Japan Summer 2024 - Day 9 • Koyasan (Honshu) to Anan (Shikoku)

June 16, 2024

Japan Summer 2024 - Day 9

June 6, 2024

Koyasan (Honshu) to Anan (Shikoku) 108 Km

Start 7:50AM Finish 8:58PM

Total Duration 13:08

Moving Time 5:59

Stopped Time 7:09

Ascent 427m

Descent 1,262m

Tour Total 891 Km

Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/186991733

I slept well on my futon atop the tatami mats at the at the Ren'gejo-in Temple pilgrim's lodging in Koyasan. The sunrise was at 4:42am and soon thereafter started streaming through my window. Morning chanting in the temple began at 6am sharp. We were all invited to sprinkle special crystals into the burning insense. Afterwards I had breakfast.

Last night I met Carmen, a traveller from Switzerland whom had just completed the 88 temple pilgrimage in Shikoku. She had started her trip in March, and had backpacked, used public transportation, and stayed in hotels and guesthouses. She mentioned heavy rain on occasion. She told me that there were monkeys at temple number 38, and that she had seen snakes.

I got an early start to Oku-no-in cemetery. The name means 'inner sanctuary', and is perhaps the most intensely spiritual place in Japan. With over 200,000 tombs underneath the towering cedar trees, it is Japan's largest cemetery. I noticed numerous pilgrims dressed in white and carrying wooden staffs.

Afterwards I proceeded back the down the steep hill to Kudoyama. The hill wore out my poor fingers tightly squeezing my brake levers. Hydraulic disc brakes really would have been nice. My crash in Kyrgyzstan was still planted firmly in my mind.

At the bottom of the hill, I went to Lawsons for a second breakfast / early lunch. I had a Craft Boss latte, and freshly cooked rice and veggies. I forgot that I had Julia's route to Wakayama on my phone, and used Google maps to navigate, starting with highway 13. I rode through more persimmon groves and passed several more golf driving ranges. There were other cyclists on the road going in the other direction.

The Google Maps route brought me to a bike lane on a levee alongside the river. Google Maps then insisted that I crossed the river and I finally obliged. I was wondering what had happened to the Keinawa Cycle Path that I had been following yesterday. Then presto! I was riding a bike path with blue lane markers on the east side levee.

The bike path eventually ended and Google dumped me out ontp Highway 24. I rode through the sprawl through Kinokawa City. I passed the shuttered Safari love hotel in Higashino, which was decorated with life-sized stags and elephants. I then passed a bicycle junkyard in Shima, which was kind of sad.

I continued down Highway 14 and then crossed the river to the west side. I then took a small road passing housing and industry. There was little motor traffic. I ended up on four-lane divided Highway 143 and rode through the sprawl into Wakayama. I rode on the fifteen foot wide asphalt sidewalk.

At 1pm it was gray, 76° F, and humid. I was 8 km from the port, and my phone battery was almost dead from all the Google mapping. I rode past the Wakayama Castle, and Wakayama Modern Art Museum. When I got to the ferry ticket office I learned that I had just missed the 1:40pm ferry. I was told to come back at 3:40pm to purchase my ticket. The boat would be leaving at 4:20pm.

I rode around the town and stopped at MOS Burger for a cheeseburger, fries, and coke. I returned to the office and purchased my ticket. It cost ¥4900 ($31) which included my bicycle.

The ferry left at 4:20pm sharp, and I departed the island of Honshu. I was now out in Wakayama Bay, and it was the first time I'd seen the sea since I arrived in Japan. The mountains of Awaji Island were before me. It was a two hour ten minute trip to Tokushima. My bike was tied up on the bottom deck and I sat upstairs at a window where I charged my devices and edited this report.

Tokushima was a large city, and it seemed nicer than Wakayama, maybe because I was riding through it at twilight. I mounted my front light and proceed south. I would have visited the first set temples on the pilgrimage, but they were now closed, and I wanted to stick to my itinerary. I wanted to camp tonight on the beach.

I took four-lane Highway 55 through the sprawl south out of town. There were ginormous mountains to the south west. I passed a number of bikes shops, and saw one that looked decent. I went inside and got myself another pair of socks. Two of my current pair now had holes.

On the ferry, I realized that I had Julia's route on my phone but not my GPS. I don't like navigating with my phone. Often the map is displayed upside down. The route eventually took me away from the highway and I was on two lane 136 with no traffic. It was pitch black and I noticed pedestrians wearing reflective bands.

I came to a freeway along with a giant bridge over a body of water. I rode across on a twenty foot wide asphalt sidewalk. On the other side I stopped at a 7-Eleven for campground provisions. After that I rode by a giant refinery.

I eventually found myself on a narrow bike lane along the water's edge with waves crashing. I found the free camp spot where Julia had camped. There was a restroom and bench, where I sat and watched the fourth Starship launch. F New York State Governor Kathy Hochul for canceling congestion pricing right before it was due to go into effect. The US is so behind the civilized world, and our politicians continue to set us even further behind.