Kochi. Never heard of it. It was the first visit by Azamara and I’m sure they’ll go back. It’s a small city of about 300 thousand people with the economy based on port activities.

We first visited Katsurahama Beach. It was so serene early in the morning with a cloud-laden sky and a light breeze. From there we headed to the Kochi Castle, built between 1601 and 1611. It’s one of the few remaining castles of Japan’s feudal age. The grounds were nice, but the climb up to the top of the tower was imposing. The views at the top were worth the climb.

A short drive from the castle was a small restaurant where we had lunch. It was an exquisite two-layer bento box with the city’s specialty: bonito. The bottom layer of the box was mostly sashimi and condiments while the top of the box was vegetable sushi (a thin shaving of a vegetable, like a daikon radish, over sushi rice).

From there we headed to Ryugado Cave. It’s a labyrinth of rock formations, waterfalls and expansive chambers, formed about 150 million years ago. There were about 300 steps to go up but was very cool to be inside.

From the cave, we headed back to the ship passing rice paddies at every turn.