Queer lodgings

It's been a week since we've last spoken, and it's been a packed full week for our part! Our Japanese adventures have really been flying by, and I could have sworn it's a month since we were in Hiroshima. There's a lot to bring you up to date on, so I'll get started.

Next on our "Exploring Japan" agenda was island-hopping by bicycle on the famous cycling route Shimanami-Kaido. It goes over a series of bridges which ultimately connect the main island of Honshu with the lesser island Shikoku to the south. The many small islands dotting the Inland Sea in proper skjærgård-style (see below) are rural and picturesque, and the route between the cities Onomichi on Honshu and Imabari on Shikoku has been well prepared for cyclists and grown very popular lately. We figured this was a great way to escape from the cities and see some of Japan's less developed countryside, so we took the train from Hiroshima to Onomichi last Thursday, dropped off our luggage and rented bicycles easily in Onomichi, and set off for the first in the chain of islands.

What a fitting name for our bikes... ref. the last book I've been reading.

Nothing passes time like kilometer markers!

The islands were lovely, the weather was great despite the headwind, the bike trails were well marked and prepared. Before every bridge the trail made a big detour in order to get the slope up nice and smooth and never steeper than 3 % incline. We made many detours from the "recommended" 75 km route, up several of the places where the map warned about "steep hills - you can do it!", to get temples, cherry blossoms, spectacular views and fun descents. We stopped half way and spent the night in a forlorn private guest house, owned by an elderly couple, with whom we were the only guests. Equipped and decorated in the mid-eighties, drafty and unheated, currently undergoing out-of-season maintenance, the place felt stuck in time and oddly surreal. But the sneezing grandmother brought us lovely supper trays, and they kept the onsen on an extra half hour for us, so we were plenty happy. We'd carried a DVD with us for a while and wanted to test it in the DVD-player we thought we saw in the living room, but when it turned out to be a VHS-player, we decided to call it an early night and piled our blankets high.

It's fun when straying from the main route is so rewarding!

After all these temples... A couple more won't hurt.

Nice to get some variation from the flat coastline.

The islands were full of orange and lemon groves.

That little speck, that's Alex enjoying the sunset out on the end there.

In Imabari we retrieved our bags, returned our bikes, and had a quick izakaya meal before catching the train to the castle town of Matsuyama in the evening.. The famous castle dominates the city from the top of a large hill downtown, but we made our way to Matsuyama Youth Hostel in the Dogo area just outside town. Japan's oldest onsen, Dogo Onsen, attracts loads of tourists, and the neighborhood had a lively, touristy holiday feel to it. Still, our four-floor hostel was totally empty. With a fire in the fireplace and all the heaters cranked on max, the atmosphere was a very different one from the night before. The cat laid in front of the heater and the grandfather of the house laid on the sofa by the fireplace all day, but the grandmother prepared a feast of a breakfast buffet for us the next morning.

The climb up Catsuyama ("Castle mountain") was just too strenous!

Built in 1600 but burned down after a lightning storm, the current
main keep is from 1820 in late Edo-style.

The grounds were already stately and royal - can't wait to go inside!

The venerable Dogo Onsen, complete with steam-art.

We had a great day in Matsuyama, enjoying both the onsen, the magnificent castle and the charming city, despite the drizzle.

In the evening we continued to Iya valley, a really remote part of Shikoku deep in the mountains, where we had booked a rafting trip! Yeah, our adventure sports horizons are further broadening! At the desolate train station (think Norway's... Audnedal, or something) we were picked up by a charmingly Australian-accented HappyRafter, who drove us way way up the mountain side on narrow, winding roads to an isolated hut. With no food since Matsuyama, we managed to buy a couple cups of dried noodles from our host before bed. The place had a proper mountain "hytte"-feeling, and we couldn't wait for the morning and the promised spectacular view from the urinals!

The cherry blossoms aren't quite finished yet high in the mountains.

The next day was rainy and cold, but with all our warmest clothes on we enjoyed a tranquil morning before getting picked up for the rafting. After a delicious udon noodle lunch at the bottom of the mountain, we met our guide Mark at HappyRaft's riverside headquarters. It wasn't super enticing to get out of our layers of clothes and into the rain - or the icy river! - even with wet suits. But as soon as we were on the water we were beyond worrying. What a wonderful sport! The action-filled whitewater rapids, interspersed with peaceful stretches of paddling down the beautiful river canyon, was a fantastic combination. Alex and I were the only costumers of the day, so we got to ride in a tiny three-person with Mark - offering much more action than we normally would get on the low-season river (in late summer it would get up to five meters higher). We got to play around lots, capsize in whirlpools and jump off rocks. It was great fun! Here's a selection of the pictures and video (later) they sold us.

Fast-paced action...

... and slow-paced serenity...

...and all the fun we wanted to have in between!

It was in fact a very elegant somersault!

With a scenic train ride to Osaka on Honshu that evening, seeing everything we passed in the dark the night before, our Shikoku journey was concluded. A special island with a different feel to it than "mainland" Japan, Shikoku was a great little loop on our trip!