Sometimes the unexpected treat of staying in a place of which we have no knowledge, is the best thing. We were just grateful to have a place where we could get us warm and give us shelter from the coming storm. “The rest is gravy” as the expression goes.
Hotel Seira Shimanto is an older accommodation with an enviable location, an onsen enjoyed by the community and guests, as well as a focus on astronomy with an observatory perched above. There are few lights “polluting” the sky that apparently this is a special place for star gazing.
We know that today will be a challenging day of riding due to the weather. We only have a short distance to go but rain is predicted to be heavy and more concerning is that the wind will be strong with gusts of 80 Km/hr. By our reckoning, this will be a headwind, not a tailwind. Yikes.
We love the characater filled environment of staying in a traditional Japanese inn. Fresh flowers are a nice touch.
Our friend Leslie has some lovely pieces of furniture from her time living in Japan. We find them charming as the height is very short, compatible with tatami room style. This piece featured a tall mirror with the fabric is covering it..
Hotel Sheir is a cement structure, with spacious areas and ceilings a few stories high. Its simple design lets nature be the star with floor to ceiling windows in some of the common areas. We liked the canoe positioned by the dining room. A very quiet, relaxing environment.
Forgot to mention an important element we enjoy at our hotels and Japanese Inns…the Public Baths or Onsens. It is such a luxury to have this wonderful option. It is great for our tired bodies and so therapeutic. We stayed here 1 night and had one before bed and another before leaving. Bliss.
The Shimanto River from our room. The weather is a bit dicey today as we are given false hope with glimpses of blue sky, and then the dark skies return. It is very cold out there. When we love a place, it is always tempting to just stay another day. But we must carry on as we are looking forward to reaching the island of Kyushu as well. We need a few days of riding and then a ferry which will take us to Beppu. Exciting.
It rained off and on while eating breakfast with the howl of the wind a constant. Just as we were about to leave, the rain started to really come down. The staff encouraged us to enjoy the lounge and wait it out…which we did.
We took a wrong turn and ended up down by the river. Barry used this moment to ride over one of the submersible bridges.
We discovered that we did indeed have a headwind. The route we chose is away from the road and through forest at times. The path is covered with branches and debris. We’ll see how it goes.
Charmaine RuppoltSeems like you would have some protection from the wind on that route, since there are trees and a cement wall on the sides. Reply to this comment 5 months ago
The worst area was adjacent to Japanese Cypress trees with large branches making our riding very difficult. These Cypress trees are a scourge….in the spring they create terrible allergens that we experienced on our previous trip. As well, they were planted in Japan to establish a logging business, but they are not suitable for that. The government is trying to find a way to get rid of them.
We were forced to ride very slowly and carefully. Barry would go ahead and use a Cypress branch to clear the bigger pieces of debris. When we realized that the route was taking us up into the hills, we changed our route. Too dangerous with the wind bringing down more debris.
Ah, happiness for us the past few days is riding Route 381 along this river. It is an interesting phenomenon riding into an 80 Km/hr headwind. Obviously, it is a lot of work and exhilarating, yet it is daunting when going downhill as you must push the pedals to go forward. With our loaded bikes we usually sail down hills at speed, but not today. Everything today is hard work. We are so glad we got off the forest route as we would be climbing endlessly and probably finding the route impassable at times. Hoping for Michi-no-Eki’s today.
Becoming so immersed in the Pilgrimage culture on Shikoku, we have learned a great deal and felt such a connection. This experience has enriched our journey here. This statue of Kobo Daishi with his gaze over the countryside, resonated with us.
Barry BartlettOh dear Bill - welcome to my husband’s world. I have a bad habit of writing quickly and saying the wrong thing. I appreciate your input and I’ll fix it. Reply to this comment 5 months ago
Our route today was short on miles, but before reaching this tunnel, we were ready to throw in the towel. Fighting the powerful winds took a toll. The tunnel offered relief, but the best part was, after the tunnel we had a 7 Km downhill ride to Uwajima. OMG. It was the best experience of the day.
The hotel offered a Happy Hour….whatever you want and as much as you want. After our crazy hard day, I lapsed from our usual approach and enjoyed two helpings of Scotch. That was it for me…to bed I went.
5 months ago