Japan 2019: Week 3

Day 16 Beppu to Indigo Blue Guest House (via Yawatama)

39km, 700m elevation gain:  Day 16 gps map and profile (Yawatama to Indigo GH)

Accommodation: Indigo Blue Guest House

The low clouds continued to hover over Beppu  when we woke up. We had a couple of origami coffees and self catered breakfast and then made the easy 3.5km ride to the ferry terminal. 

We had to fill out a form (name, citizenship, etc), purchased tickets and waited for the ferry to arrive. Just a few vehicles disembarked and a light load went on the small ship.

There weren’t many seats on board but plenty of carpeted areas to lay down on. The announcement requested quiet please and many of the few passengers on board dozed off. Somewhere across the strait, we left the clouds behind and as we approached the Yawatama terminal, gentle music was played to awaken the passengers. The typical amount of Japanese bowing ensued as we all left the ferry.

We pulled into the terminal service area, which included a Michi no Eki. The bakery-restaurant had one of those vending machines to place your order with. This one automatically submitted your order to the kitchen and patrons would be called by number to collect your meal. The staff were helpful and assumed (rightfully so), that we wouldn’t recognize our coupon numbers when called. So they made note of our coupon numbers and delivered our seafood curry and pizza when they were ready. The days were full of pleasant surprises!

It was a relatively short ride of about 35km to our accommodation along the coast. Once we cleared the cement works, the traffic dried up and we had a superb ride. The Indigo Blue Guesthouse is in a small village without restaurants or reliable shops, so we knew that we should buy groceries for our self-catering stay. The nearest supermarket or convenience store was 12km before the guesthouse and we were sure to stock up. The amazing ride continued and we pushed our bikes up an alleyway to the doorsteps of the Indigo Guesthouse.

Our room was simple, the common room was comfortable, the shower was hot and the kitchen had all that I needed to prepare dinner with. Our hosts spoke English and they worked on a family farm during the day and came out to the guesthouse when they had bookings. And there was another guest, Caroline, a French touring cyclist. She was mostly camping and had also come from Kyushu.

Day 17 Day ride to Uwajima

87km, 1800m elevation gain:  Day 17 gps map and profile

Accommodation: Indigo Blue Guest House

The day started on a sour note as Caroline‘s phone seemed to have passed away in the night and we couldn’t resuscitate it. While our host helped her out with directions to a phone repair shop in Uwajima, we started out. As we seemed to stop and look at so many things, she caught up with us and we all rode into Uwajima together. The coastal ride was sublime. 

She appreciated the back roads that we took into Uwajima (she seemed to mostly take the main roads). Caroline fired off in pursuit of the phone repair shop while we went off looking for lunch. Later, we learned that her phone simply didn’t agree with the power source at the guesthouse.

The Michi no Eki didn’t materialize, so we ate in a swanky spot that served great food but didn’t seem to cost anything more than typical restaurants. We took our shoes off on entry and we were to order on a screen that didn’t appear to have an English menu, so we requested our food directly from the server.

We worked our way back through town and made a visit to a large Shinto shrine on the banks of the Suka River and then onto the Taga fertility shrine. We were now short on time and skipped the adjoining sex museum.

We pretty well retraced our steps back to the guesthouse, going back over the hill to return to the beautiful coast ride. We stopped in at a couple of shops along the way and pushed into the wind that had picked up in the afternoon. There were no other guests that night but with Golden Week beginning, the guesthouse would be busy thereafter. 

If I were to do it again, I would have gone only as fast as Yoshida, just before the steep hill, skipped Uwajima and gone around the small peninsula west of Yoshida.

Day 18 Indigo Blue Guesthouse to Uchiko

62km, 670m elevation gain:  Day 18 gps map and profile

Accommodation: Matsunoya Ryokan

After poached eggs on English muffins, we bid our hosts goodbye and once again rode along the seaside with light traffic. Our hosts waved at us when they passed us in their car, on the way to the farm. Once we had reached the small town where we had bought supplies earlier, we turned inland on the #30. The gradient was reasonable and traffic was generally light, passing through mostly forest before we crested and we slipped off the main road onto a series of agricultural roads. The valley bottom was quite flat and easy riding ensued through mixed farmland. We approached the #56, but mostly stayed on small roads, the riding was pleasant but not exceptional.

When I made the route, I had tried to keep the climbing down on that day as we had 2 historic towns to visit and I gambled on the #56. Unfortunately, the #56 had been built some time ago and traffic volumes had likely crept up as well, although I wouldn’t call it a busy road, it wasn’t near quiet either. Topography guided us to a pinch point in the form of a tunnel that didn’t have a sidewalk nor much a shoulder (storm sewer grates were frequent). Normally, tunnels are your friend because they save you on climbing, but not in this case. We might have taken a small road up the steep slopes and bypassed the tight bits, but we didn’t. I walked about half the 900m tunnel, then saw a break in traffic and pedaled hard to the daylight. The road was tight until we reached the valley bottom.

We followed the #56 and before we knew it, we were in Ozu and we stopped in at the tourist information office which was both busy and helpful. It was also the first place where we encountered '88 Shikoku temple' pilgrims (traditionally done on foot, other conveyances are now used). We had seen a couple of pilgrims along the road, as only a minority walk the full 88. We rode along some of the old streets of Ozu before heading for the castle. From what I have seen, Japanese castles look similar but their settings obviously vary. Ozu castle looked charming. We had lunch to think about and I had spotted a conveyor belt sushi restaurant on Google maps at the other end of town. Off we went.

The Ozu conveyor-belt sushi hall was a little different than our previous conveyor-belt experience. To start with, we were greeted by a little robot that was to assign our seating. The servers figured that we didn’t know robotic Japanese, so someone rushed to guide us to our booth. There was no Shinkansen service delivering special orders (they were delivered by the people, not robots), and there was a slightly larger of variety of dishes coming around on the belt, such as tempura and french fries. The only problem was that whenever something interesting was coming our way, the little brat in the booth across from us grabbed it before it got to us.

We were still giggling from our sushi experience when we followed some quiet agricultural roads, but eventually we were forced back onto #56, but it was kind to us with cycle paths for some of the way. Then my route suggested following  a small road which became no more than a single track, part of the Pilgrim’s route.

That led us nicely onto some beautiful back roads into Uchiko and to Matsunoya Ryokan. Originally, we were going to stay in Ozu, but then I read that Uchiko had more to offer (which is true), so I booked the most expensive accommodation of our trip there. Naturally, I had high hopes of Matsunoya Ryokan. It didn’t compare well to a couple of much less expensive ryokans that we had stayed on Kyushi (especially at Kunisaki). It was still a fine place, but relatively expensive. The ryokan had a nice retro feel to it and we had booked the only room that came with beds. The other guests stayed in tatami mat rooms and seemed to keep the catering staff busy in the evening; a classic Japanese inn.

We unpacked and then continued on through Uchiko to see the old town. Our first stop was the Takahashi residence (free admission), the home of an early beer magnate. You can stay in the house and I would have been interested in that. Then we rode uphill through the attractive old town to Kosho-ji to visit the stunning sleeping Buddha (yup, he was sleeping soundly).

Then we ambled back through town back to our ryokan, which is around the corner from the also stunning Uchiko-za, kabuki theatre house.

As we had overstuffed ourselves at the sushi house, we were looking for a lighter dinner. We headed out for a simple ramen meal, then wandered around a nice supermarket by the main road after dinner.

Day 19 Uchiko to Matsuyama

87km, 1800m elevation gain:  Day 19 gps map and profile

Accommodation: Hotel Taiyo Noen Nibancho

I made a few origami coffees in the room and then we were provided with an excellent Japanese breakfast. We had stored our bikes on the edge of the lobby, so we wheeled them out and hit the road through quiet Uchiko. For the first few kilometres, we passed along some wonderful forestry roads, but alas we joined our old friend, the #56.

Traffic was initially light and it was pleasant following a river, even past a wooden, covered bridge. We alternated between a shoulder and a separate path way, however the traffic began to build. Fortunately, I had made a route that got us onto quiet agricultural roads and a wide, sloping valley. We stopped at a small shrine that caught our attention.

Then, we rode through more agricultural land that was pleasant but not outstanding. We picked up a river, passed sports complexes and a multi-level golf range, then finally into city of Matsuyama, reaching the train station area where I had zeroed in on a lunch spot. It was a popular restaurant and I tried the tai-mishi (a regional dish, but seemed to be simply a sashimi variation) and Sheila scored with her soba and tempura.

It was too early to check-in, but we found our hotel and then continued north, part way along the river again to Ishite-ji, one of the important temples on the 88 pilgrimage. It was fairly busy and held our interest.

Then, we scooted over to the Dogo area and were immediately overwhelmed by tourist numbers. Golden Week brought loads of Japanese visitors to Dogo Onsen, reputedly the oldest bath house in the country. There was a long line-up to enter, so we skipped going inside. However, outside was where the selfie action was, with group after group taking photos in front of the building.

We were getting tired so we headed for our hotel. It all looked good until we opened the room door and I realized that I had somehow opted for the regular room instead of one with 2 beds. A single bed meant a smaller room and tight sleeping. I went to the desk to inquire about upgrading but with Golden Week kicking into gear, everything was full. Oh well, we drank our beers and discussed where to go for dinner. We chose a Yakitori restaurant. Yakitori, similar to Izakaya restaurants, seem to be bars first and restaurants, second. Service slows down, customers drink and talk more. We didn’t have any yakitori experience and took a stab at ordering. We had a nice salad and then some time later, the yakitori arrived and we realized that we hadn’t really ordered enough food but we didn’t feel like waiting a while longer for more food so we paid our bill and left. It’s amazing what a couple of ice creams can do after a meal; we were full.

Day 20 Matsuyama to Oshima (part way on the Shimanami Kaido)

67km, 760m elevation gain:  Day 20 gps map and profile

Accommodation: Kune-chan Guest house

Our hotel offered breakfast starting from 6:30am and we were surprised to see quite a few waiting for it to open. It was well worth the wait and it provided us with plenty of energy for the morning ride. We took the back roads through Matsuyama and experienced the sprawl as it took us some time to leave the city. Eventually, we reached our old friend #56 that offered us a nice separate bike path. That was nice enough, but there was a fair amount of traffic and we weren’t sure how long the path would hold out for, so we headed inland on fine, quiet roads, up and down the contours of NW Shikoku. It was surprising just how little traffic was up there. At one point, I stopped at an intersection to consult the GPS, and a well intended gent stopped and tried to convince us to descend back down to the coast and follow the “blue line” (designated cycle routes). Eventually, we did and immediately arrived at some working shipyards.

For the next 10km or so, it was a mixture of machine works, agricultural lands, small settlements and a golf range where the customers seemed to fire their golf balls into a large pond. We arrived at the beginning of the Shimanami Kaido.

It looked like participants were hurrying their way off the southern end. It was no secret that rain was expected by the middle of the day, so by the time we crossed our first set of bridges, the number of participants on a Golden Week day was quickly diminishing. It wasn’t a blue sky day, but the rain held off on our passage to Omishima. I knew that a Michi no Eki awaited us, but wasn’t prepared for the scale of it; large and busy. The big thing was the seafood barbecue. You select live animals (shellfish, fish, crustaceans) and you cook them yourself on table-top bbq’s. We passed through the masses and opted for lunch at a more traditional Japanese restaurant. We had to wait for a table and then had a good feed ourselves, gravitating towards the soba and seafood tempura.

When we stepped out, it was indeed raining, so we put on our rain clothes and rode across the island. The other cyclists disappeared for the most part. We reached the village where our guesthouse was situated ahead of check-in time, so we had a brief look around between showers before arriving quite quite wet at the Kune Guesthouse. Our hosts were engaging and got us all sorted out. After hot showers, we relaxed before the pre-ordered dinner in our simple tatami mat room.  At the Kune, the guests and hosts all sit around the same table for dinner and breakfast. It was a nice evening. The other guests were a young Japanese couple, living in different cities but she was planning on moving to Osaka with him shortly. They were both interested in trains (in Britain, they would call them trainspotters).

Day 21 Oshima to Onomichi (end of the Shimanami Kaido)

57km, 950m elevation gain:  Day 21 gps map and profile

Accommodation: Anego no nedeko Guest house

After breakfast with the group, we had a royal send-off and then got on our bikes to tackle the next bridge. It was a quite misty start, but the clouds rose through the day. The weather seemed to keep the cyclist numbers down, but they were out there. We rode a series of bridges connected by bike paths or quiet roads. The closer we got to Onomichi, the older the infrastructure got and the less adapted it was to cyclists.

At one point we encountered congregating tourists and we stopped to have a look around. When we poked our noses into the entrance of Kosan-ji temple, we just had to stop and visit. The temple is considered a museum and thus charges a hefty ¥1400 admission, worth every yen. It was busy and we spent over an hour wandering around the temple and pavilions. Afterwards, we wandered the village, ate some delicious potato cakes and skipped a very busy, popular restaurant; food choices disappeared after that, so we joined other cyclists in a small outside eating area at a convenience store.

The Shimanami Kaido seemed to get less and less interesting and then we headed for a small walk-on only ferry to cross over to Onomichi which was a happening tourist destination. There were plenty of visitors, many of whom were standing in restaurant queues. We found our guesthouse inside the main pedestrian shopping zone, down a narrow walkway. It must have been an old ryokan. They were expecting us and I had reserved a Japanese style room (although no attached toilet), which turned out to be quite nice and spacious. The lounge and kitchen were also good, the only fly in the ointment was the steep stairs down to the bathroom/toilet.

We had a quick look around town and realized that many restaurants were closed for the holidays and the only ones that were open were inundated with visitors. We waited in line at a larger ramen house for 20 minutes and enjoyed excellent ramen and gyozas.

Day 22 Onomichi day ride

18km, 120m elevation gain:  Day 22 gps map and profile

Accommodation: Anego no nedeko Guest house

I had set aside a day in Onomichi as a reserve day and for a possible search for bike boxes. I had posted a question on the Japan Cycling Navigator Facebook site a few days earlier and another follower had replied that there were indeed bike boxes remaining at the bike area at Hiroshima airport. People can leave or store boxes there and that made our return trip much simpler. Our first order of business was to get some packing materials, so we rode out to a commercial area of Onomichi and picked up what we needed at a large hardware store.

We couldn’t resist looking around an equally large supermarket in the same vicinity. The ready-made foods looked yummy, and knowing that Onomichi restaurants were at-limit during Golden Week, we picked up lunch and rode back to town and the guesthouse for lunch.

In the afternoon, we did a temple tour on foot. The queue for the cable car up to the Senkō-ji temple was longer than any restaurant line-up, so we walked up and took the cable car down, for the experience .

We walked the length of the tourist zone and poked around the tourist shops. We tried to go out for okonomiyaki, but the okonomiyaki restaurants were all closed up, another spot we went in only served tripe dishes, so we found a less popular (justifiably so) ramen restaurant for our last dinner of the trip.

Day 23 Onomichi to Hiroshima airport

34km, 550m elevation gain:  Day 23 gps map and profile

We had visited Hiroshima on a previous trip, so the city itself was not on our itinerary. Many of the Japanese airports seem to be well away from cities, off in the country and Hiroshima is no exception. We got off to an early start, and got away with riding the normally busy main coastal road to Mihara (light, early morning traffic) and then we turned inland on some comfortable bike riding roads.

We knew that the airport was situated on a plateau, so we ended with a rather steep ascent. We rode past a closed sign, which turned out to be a landslide that had obliterated the road, so we walked around it and resumed our upward trajectory.

Finally, we pulled into the airport and yes, there were a number of bike boxes waiting for us. It took us about an hour and quarter to pack the two bikes. We put everything else (panniers) into a couple of polyethylene bags we had used on the flight over and checked in with ANA. It took a while for the agent to check the regulations for our connecting airline, Air Canada. Once that was done (no additional baggage fees in either direction), the bike boxes went through a large security x-ray machine and we were done.

We had time to spare and grabbed our last Japanese lunch before going through security. I cashed in our last yen for USD and we boarded the ANA flight to Narita, that was uncharacteristically late. Over in Narita, where we had just over half an hour to make our long-haul flight, Air Canada 004, was delayed and that allowed us to pick up a few skookum souvenir t-shirts.

And so ended our Japanese journey. We see more of Japan in our future!