Leaving Japan

Well the holiday is all but over.A resting morning, then travel to the airport. All went well,

The airport bus was not crowded and the ANA staff at Hiroshima Airport were helpful and friendly. It was music to my ears to hear that I wouldn't have to touch my luggage again until Sydney! 

Saw this new road under construction near the airport,  there is a lot of excellent infrastructure in Japan.

This is not the end of the blogging though. After I get home I will add more content including GPS traces, detail about hotels etc., video from the DJI camera and so on. When it is complete I will let you know.

Last full day in Hiroshima

A day to do some last sightseeing, with visits to three photogenic places.

First to Shukkeien Garden, a traditional Japanese garden. Lovely. Immaculately maintained. When I was there. I saw more gardeners than visitors.

Dude gardening an island.

Then to the Castle:

 and finally to the stadium where Sanfrecce Hiroshima (M&W) play.

Another glorious warm and sunny day!

I went out to get some dinner and ended up at a Brazilian Churasco . The only other customers were (I was told) staff from an insurance company. They were making merry big-time. They even gave me a friendly send off when I left.

Back to Hiroshima

Train, train, streetcar. Done with no problems.

The bustle of Hiroshima was quite a contrast to the towns we visited when cycling.

Some passengers in their private world. She sat opposite me and I never saw her eyes.

I checked in and did most of the luggage reorganisation, participated in a Canberra Blues Society committee meeting using Google Meet, had some dinner and off to bed!

Exploring Onomichi

With the day to myself I started strenuously, climbing the rough granite stairs to the temple and observation platform which overlooks the town. Garmin says it is the equivalent of 30 stories.

My knees are fine for climbing, but not so good for descending, so I took the gondola down.

I was the only passenger, and as I alighted I dropped a coin which rolled off into a sort of drainage channel. Despite my pleas three young staff members were instantly into action, laughing and clambering down to retrieve it. I offered profuse thanks as they returned the ¥10 coin (about A$0.10). The small crowd who were waiting to ascend enjoyed the show too.

Did a bit of shopping and then rested and read for the afternoon.

Seems about right

The ride ends

We woke to a fine but cloudy day for the last day of the ride. With not much breeze it made for ideal conditions to knock off the remaining 38Km from Takehara to Onomichi. The ride went well with moderate traffic. Most of the distance was on the road, with short sections on shared pathway. Only one short section through galleries a bit uncomfortable.

We got to the short ferry trip in Onomichi to discover that it was cycling tourist rush hour! The ferry was crammed full of bikes and cyclists, and by the time we returned there was a fair queue, having to wait through a ferry cycle to commence the ride.

Returning the bikes was quick and easy and we headed off back to the ferry  and onwards. Garry and I parted company, with him heading back to Hiroshima and me staying at Onomichi for two nights. Nice hotel. Here is the view from my room.

I did some exploring of the covered shopping street and purchased a souvenir jersey for the collection.

Had a couple of beers, dinner, which was interesting Italian influenced Japanese, and then bed.

Rest day in Takehara

The rain had continued overnight, but slowly abated in the morning.

Garry and I went walking with hotel-supplied umbrellas. We walked through the old town, made prosperous from salt production, and later sake. 

By late afternoon it was fine, with no rain expected for the last day of riding. We went to a wine and sake bar across the street for a light dinner (and sake).

Into the rain

Today's journey was three short rides punctuated by two ferries. The forecast was for rain. 

My digestive tract was much improved so I thought I was up to the task. As a precaution I shortened the cycling and reduced the climbing because I did not want to deal with wet mountain roads. 

Before we left Miterai we rode around town. 

We were still dry by the time the second ferry leg commenced, but as we travelled across to Takehara it turned to steady rain and we got soaked on the short ride to the hotel. Oh well. The hotel was excellent as a two night stay, and the staff were most helpful.

We changed, had lunch (another good okonomiyaki and beer since I was over the bug)and then checked in to deal with the wet stuff. A light dinner with Garry in my room after a visit to the HUGE supermarket a block away (still raining).

Day three riding to Imbari

We woke to another fine and warm morning. Breakfast was another multi course affair and then we set off. The highlight of the riding was the longest bridge of the trip. Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge is 4.1Km long and is a beautiful and impressive engineering feat.

 On the way we went past two local riders where accepted the challenge of keeping up. A very chatty Filipino young guy why works there on boats. 

Then up onto the bridge and through to Imbari. The up and down ramps for the bridge were huge spirals high in the air. Not good for the nervous!

Arrived at Imbari Port in plenty of time, indeed we almost made the previous one! But then a small drama: I started suffering the effects of a bout if food poisoning. Not terrible, but not good. Also the weather was rapidly changing. Quite windy. Twice the ferry staff warned me that it would be rough. It wasn't. The wind was abating and we had an uneventful trip.

We passed under the big bridge.

See the two cyclists? Not us 😃

We rode the short distance with two more bridges to Miterai and found the accommodation easily. Our host seemed a little put out that we did not speak Japanese and he was not adept with whatever equivalent of Google Translate he had so understanding was slow at first but he warmed to the task. He took some convincing that all I wanted for dinner was rice and green tea!

He worked all afternoon on dinner and produced quite a banquet. There were five guests and nobody finished what was put in front of them! Our host and the one Japanese guest were drinking and the party turned fairly lively.I retired early. The Ryokan had the traditional paper screens and so there was no muffling of the talking and laughter which was only three meters from my futon! Nevertheless I dropped off to sleep quickly.

Day 2 riding

Destination:

Yoshiumicho Saiwaishinden

Setouchiso

Ryokan Setouchiso

GPS data:

https://connect.garmin.com/app/activity/24573046417

https://connect.garmin.com/app/activity/24573612745

https://connect.garmin.com/app/activity/24585318499

Started the day with riding up and down to a saddle on a lovely forest bike route. Cool and peaceful.

Then we visited a museum of samurai weapons and a Buddhist temple. The day's ride was so quiet that even riding on the road we saw very little traffic. Today had the most climbing of the trip and it was quite warm again. Lovely scenery.

You can see the weather! 

Checked into a lovely Ryokan. Much more modern than last night. 

We went for a walk to buy beer and visit an ATM. As we headed out, phones in hand with Google Maps, a van came alongside, the driver reversed and parked and jumped out, keen to give directions. We headed off in the correct direction and after a couple of minutes the van came along again to make sure that we were on the right track and offered us a lift but we were only about a hundred meters from the band. Then he drove ahead, stopped outside the bank and pointed!

A modern bank branch could not manage to deal with my cards, but they did have nice sofas.

Across the road at a 7-11 equivalent the ATM worked fine. And they had beers! We had a more than adequate multi-course dinner, but probably not up to the standard of the previous night. The tatami bed was comfortable, and the Ryokan was spotless and tidy.

First day of riding

Destination:

Omishima Island

Minshuku Carib

https://www.o-karibu.com/

GPS data:

Mukaishima to lunch

Lunch to Omishima Island

What an excellent day. Our public transport trip to Onomichi went well.Everything ran on time, and a woman passenger went out of her way to ensure we got on the right train out of Hiroshima.

It was already quite warm as we took the ferry across to pick up our bikes. The bike shop was cheerful and efficient and we were soon on our way. Of course the bikes were not perfectly fitted but we go out under way, knowing we could adjust as we went along.

The riding was good. Safe and scenic. We took an initial detour through some hills with lovely bamboo stands. Riding over the bridges is extraordinarily!

 It was hotter than we expected but we got through to our destination in good time. The only difficulty was finding out accommodation. We arrived at the Ryokan only to discovery that they did not have our booking. After ten minutes of anxiety on all fronts we discovered that we were at the wrong place. NEXT DOOR!

The rooms were basic Japanese but the staff were good, and the food was fabulous! Dinner was about fifteen courses, seafood dominant. Lovely and fresh veggies. Washed dinner down with a local sake. Fabulous.  Breakfast was more of the same, but only six courses.