Kyukamura to Echizen

Day 9 – tour day 5

Lousy sleep last night… After an amazing buffet breakfast we set off in sprinkling rain and grey clouds to Oshima Bridge, where a shrine is located on an island. Very windy with waves crashing onto the rocks, but a surfer was out enjoying it. Colder today as well, esp in the wind. Dramatic change in the coast, from sandy beaches to rocky.

The bridge is a lovely red – we were supposed to visit at sunset yesterday but it was too cloudy to have much of a sunset.

The wind was fierce all day but fortunately it was mostly a tailwind. The times it wasn’t, and you came around a corner into its full force, were sobering.

We headed south along the coast, on roads this time but they were fairly quiet. The ride was a “free ride” which meant the competitive ones raced ahead as we all went at our own pace…

Had the boats not had Japanese writing on the side, this could be a small fishing village in Scotland

Quiet harbour – effective breakwater

some odd sedimentary rock formations

volcanic eruptions left this

We stopped for lunch at an oceanside restaurant – good to get out of the wind. Lovely spot, complete with its’ own raptor posing for a picture… the eagles were playing on the wind gusts outside the windows while we ate.

looking north from whence we’d come

Kindly posing for a picture…

A Room with a view…

Interesting food – seafood taco salad (was very good but no resemblance to taco – maybe b/c it was a tomato base to the seafood part?)

After lunch another free ride – we all waited outside the restaurant for the guide to get going and were almost hypothermic by the time we were given the green light.

Pretty coastline, but quite rough – apparently doesn’t deter the surfers.

We went through multiple tunnels, one a km in length – thankfully, as we would otherwise have been going up and down like a yo yo. No gentle seaside path in this landscape!

Eventually we gathered together again and did the hill – 370 m in 4 km. Grades weren’t too bad though and happy to report that I wasn’t the lantern rouge!

It quickly cooled down on the other side of the summit as we are approaching the mountains, and we rode through pleasant villages, rice paddies, and over a few more undulations over the next 15 km before hitting the large town of Kuzuokacho in the Echizen region (during rush hour). This region is known for its artisans, particularly knife makers and pottery but unfortunately there is a local festival tomorrow so we will miss out on both as they are closed for the occasion. We are in a chain hotel tonight – also with onsen which was greatly appreciated after being cold today. Dinner was pre-ordered in the restaurant across the street but apparently the guide hadn’t read the food restrictions page? and despite several discussions previously hadn’t ordered anything without meat. They quickly retooled though and I had excellent sashimi (and cold tofu which was edible on top of hot rice).

We learned today was Japan’s coldest day of the fall season, all over the country – it snowed in Haikado, and on Mt. Fuji, which was late for the latter to get its first snow. The skiers are happy! We were very lucky it never rained seriously – it seemed to be trying at times but never quite caught on. Being wet and cold would have been another story. Fortunately sun forecast for the next two days. There is a saying in Japan “Three days warm, four days cold” and this same place next Thursday is apparently forecast to be 23C.

Today’s mileage: 71 km, elevation gain 588 m.

Today’s highlight; watching the brave surfers at Oshima Bridge.