Day 17: back to Osaka.

The bad weather we had yesterday is gone, and today the sun will shine, according to the weather forecasts. However when we leave the hotel the sky is still gray.

We have decided that we will reach Osaka not from the North, along the rivers Kizu and Yodo, but first going West and then, after the pass, going North. First we reach road 105 in Kashihara and then start following it. While we are on it, we notice a suggested cycle route, and we immediately deviate on it.

It goes in our same direction, but hops from temple to temple along canals and trees, way better than a busy city road. All the three temples we visit are practically deserted, except the last one, where an old woman is praying when we arrive cycling through the high grass growing in the back of the temple. Finding the entrance is not immediate, since the cycle path has a small detour leading into the precinct, and it goes hopping above the small moat surrounding it.

As a pleasant intermezzo, while we are in the parking lot of a combini, we see a white mini car with a car on its dashboard, busy fighting a fierce battle against a fly, while its driver is inside the shop to buy something.

We stop for lunch in the park along the Yamato river where, while we are eating our onigiri, a couple of youngsters are practicing sprinting.

From there we take route 25 to reach Osaka. Apart from a bridge over the railway which is forbidden to bikes and that we take extra care to avoid, the road is not that bad as it might look on the map. There is not too much traffic, the lane are spacious enough that the traffic can avoid squeezing us on the side and also the slope is not bad.

We discount it when we reach the crossing between the 25 and the 165: we manage to take the right path on the pedestrian walking only at the second attempt, and after a loop that takes us back to were we starting from!

After a short section next on the bank of Yamato river, we head North on the 170: for a good length it is a pretty anonymous, semi-rural road, not too crowded but also not that panoramic, though on our right side we have the hills bordering Osaka. At a certain moment we reach a very large building, which we learn is a recently built temple.

It doesn't have the vibe of an old temple, but it surely stands out in the neighborhood.
Immediately after a rail crossing, the road turns into a commercial road: pedestrians all around, shops and their goods on the sidewalk, music coming out from the speakers. And as suddenly as it appeared, as suddenly it vanishes, returning back to the road we were on before.

At the end of our route on the 170 we pay visit to the 2600 years old Ishikiri Tsurugiya Shrine. After a short climb, we reach the road were the temple stands, surrounded by small shops selling sweets, amulets and where fortune tellers make their days with the money of the visitors.

The temple is a refreshing variation to the menu of the day, and we indulge in the visit for quite some time. The place is really relaxing, and the buildings are really impressive.

After leaving the temple we head West: on a straight line we should end up to the castle, and from there to the shop to return our bikes. The surroundings are all but fascinating: the road is packed with traffic and has no decent shoulder nor sidewalk for us, so we try, as much as possible, to zig zag in the neighborhood on the banks of the Daini Neya river, which however are full of small industries. We rush just to get out of it as soon as possible.

Nevertheless we manage to reach the pedestrian bridge on the O river (which Google maps hides), where we have started our trip 17 days ago. A quick stop at Tenma Itoya , the same guest house where we have slept at the beginning and where we leave our panniers, and then to Globalwheels to return our bikes.

We exchange some impressions about our trip with Gareth, change our shoes and walk back to the guest house, where we can finally take a relaxing shower before going out for dinner.

The tenant is happy to see two returning guests, and considering how nice was our stay the other time, we really had no reason to not return here.

We have our dinner at a tonkatsu restaurant not too far from the guest house. On the way back to the lodging, we savor the satisfaction of having completed the trip.

Day 16: rain and a sleeping bear.

When we went to bed yesterday we already knew that today would have been a rainy day. Therefore our main intention is to chew as many kilometers as possible before the road, and us on it, gets wet. We will use, for most of our route today, the cycle route 1, which we have already used when we have reached Hashimoto from Nara and starts exactly here in Wakayama.

The only little problem is that it starts on the sea side, while we are already in the city, therefore we head North for the shortest path to the route, which lays on the North bank of the Kunokawa river, hoping that whoever designed it had in mind that not necessarily everyone uses it from its start.

Once we pass the bridge on the Kunokawa our hopes are crushed: we see the cycle route 1, but there are metallic fences everywhere, and the only two options seems to be either zigzagging in the neighborhood or, like most of the students do, using in the wrong direction the one way road packed with cars. Neither of the two seems appealing, and at a closer inspection we find prove of the Japanese flexibility: someone has placed a metallic ladder to help cross the fences!

I take the two bikes across, and we finally can freely cycle! We cycle for about half an hour when it starts raining: luckily we are taking a break at a combini to use the toilets, therefore we have the time to wear the rain gear without getting wet. And then we move on. The wet path is practically only for us, we seldomly meet someone, and when we do is usually some old man trying to fish in the river. Only when the cycle route merges with the main road we meet some car driver.

Along the road we find a service station, and we stop to buy something to drink and get some rest from the rain. The same idea has occurred to several motorcyclist who are parking their vehicles next to ours. None of them can avoid a surprised face upon seeing the two blue bikes and the two bright yellow dressed cyclist next to them.

After the break we immediately get on the saddles and move on. Once we reach Hashimoto the road is known, but this time we won't take the route in the mountains via Yodo, but will proceed along route 24. Few kilometers after the Yoshino river, which this time is less flabbergasting due to the gray sky, we stop for lunch at a combini.

From there we continue on a slow and steady rising slope, but at least it stops raining. In one of the cities we cross, some students are cleaning the road, and as soon as they see us we become, as to be expected, their main attraction.

After Gose we leave the main road on proceed on the small roads next to it: it's a blessed choice, as we get to see nicer landscapes and less cars. We cycle along a small canal surrounded by cherry trees, which in the right season must a mindblowing view.

Before heading to our hotel, we take a deviation South, to visit the mausoleum of Emperor Suizei and Emperor Jimmu. The rush hour for the visitors is already gone, and there are few people in the temple. The most noticeable is a little girl in a kimono, who was probably involved in some religious ceremony: she is running around laughing and shouting, and just stays quite for a moment upon seeing us. Then, once assessed that those two yellow creatures are not dangerous, she continues in her playful activity.

We continue our visit to the mausoleum: the precinct is really large, but what strikes most is its emptiness, even for the Japanese standards. Just pebbles, nothing else, covering the area comprised among the buildings.

There is also a small pond next to it, but we see nothing attractive in it, and we get back to the main building.
Accompanied by the sound of our shoes on the pebbles, we slowly reach the exit, where our bikes are parked next to guardian building. We thank the man working it for having taken good care of our bikes and move toward the hotel.

When we reach the Yamato Kashihara City Hotel we find a normal multi-story building, where we park our bikes in the back, under a ladder. But the room is tidy and decent, and after a day under the rain this is more than enough for us.

After a refreshing shower we decide to have our dinner at Burger Craftsman. The place is at walking distance from the hotel, and for a change it is not traditional Japanese food.

From the outside our attention is captured by the large teddy bear sleeping on an hammock next to the entrance, and once inside we get a delicious hamburger and a double serving of beer.

On the way back to the hotel we stop in a shopping mall, just to give a look around. We are the only two non salary men in the premises, and surely also those with the most relaxed face.
From there we go to our usual combini for the traditional good night ice cream, and then to the hotel.

Tomorrow we return to Osaka!