Japan 2024 Nakasendo Trail II

We hit the  Ena Route-Inn breakfast buffet at 6:30am and we were rolling by 7:30am. The city streets were quiet at that time, but it took 5km to break away from the shadows of the E-19 Expressway and Highway 19. The riding improved on the #421. We opted for a detour off the valley floor and rode up about 300 vertical metres over a 4km distance to reach the Okute valley with a small agricultural pocket and the post town of Okute-juku. We stopped in to admire the scale model of a princess Kazunomiya  procession during the Edo period. The descent back down to the Toki River valley was less steep and we rejoined the #421 that lead us into Toki town. 

As we had started early that day, we had developed an early appetite for lunch and the Chichiya restaurant in Toki was an great choice. The katsudon or pork cutlet on rice, smothered with a ketchup based sauce was excellent and by 11:30am the place was full. We carried on, going west on the #385 that kept close to the Toki river through a canyon. Traffic was light and it lead us close to the Zen Eihoji Temple. There were a few Japanese visitors around, but it felt quiet for a Sunday afternoon. The grounds and structures were beautiful;  it felt like an overlooked temple complex.

Our first impressions of Tajimi were not especially good. There seemed to be an abundance of large Pachinko halls around town. Tajimi has hot summers and perhaps the residents take refuge in the air conditioned environments. We were a little early for check-in at the Oustat Hotel  and made a side trip to a supermarket. The Nepali staff at reception encouraged us to park our bike in the large reception area. The large bathhouse was enjoyable and we checked out the free bar that offered low-grade booze. 48km with 550m ascent.

In the evening, we walked over to Genki Sushi that was hopping at 5:30pm. We had to push buttons to get a position in the waiting area. We opted for counter seats as the wait time  for booths was long. The carnival atmosphere in the conveyor-belt restaurant somehow enhanced the food and we thought the sushi quality was above average.

We took our time at the substantial buffet breakfast at the Outstat Hotel because it was raining. We were on the bikes by 8:20am and rode through urban areas for half an hour but we were out in the rice fields by 9:00am. We kept to small roads for the most part to reach the outskirts of Inuyama. We followed a canal and then stopped at a Lawson for a toilet break. The main tourist strip of Inuyama-jokamachi looked good in the sunshine and it wasn't very busy on a Monday morning.  We spent almost an hour at the shrine and castle walls with a number of mostly domestic tourists. We carried on, rejoining the Kiso River and rode about 18km along the Kiso River pathway. We cut off to reach the South Gifu Montbell store. Sheila was wishing that she had brought padded cycle shorts to Japan, but was able to purchase a pair at the Montbell store. The Tonkotsu Ramen restaurant was conveniently across the street from Montbell and we had tasty ramen bowls for lunch. 

We rode the back streets of Gifu and on the north shore of the Sakai, we came across some interesting statues and a number of Torii gates that stalled our progress. We reached the splendid Gifu Route-Inn for a later afternoon soak. In the evening, we walked to an Italian restaurant with a rather long name (Yomenyagoemon Gifuken Chomaeten) for dinner.  61km with 200m ascent.

There were plenty of umbrella symbols in the day's weather forecast so we took advantage of the 6:30am Route-Inn breakfast start time and we were riding shortly after 7:00am . The first 20km was largely flat as we skirted the edge of Ogaki, on the edge of the large Nagoya plains. The riding improved at Sekigahara as we left the plains behind. The climb over Imasu-toge Pass was gentle and amounted to a mere 100m of ascent. The Old Nakasendo Road flowed nicely through villages and there was never much of any traffic.  That lasted until Malbara and we passed near the large train station and descended to the edge of Lake Biwa. We picked up the Biwa cycle path and cruised into Hikone through the castle grounds and we were seated in a chicken restaurant (Hinai Chicken Hokkoriya) by 12:00 and still no rain. It was nice lunch followed by a creme caramel dessert. 60km with 250m ascent.

We wandered over to Tobaya Ryokan to drop our bags off; the owner reminded us of the 4:00pm check-in.  It started to rain around 1:30pm and we wandered in and around the castle and grounds, followed by some time around town. We floated back to the Ryokan a little before 4:00pm and we were shown our large space (two rooms). The bath house was small but for one party at a time. In  the evening, we walked in drizzle to しる万 本店 (Shiruman udon restaurant) for another scrumptious meal (two for two in Hikone). Hanashobu Street in the  old town was atmospheric in the rain.

We knew that it was going to be a further distance and we were out on the bikes just after 7:00am. We made our own coffee and simple breakfast. We followed a canal out to Lake Biwa and then onto the Biwa cycle path. We were ready for a second coffee at the 13km mark at a Lawson convenience store. We peeled off the pathway 5kms later and followed a very quiet section of #25 past Miyahamaga Beach and Chomeji for 8kms. the remainer of the Biwa pathway went by quickly and it required little navigation. The pathway was not particularly inspiring as it was mostly along side a fairly busy highway. We reached Otsu after 60km and we were ready for lunch. Once again, we were attracted by signage and we opted for the popular Marugen Ramen restaurant. 

We followed the lake shoreline a little while longer and then cut away to the southeast on the Kozeki Pass road, that turned out to be pleasant without noticeable vehicle traffic (an ascent of 100m over 2km). After Kozeki Pass, we dropped down to the edge of greater Kyoto, through backstreets and then along a sidewalk on #143. That spit us out in the zoo area and suddenly there were plenty of foreign tourists. We had seen the occasional foreign tourist since Magome.  After the Heian Shrine and a supermarket visit, we checked-in at the Niko Hotel. It is somewhat of an upmarket hotel, but I had scored a reasonable rate and the room was really nice. We also had an arrangement to leave the rental e-bikes there to be collected by a courier and returned to GS Astuto. We like the room so much, that we did take-out, supplemented with salad and ate it in the room.  82km with 330m ascent.

Our full day in Kyoto was a rest day without bikes. We had been to Kyoto twice before, so we stuck to the nearby areas., including a visit to the Imperial Palace and the Nishiki Market area. We moved into an apartment hotel and caught up on laundry before the next stage of our Japan visit.