Today I spent the day on Ikuchi island cycling around the town of Setoda. I went to a great temple with a deep fascinating cave of buddhas. Then an interesting stone park on the hills behind it. Then had black tea, lemon grilled chicken, a cycle to a nearby island, another temple, pancakes, saw a gorgeous beach sunset before a soba dinner. This is part of my Shimanami Kaido bicycle trail trip. It’s a 70-80 km cycle path crossing six islands linking Onomichi in the north to Imabari in the south west. It’s very well known and is covered on a million blogs and YouTube channels! I stayed in Japan for five and a half days. Day one was exploring Onomichi, days two to four were on the trail, and the last day was spent in Matsuyama.
Click for photo page of whole 5-day trip to scroll through.
Day 3 of 5-and-a-half days in Japan
Kousanji Temple
Up around 8 o’clock and had a coffee and apple pastries in the lounge. Cycled to the museum of art, but thought it seemed a bit pricy so went to a Kousanji Temple instead which turned out to be very good; interesting and beautiful.
On the temple ground is the Cave of 1000 Buddahs. This was a very impressive long cave with buddha statues placed up and down and along the cave walls and roof. There was a windy path with water, steps and bridges, really quite and unexpected surprise!
There’s also a stone park above the temple area which is also pretty cool. It’s called The Hill of Hope. It was quite an unusual park, quite busy too, but I managed to get a few photos without other people in view.
Then I took my bike west into town to check out some food options. The restaurant I had in mind didn’t open till just after 12, so I got a black tea at MINATOYA, a guesthouse, restaurant and cafe with a view to the harbour and sea.
Shimanami Roman restaurant
At opening time I went to Shimanami Roman and got their signature lemon pork on rice with a local lemon beer. Great stuff!
Takaneshima Island
I wandered around the harbour a little then decided to cycle over the red bridge to Takaneshima Island. It was a very narrow bridge, no cycle lane. I didn’t go far, maybe a kilometre or two north, then back. It was pretty, like the whole set of islands.
Kojo Temple, lemon pancake, Art
Back on Ikuchi, I cycled north east to Kojo Temple and walked up to the view point at the top of the hill. I noticed a plaque and it was a point where the famous local artist had sat and painted some landscapes. It was him that the are museum in town was dedicated to. Then I cycled back into town a got a lemon pancake and coffee at Shiomachi-tei Bicycle Cafe + Bar, a cool Japanese building with nice tatami seating area with a retro feel and a rundown garden out back. Then I took a quick tour of Hirayama Ikuo Museum of Art I’d passed earlier this morning. It was quite interesting though not sure if it was worth the entrance fee. I then wandered around a little more thinking about what to do next!
Sunset Beach
As it was getting late, I thought I dash to Sunset Beach. It was a pleasant 10 or 15 minute ride along the coast. I got to the beach with the sun low in the sky and waited. I walked to the seawall for a bit and was surprised at the strength of the wind! I need to lay the bike on the ground and put up my hood. The sunset however was gorgeous.
Soba noodles with herring
On my way back to the guesthouse I searched for a few dinner options. I waited a while at the guesthouse resting, then headed to Soba Fukurou for soba with a herring on top and a beer. Very nice! I fancied going to a bar after that but unfortunately there wasn’t much open. I returned to the place I’d had tea at earlier and it looked quite lively, but the place was full! Guests mostly I imagine. I then took some photos of the stars and bridge at the harbour, then some more photos outside the guesthouse as there wasn’t much light pollution and a good amount of visible stars. I grabbed a beer at a Lawson on the way back to drink in the guesthouse lounge, then called Romana before bed. A lovely, varied, relaxing day!
Map of places I visited