After leaving Hiroshima and Miyajima I cycled one day on the island Imabari where I stayed at a very nice guest house.
The owner teached me to play Majong and gave me a lot of tips about Shikoku Island. That was really nice to cycle again, hot and sunny day. The ocean in between the islands is really interesting, the tide is creating some currents which I never seen before.
The day after, I made my way back to Onomichi by bus. The bus is going through all the islands and you can enjoy the view on the ocean bridge after bridge.
This small city is fascinating. I had the chance to book a Japenese style room on top of the hill where I could watch the sunset and the lights of the city.
To go up the hill you can walk or take a rope car.
There is plenty of temples to visit and few nice Cafes around to relax, there is one entirely dedicate to Oals . When I passed by a temple a lot of peoples were sitting in front working on making the rope you can see sometime hanging in front of the door.
Onimichi is the starting point to cycle to Shikoku Island. I found this city quite refreshing and relaxing. Everyone is smiling here! That was nice to walk in the main market cover street and enjoy some coffee.
I decided to stay one more day, hotel was a very nice deal and I could use time to relax and chill enjoying a second day walking the temples. Walking back to my hotel at the end of the day I watched a sunset which I'll never forget!
It's been more than a month that I'm traveling and I can feel that I'm getting tired! I know it sound silly! I'm in holidays after all! Who get tired during holidays? Moving from one place to another, staying one or two nights then move again is challenging sometime. I really enjoy the flexibility of it and the fact that everything is new every day. I can jump in a train and be on the other side of Japan in few hours, or I can decide to stay more, that's perfect! Maybe it's because I'm alone and not interacting and speaking much which get me tired, I don't know. Maybe only because I'm walking a lot. Luckily I have a small backpack and I'm starting to get rid of some items I don't need anymore. I thought it was already quite minimalist but there is many things I didn't use this months.
I promised myself to come back to Onomichi to cycle all the small Islands to go to Shikoku. I like the freedom of cycling, especially in Japan, where everything is ready and convenient for you. They got a baggage service to drop your luggages at each stop you'll make for the night, so you can cycle all day light and find your luggage every night in your room. And that way that's a very affordable deal! That is Japan! Normality here is almost luxury for us. And I won't speak again about how clean public toilet are in Japan! But you know already!
