Shimanami Kaido

We had a second, leisurely day on Naoshima mooching around coffee shops and "art houses". Japanese minimalism at its best. Then back to Okayama for the night and an early morning Shinkansen to Onomichi, the start of the shimanami Kaido- a " must do" bike ride linking multiple islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Very well developed in as much as there are brilliant cycle specific lanes winding up ( and down) from each bridge - never more than 3% and 80m- but the islands themselves are a mix of bucolic orange orchards above crisp sandy beaches and industrial units and ship building. Sort of like the Clyde once was, maybe? With citrus instead of Irn Bru..
And continuing the Scottish analogy , it makes you realise the 5 ferries could put Scotland on the international cycling map if the ferries were reliable. Or there were bridges. And it was sunny. And no midges. And drivers weren't trying to to kill you.
Any which way, it was great to be on the bike again.
We got to our Ryokan just as the clouds rolled in, the rain started and it went dark. Time for a quick splash in the onsen then a magnificent feast on all sorts of unrecognisable seafood.
After the best nights sleep on futons and tatami and a magnificent Japanese breakfast we were off early on our return journey. Expecting biting cold and horrific head winds we lucked out by taking a circuitous detour which all but kept out of the wind. This time we had a bridge , a ferry, 3 bridges, a ferry, a bridge and a final ferry back to Onamichi. Brilliant , well recommended!!Read more