Takamatsu via Shodoshima

Well, today was more of what we expect when we go a cycling trip. Beautiful weather, quiet mountain roads, great vistas, didn't get lost once. It was a good day.

We both passed out very early yesterday. Sumi at about 2pm, me at about 5. Neither of us got up until 4:30 this morning. You do the math. Needless to say, we were wide awake and ready to go. Before leaving Himeji, we decided to take a hike up Shosasan, the local mountain to visit a pretty famous temple, Engyouji. Not famous because its been here since around 900AD. Not famous because the Honda and Matsudaira families have tombs here. Not famous because emperors retired here. No, famous because Tom Cruise was here. This was the temple used for the filming of The Last Samurai, a terrible-looking movie I didn't see. To be fair, this temple is used for many TV and film settings because of its remote location and lack of modern buildings.

We caught a bus from the station to take us to the base of the mountain, about 30 minutes away. Getting up so early, we were at the mountain at 7:30. The ropeway that takes you up most of the mountain didn't start operation until 8:30, so we figured we'd just climb, as it only takes about an hour to get to the temple from the base. The trail, which took us through some narrow back streets, was well marked.

Cars actually drive down here

and led us to a proper trail up the mountain

Proper Japanese Mountain Trail™

The climb was fairly easy, even for out-of-shape Americans. There were many nice scenic overlooks of the city that Sumi insisted was why she was stopping, not because she was tired. Definitely not that. We made it to the entrance of the temple by about 8:20, just in time to see them starting up the ropeway and sending it down the mountain. Along the path up to the temple gate, hindu statues lined the walk, some which I had not seen before.

OK, how many arms before it's just showing off?

Nice view.

The first temple gate was a bit overrun and rustic, but as usual beautiful and intricate artwork covered the wood and tile roof

The temple consisted of about 30 different buildings, some no long here, some in very good condition.

Yeah, that's a real door.

 The main hall for the temple was impressive.

Main hall approach

The framework supporting the building is all exposed timber

 

It was a different type of temple in that there was almost no color other than natural wood. Lots of scrollwork and decoration, but not the red and white lacquer that you often see. It was very peaceful.

After visiting the main hall, we walked back down to the ropeway and took a nice 4 minute ride to the bottom and caught the return bus to the station. It was time to ride! We grabbed our bikes and set out for the ferry port, where we would catch a ferry to the island of Shadoshima. It was a short 8 mile trip, and we got there about 5 minutes before the ferry was to depart. We figured we were too late, but went to the counter anyway. We must have looked desperate (we weren't), because they held the ferry for us. That's right, a Japanese ferry was a few minutes late so we could roll our bikes into the cargo bay. I feel the anger of millions of Japanese grandparents, but we were quite thankful. The next ferry wasn't for another 90 minutes.

All aboard!

The Shadoshima ferry (transit system, actually) has a mascot "Olive-chan". At least that's what we call her. I don't know how the Japanese do it, but they found a way to make an anthropomorphic olive cute.

Sumi made a new friend

The ferry itself was quite relaxing. There are a number of ferries in The Olive Line. We saw several pass by on our way.

They were serving Cup Noodles and drinks at the galley. We stuck with our trail mix and some snacks. 90 minutes later, we were on the island of Shadoshima. Shadoshima is an island known for its beaches, its soy beans, and its olives (hence the mascot). Its a typical island in this part of Japan: very mountainous with little wildlife other than birds and monkeys. We didn't venture into the center of the island, so we didn't see any of the monkeys, but had a wonderful ride along the coast to the next ferry station.

Just about every turn in the road yielded something like this

Happy to be dry

Panoramic Shot #2

The roads were quiet, with hardly any traffic, the sun was out, we were back to our familiar routing of struggling up one side of a mountain, then coasting down the other. This kind of cycling is why we love coming back to Japan. Especially after the last few days, this felt really good. We pulled into the Torosho ferry port around 4, and, after a stop at 7-11 for some well-deserved ice cream, boarded the second ferry to Takamatsu in Shikoku, and were off.

The trip went so smooth all day, we were waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it didn't. We were at our hostel, Ten to Sen, in about 20 minutes,

and in the cozy, not-so-little room shortly after that. The decor in the place is pretty strange

Who thought these paintings were a good idea?

but it's quiet and clean, with private rooms and located right next to a main shopping/dining area. We took advantage of that and stopped at another Indian restaurant where they had Naan bigger than your head

Seriously, bigger than your head

I enjoyed my vegetarian curry, Sumi was a little underwhelmed with her chicken curry, but the samosa, the baban, the salad, and the lassi were all top notch. Full and tired, we stumbled back to the hostel to get ready for a full day of cycling tomorrow.

Olive-chan as a bus

From the Indian restaurant menu. Apparently Lassie only costs $1 extra