[Trip Report] Shikoku (18 Oct - 1 Nov 2014)

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Imabari + Shimanami Kaido

the main purpose of going to Imabari is of course to cycle on the Shimanami Kaido. but first we explored the city a little before we went cycling.

Imabari castle is pretty impressive. it is one of the few castle by the sea

 

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Shimanami Kaido is one of the 3 routes that connects Shikoku to Japan Honshu. it connects Onomichi in Chugoku to Imabari in Shikoku via a series of islands across the Seto Inland Sea. the other 2 routes are Seto Ohashi connecting Takamatsu to Okayama, and Naruto Ohashi + Akashi Kaikyo which connects Tokushima to Kobe.


Shimanami Kaido is unique because it is the only one of the three routes that allow pedestrians and cyclist. the entire cycling route from Onomichi to Imabari is about 70km. there are bicycle rental shops in both cities, as well as along the route so u can return ur rental bike at any of the shops. there are also ferries that allow bikes on.


my hotel provided free bicycle rental, so I just used it. it is a 3-speed market bike with a basket at the front... not ideal for cycling long distance. I was already quite tired when I reach the start of Shimanami Kaido, which is about 5km from Imabari station.


this circular road is specially catered to cyclist so the elevation is not too great

 

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the first bridge, Kurushima Kaikyo, links Imabari to Ohshima island and is 6km long.

... and that was the furthest I went. due to time constraint and tired legs, I decided to turn back after reaching Ohshima. it is another 10+km to reach Omishima, the next island, and I dun think I have the time for that.

 

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cycled past Imabari castle again and took a few shots coz sky was gloomy when I went in the morning

lots of cyclist at the Giant shop outside JR Imabari station. there is an international cycling event on the next day, which is also y we have difficulty getting hotels and only stayed a night at Imabari. would have stayed 2 nights if possible so that I can explore and cycle more.

 

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Takamatsu

Takamatsu is the capital city of Kagawa, the smallest prefecture in japan. Kagawa is known for its udon, and it is said that Japanese will spend 10,000yen to trip to Kagawa for a 100yen bowl of udon.


with such a reputation for udon, our first stop in Takamatsu is of course to try their udon. we went to this udon store, Tsurumaru, which is recommended in wikitravel. when we went in, there were only 2 other customers beside us, so we tot maybe this store isn't that popular after all. but as we were eating, the store started getting crowded and a queue started forming outside. turns out we actually went in just as they open their store.

curry udon, which the store is famous for

shopping street in Takamatsu. it is the longest in Japan, spanning a total of 2.8km

 

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Kompirasan in Takamatsu is located in the small town of Kotohira. Kompirsan is known to be one of the most difficult to approach shrine, in which visitors have to climb 785 steps to reach the main hall.

 

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steps, steps and more steps

but if u dun want to climb the steps and can affort the 6500yen, u can get someone to carry u up

 

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view of Kotohira town from Kompirasan

dogs containing fortune slips. just take an make a donation into the wooden box

 

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train back to Takamatsu city

a typical udon store. tell them the kind of udon u want (soup, dry, different kind of stock etc.), then chose ur own tempura toppings, and pay at the cashier

 

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happen to have an Evangelion exhibition at Takamatsu Museum of Arts. so we decided to check it out as i am a big fan of Evangelion. no photos allowed inside though

 

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back to the shopping street in Takamatsu for some walk walk. there is a halloween celebration and lots of ppl where dressed up. but it seems more like a cosplay event then halloween... hardly see anyone dress as monsters or zombie

went to supermarket to grab a drink.. they were selling nissin cup noodles in various size. think i only see the normal one and mini one in sg

 

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went to another udon store for dinner. no, i still dun like the taste of raw eggs

once again we were super lucky.. no queue when we entered, but suddenly then whole place was packed as we were eating

Sunport Takamatsu, a shopping area beside the port

 

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Tokushima

from Takamatsu, we took a train to Tokushima. the most well known attraction in Tokushima is of course the Naruto whirlpools, which is probably the only thing most people heard of in Shikoku.

Naruto whirlpool can be viewed from the Naruto Ohashi bridge accessed via Uzu no Mich, a passageway constructed under the bridge. there are direct buses to Naruto Koen, where Naruto Ohashi is located, from Tokushima. alternatively, u can take a 40min train to Naruto station, then another 30min by bus.

before going to Uzu no Michi, we walk around Naruto koen to snap some photos of the bridge

 

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some island in the distant

bridge structure see from Uzu no Michi

 

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glass panels on the floor for viewing the whirlpools

unfortunately, we had no luck and there were no whirlpool to see. we waited 1+hrs till the 'best viewing time' and still nothing, just waves crashing into each other. apparently it is not so easy to catch the whirlpool.

u can also take a ferry to get a closer view of the whirlpools. must be super disappointing for the people on board today

 

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while waiting for train back to Tokushima, we chionged to Ohsho to tabao some food

the fried rice smells amazing, but somehow it was quite tasteless

 

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back at Tokushima, we had Tokushima ramen for dinner

they provide free hair bands for ladies eating ramen. how thoughtful!

card machine at our table. reminds me of the much bigger dragonball card machine that was popular in sg 20 years ago

 

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Mount Tsurugi

We rented a car to visit the Oboke-Iya region in Tokushima. own first stop is Mount Tsurugi, which is the second highest peak in Shikoku.


It would have been a 2hr drive from Tokushima city to Mount Tsurugi, but we encountered a road closure when we were almost at Mount Tsurugi (we were just about 10km away!). and because it is a mountainous region, where wasn't any nearby alternative route we can take and we have to make a big detour.


and I mean BIG detour! we practically skirted around the whole mountain to reach it from the other side. it was a 70km detour and took us another 2+hrs on of driving.


we finally reached Mount Tsurugi in the afternoon and took the chairlift up

the 15min chairlift ride brings us to 1730m and it is only another 200+m to reach the summit at 1955m

 

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although it is lower than Mount Ishizuchi, and the climb is a lot lesser, somehow we felt a lot more breathless climbing Mount Tsurugi.


some sceneries along the way while we catch our breath

 

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as we started late due to the detour, we didn't have time to explore the other peak. we still have a distance to go to reach our accommodation for the night