Part 5 - Okayama / Hiroshima / Shimanami Kaido
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The second leg of my Japan part of the trip was based in a town called Okayama. I was never planning on spending a ton of time there, but it was a handy transportation hub to some of the places I was going to be spending more time. If you want to travel long distances in Japan, the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) is a great option. This is a pretty typical bullet train. I bought a magic 14 day rail pass which lets me ride pretty much every train in Japan. This makes exploring great because it cuts out the consideration of cost when deciding whether to have a quick visit at some small town you read about on Google. Certainly not all trains are like this bullet train - most are much more conventional - but the train system works amazingly well. I was shocked the other day when the train I was waiting for arrived one minute late...they are usually perfectly on time. In fact, I use the time to tell me which station to get off at when I can’t necessarily understand the announcements. On trains to tourist places, they make English announcements...but for several of the trains I was on, there was no English to be found.
The first day in the area was spent at Hiroshima. This is the one part of the trip that is a repeat from my Japan visit two years ago. While I had done Hiroshima before, I love the town and wanted to do it again. This is a picture of the “A-Bomb Dome”. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima detonated roughly 600m above this building. It stands now as a powerful witness to the power of the bomb.
Artsy-fartsy shot of the dome reflected in a lily pond.
Inside the museum about the bombing, they included a large mural showing the town of Hiroshima shortly before the bomb was dropped. You’ll notice the building on the left which now stands as the ruined domed building. The island in the center of the photograph is now the Peace Memorial Park - a beautiful landscaped park with many memorials for different victims of the bombing.
Another shot of the A-Bomb Dome
One of the main reasons I wanted to return to Hiroshima was to get some Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki. This is a delicious Japanese dish that combines a ton of stuff (batter, cabbage, bean sprouts, onions, meats of various types, egg, etc...) into one delicious combination. What makes the Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki different from the more traditional Osaka style is that instead of a ton of batter making it a “meat pancake” of sorts, the Hiroshima style uses Soba Noodles. Very delicious. The Okonomiyaki is cooked right in front of you and get a little spatula to cut off pieces to put on your own place to eat with your chopsticks.
Yummy! It might not look like much, but trust me - it is delicious.
Later in the day, I took a ferry to Miyajima Island, an island just a few minutes ferry ride from Hiroshima. It famously contains the “Floating Torii” that you have likely seen in Japanese ads before. Unfortunately for me, the torii (which you can see on the right) is currently undergoing renovations...and I came at low tide when it’s not as much “floating” as “standing on sand near the ocean”.
Torii
Pretty little shine scene.
Big pagoda on Miyajima Island.
I had planned to hike up to the top of the mountain and then ride the cablecar back down. Unfortunately, the cable car was also closed for maintenance. So instead of doing a big hike, I hiked around the city some and found this neat view.
On my circuitous route back to the train station, I took another shot of the A-Bomb Dome in the background with the main reflecting pond and memorial for the deceased (144,000). On my last visit, I attended a Hiroshima Carps baseball game - which was a ton of fun! They were indeed playing at home that night, but I decided not to go...I needed a good rest for my next day’s fun!
The next morning, I woke up very early and caught an early train to Onomichi. Onomichi is famous for being the start of the Shimanami Kaido - a famous bike ride from Honshu (the biggest island in Japan) to Shikoku (the southeastern island). The ride is supposed to be 45 miles...if you do it correctly... As you travel over Japan’s inland sea, there are several large bridges to cross as you hop from island to island. I rented a bike - and I was off!
The bridges were no joke. Riding on the bridges themselves is no big deal. The tricky part is that you’ve got to climb up pretty high to get to the bridge. I didn’t exactly have the best bike in the world, nor am I the most experience biker in the world (pretty much no experience), but I got it done!
Ten miles in, I heard a quick “pssssst” and all of the air in my back tire was all of the sudden gone. Now, you may have thought through a plan on what to do if you are in the middle of an island in Japan and your tire explodes, but I certainly didn’t. Thankfully, I was close to a Lawsons (a convenience store found all over Japan, very similar to a 7-11). Through much gesturing and luck, I was able to communicate what I needed to the very sweet lady who was the cashier. She called the rental company and arraigned for them to come by and switch out bikes for me. It all worked out great! The only problem with the new bike is that the bike seat was forged in the fiery pits of Hell by Satan himself!
Another bridge.
As I was struggling through a tough part of the ride...when I mistakenly took the “Advanced” path that included a ton of hills, I heard a saxophone from down the road. I rode up and found this old gentleman playing his saxophone by himself looking out over the ocean. It was quite nice.
Another bridge!
The great cyclist!
Roughly halfway through was a nice place to stop and get a bite to eat.
After miles and miles, I came upon the final bridge to Imabari - it was a bit intimidating!
Before tackling the final bridge, I met up with a group of Japanese friends (a few of them spoke good English) to have a “barbecue” at a restaurant. The way this place worked is that you picked out a ton of raw food, and then they would set up charcoal grills and you’d grill the stuff yourself. Being Japan, there was a huge variety of seafood ready to be cooked...many of it still swimming around. They even had live octopus ready for the grill! Suffice it to say, I didn’t have any of these options.
Grilling it up! I was blessed to have met a very fun group of friends (the picture makes them look much more serious than they actually were). It was a nice experience when you are in a country where you are very isolated.
Finally, it was time to attack the bridge (you can even see the little circular ramps to take the bikes up to the bridge.
The other side of the bridge - I made it! The bridge wasn’t actually that big a deal since I had just filled myself with food...funny how eating give you energy!
I traced out the route I took on my bike ride, starting on the left and finishing on the right. It was a nice ride, much recommended!
It was a good ride. Before I turned in my bike, I noticed that I was at 59-ish miles. A quick trip around the block made sure that the distance turned into a cool 60!
On the train ride back, there was a very nice sunset-y view.
The day after the Shimanami Kaido, my body was a bit of a wreck, so I had a nice easy day of seeing some pretty things in the area. Okayama Castle is known as the “Crow Castle” because it is painted black. It’s a nice looking building.
Next to the castle, you will find the Korakuen Gardens. These are one the three great gardens in Japan. It’s a pretty nice area with all sorts of different plants to check out.
Pretty flower.
After my big bike ride the day before, this bridge a little more my speed today!
I was trying to take a great picture with the fish, but they were being a bit koi.
Another nice shot of the Okayama Castle.
I thought about getting a boat and rowing around on the little lake near the castle, then took stock of how my body felt and decided against it.
In front of the Okayama Train Station is this cool fountain. While they can certainly be found other places, Okayama claims that this is the first.
Near Okayama, I visited a quaint little town called Kurashiki. Its claim to fame is a nice historical quarter with canals running through it. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, but still nice.
No idea who this mascot is, but there were people taking pictures with him (her?) so I had to jump in!
One of Kurashiki’s exports is denim products (jeans and the like...). There was a little shop selling Denim Burgers, Denim Dumplings, etc... I had to try the denim ice cream. Thankfully, it didn’t taste like some old jeans. By the way, you can get ice cream cones all of the place in Japan. The best one so far was the salt ice cream cone I got during the Kaido...it was delicious!
After Kurashiki, I went back to Onomichi. This was the starting point of my bike ride the day before, but this time I actually wanted to check out the town. This dock is actually where I took the ferry to start the big bike ride (it just takes you across the small waterway, biking the first bridge is a little tricky and not really worth it according to the guides).
One nice thing that Onomichi had was a nice little walk to see some different temples scattered around the hill above the town.
There were many steps!
The view from the top was quite nice.
The photos don’t do a great job showing the amazing view from the mountains above Onomichi. You can see the first bridge of the Kaido in the background.
I returned to Okayama for my last night in the town and stopped by the castle to see it lit up at night - quite nice!
