($1.96) ice cream cone |
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| We walked over to this park, where she sat and enjoyed it with a nice view of the castle to boot |
Our bus brought us back to the ship, and our day in Kochi was coming to a close. All that was left was cocktails in the Explorers Bar and some dinner.
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| Catching the sunset |
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| Kochi, sending us off in style |
After nice margaritas, we headed to the World Cafe, but didn't make it. At the pool bar, we ran into friends from our pre-cruise and joined them for more conversation and drinks. Eventually, we found our way to the World Cafe, where we ran into a couple of ladies we shared dinner with the other night. We joined them and had a lovely dinner, sharing stories.
We headed to the Aquavit Bar with the intention of grabbing something to bring back to the room. We ran into a couple we shared our river cruise with, and joined them for an after-dinner drink and more stories.
It was a wonderful, social evening.
We returned to the room to watch the port talk on Kobe, tomorrow's destination. We have a Kobe Highlights tour tomorrow morning at 9:30, so there won't be any sleeping in tomorrow morning.
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