Onomichi

We took a local train, an old yellow clunker, from Kurashiki to Onomichi - just over an hour. We could see the water as we pulled into the train station. Onomichi is an old port town on the Seto Inland Sea, a body of water with scattered islands between Honshu and Shikoku.

Onomichi still overlooks working shipyards across the water, with an industrial look but a relaxed feel. We dropped our bags at our hotel and went for a meander about town whilst waiting to check in. It's really a pretty town, harbour on one side, and steep hills on the other. We wandered through the long covered shopping street (every town has one) looking for places to eat and drink at later. We did stop for a freshly made lemonade, made from shikuwasa, an indigenous citrus, very tasty.

We also worked out where we can rent our bikes to ride part of the shimanami kaido cycling route - this is the plan for Saturday!

In the evening, we set off to find predinner cocktails 🍸 Gayle's research paid off; we stopped at Bar 8, a quirky and eclectic bar that had a good selection of whiskey and other spirits. We settled on negronis and cosmopolitans, and at ¥800 per drink and the friendly owner, well be back.

We had our hearts set on another okonomoyaki and went to Hina on the main shopping street. A Hiroshima style okonomoyaki, with noodles, was prepared for us, and we demolished it in short order, washed down with a cold asahi.

Our hotel, Urashima Gangi, is on the waterfront, and we have a fantastic view of the harbour.En savoir plus