Few hundreds meter after the hotel we stumble in a small ceremony: in the yard in front of a garage, there is a group of people, no more than 20, dressed in traditional clothes, with flags and a sort of sedan chair. It looks like some matsuri is going to start soon, so we stop to see what is going to happen.
And this is what we see, and how we interpret it: 4 kids, wearing demon masks, sit on the sedan and start chanting while hitting a drum with a block of wood they hold in their hands, like they wanted to cast a curse on the village. Immediately 16 men lift the sedan and start shaking it, to stop the demons from chanting, and indeed the demons collapse for the shaking. Then another man negotiate with the demons: they will stop the shaking only if they turn the curse into a blessing. Once the demons agree, humans and demons start chanting, while the sedan is carried around in the village.
The same ceremony is happening in all the neighborhood we cross along the way, as we understand from the flags scattered around and by chants we hear here and there. Once we are out of the city, the landscape suddenly changes: rocky cliffs high on the sea, deep blue waters and blue sky fill our eyes, with here and there the green of the trees.
On some rocks scattered in the sea we see some people with a fishing line, probably transported there by someone with a boat. It must be a funny experience if the weather should suddenly change!
When we reach a small fishermen village, we see that the same thing is going on here, but instead of using rocks, people are sitting on square rafts floating in the bay, enjoying the sun and the quietness, while on the beach someone is setting up some stands to sell food.
From there the road goes back onto the coast and reaches again a slightly bigger village, where there is also a coast guard base, with a broken helicopter stationed in front of it. We are not able to tell if the damage is recent or not, and to avoid any problem I avoid using my camera to zoom in for more details.
On the side of the road we start to see signs pointing to a coast park, which should be few kilometers ahead. Before reaching it we are flabbergasted by a white rocky arch, cast into the sea right in front of us, while in the distance the same white rocks paint the coast line for as long as we can see.
From there we reach a short tunnel where we get a surprise: the coastline was, so far, shielding us from the north wind blowing today, but now that we are crossing to the other side, we are whipped by a strong head wind that makes it hard to pedal. And to make things worse, the tunnel just channel the wind to make it stronger. Immediately after the tunnel there is the entrance for the park, which unfortunately is closed today.
While we taking a short break we evaluate how to proceed, and we decide that, once in Yuasa, we will hop on the train to Wakayama: our knees are aching, and the head wind for the coming kilometers is not going to make things better. But until then we have to bike: first the cross some tunnels that allow us to avoid some climb, then we go inland where at least we are protected from the wind.
While we are checking our maps in Yura town we are reached by a group of three Japanese cyclists, two men and a woman, who start climbing the hill in front of us. We have to take their same road, thus we start chasing them. The two men are way ahead, while the woman is proceeding more slowly; when I reach the pass and stop to wait my travel mate, they are also waiting for their companion to catch up. While they are smoking a cigarette we exchange some words, I explain them about our trips and they are quite surprised. They also check the panniers, and observe that make the bike heavier.
My travel companion reaches the pass before their, so we greet them and move on, reaching Kurao Bay and then the outskirts of Yuasa. We reach the train station, check for the next train and decide we have time to buy our lunch. We reach for the nearest combini and then back to the station, where we pack our bikes and take the train to Wakayama. Few days ago we were here heading South in a chilly morning, and now we are heading North in a warm noon.
What we see from the train windows hints that we might have taken the right decision: it looks like the coast between Yuasa and Wakayama is mostly industrial, with factories all around, thus not the most pleasant place to ride across.
Once we step down in Wakayama, we are struck by the difference between the two cities: while Yuasa was, at the end, a calm countryside town, Wakayama is a much more busy city, with people running around, traffic and noise. We manage to find a corner where we can assemble back our bikes, and then reach Tsukiji Hostel Wakayama where we will stay. The place is located on a small side road of a shopping street, which at the time we arrive is crowded with people. The room are cozy and the staff really friendly, it will be a pleasure staying here.
While the tenants is showing us around the house, I spot on the door of another room a name which is strangely familiar: I give a better read, and indeed it belong to a person we know. When in 2016 we cycled around Shikoku, we prepared our trip also by watching the YouTube video about his experience posted by I.B. We meet him on the door, while we are going out and he is coming back in: we introduce ourselves (of course he doesn't know who we are), and explain him about our present and past trips. He has been to Koyasan, too.
We don't bother him any longer and proceed to the close by onsen, which has been recommended by the tenants. It is indeed the best we have visited so far, and soaking into the hot waters is really refreshing. There are many choices of waters, and we try them all, except the cold one. Actually, I just pour some cold water on my legs, but I don't dare sitting down until my neck.
From there we move on to try the local specialty: Wakayama style ramen! We find a place called Chukasoba and when we are walking there we are deafened by the loud noise of birds going to sleep on the trees in the middle of the road. They are so loud that we can barely ear the cars engines! Once we reach the place we take a table: as we were told, boiled eggs are available for consumption at leisure, but we want to try the ramen. While we wait for our order, a group of four people sits next to us: they must be mother, daughter, son and his girlfriend. They are served after us with our same serving, but by the time we are barely halfway through our bowl, they are already leaving.
If I will ever get to date a Japanese woman, I need to learn if eating at super-speed in a restaurant is appreciated or not! 😅
We stop by a conbini, buy an ice cream and something for our breakfast, and then take a slow stroll until the hostel: the shopping road is now silent, only few people are walking back to their destination, while someone calmly play a guitar.
Tomorrow we will take a day of rest from biking: we will just visit the city and relax. But today has already been a good day.
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