Touring by Bike and Van: From Bridge to Bridge, to Ferry!

On Sunday, October 2nd we headed for Onomichi, which is where we started our cycle tour of the islands. Onomichi is famous for a temple walk. It was a short walk through the windy streets of the city, from temple to temple. We were lucky enough to catch a traditional Japanese wedding. I was reminded of my sisters wedding, when a bus load of Japanese tourists took photographs, so I didn:t feel guilty sneaking a couple of shots. Onomichi is also the start of the Shimanami Kaido cycle tour - which is a 70 km tour from small island to small island, ending in Shikuoku, a large island south of Osaka. The tour takes you on 7 or so bridges that offer brilliant views, especially on a clear day. That night we stayed in a guesthouse on Ikuchinjima Island, which had the best onsen yet, with views of the ocean.

Have I mentioned the ferry system in Japan? It is more like a cruise ship then a ferry. We took an overnight ferry from Shikuoku to Osaka last night . The ferry lasted about 9 1/2 hours, but arrived at 0600 in Osaka, so we slept the whole time.　These ferry`s are nothing like Alaska State Ferry system, and I thought those were nice - the Japan ferry`s have hot tubs in them, and this last one even has a cold tub and sauna. Lets just say that it is totally worth it to take the ferry`s in Japan.　We are also pretty limited on what public transportation we can use being that we have bikes - we can`t take the trains, which is a bummer because those bullet trains look fun, and we can`t take a bus.

Today we made it to Nara. We are always surprised to see how many kilometers we`ve wracked up. 80km doesn`t feel as tough as it did in the beginning. We are also noticing how much we`ve been eating - seems like most of our money is going to food- yet, I`m always hungry!! Tomorrow we plan to cycle to Kyoto, which is an easy 47km away!