# Day 18 - ...and back again ## Detour There are few greater gifts than waking up mere steps away from the ocean, and on this wonderfully sunny day, everything felt all the more special. We strolled across the lawn for a fresh outdoor breakfast looking out over the water, and then it was time to pack up and head back out on the road! The hotel provided us with the most charming guidebook to the island written and illustrated by local high school students, which turned out to be incredibly thoughtful and informative. We took one of their recommendations and rode our bikes over to Oyamazumi Shrine. Near the entrance we were greeted by a large and powerful sacred camphor tree said to have been planted 2,600 years ago. ![[photos/day 18 - 1.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 2.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 3.jpg]] This shrine is dedicated to the deity of war, and so for thousands of years warriors have been coming to the island to offer up weapons and armor to this deity. Today, many of these impressive artifacts are on display in the shrine's museum, including the supposed armor of a female warrior named Tsuruhime ("crane princess"). When war broke out on the island, Tsuruhime lost her father and two brothers to battle, leaving her to inherit the position as chief priest of the shrine. Despite being only fifteen years old, Tsuruhime lead her army to victory, and has become one of the most notable female warriors in Japanese history. Sadly, she drowned herself after learning that her fiancé had been slain in battle. The whole town pays homage to her with many sculptures and other tributes, and a yearly festival in her honor. ![[photos/day 18 - 4.jpg]] The ride to the shrine was unfortunately not a great start for Sophia. She felt drained and had severe pain in all the expected areas for a cyclist, and things were not looking great for the ride ahead. Thankfully it turned out the culprit was simply that the vegan breakfast provided by our hotel was not sufficient fuel, and a quick konbini snack of seaweed onigiri (seasoned rice ball) and soy milk was enough for a drastic recovery. ![[photos/day 18 - 5.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 6.jpg]] ## A beautiful day for a ride The day flew by. The sun turned the water a brilliant turquoise, and everything around us was absolutely radiant. Each twist of the road introduced us to new jaw-dropping beauty. It is impossible to describe the pure elation you feel when you go flying down a hill, the fresh salty air whipping you in the face, with the magnificent Seto Inland Sea beside you. It was unreal. ![[photos/day 18 - 7.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 8.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 9.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 10.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 11.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 12.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 13.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 14.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 15.jpg]] ## Up a mountain and across the bridge We had one last stop planned on our route, but the time had crept up on us, and we were starting to get nervous about missing our bike pick-up time on the other side, and subsequently our train out of town. The destination in question was the Kirosan Observatory Park, a tall mountain overlook involving a 3.7km climb at an approximately 12% incline. While there was no question that Manu could sprint the whole distance, Sophia didn’t feel confident attempting the hill with so little remaining time. Not wanting Manu to miss out, we decided to split up. This allowed Sophia to enjoy the final distance of the ride with all its breathtaking scenery, and take over the responsibility of capturing photos. At a whopping four kilometers long, the last bridge of our ride—Kurushima Kaikyō—was a uniquely special ride, and at the midpoint you feel as if nothing exists but you and the ocean. ![[photos/day 18 - 16.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 17.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 18.jpg]] Manu rode up Kirosan as fast as the unfamiliar rental bike allowed. Despite not reading Japanese, he appreciated the encouraging signs that were posted every 500m, that included the remaining distance and grade to the top, as well as some writing that seemed like it was saying "keep going!!!" and "you're almost there!!". The ascent also again emphasized the courtesy of Japanese drivers, despite being on a narrow mountain road with many switchbacks they always slowed down and gave a wide berth when overtaking, so it never felt unsafe. He made it up just in time to walk around, take a few photos of the striking 360º view of the islands that we had just traversed over the last two days, catch a breath, have a drink, and start the descent. A group of about 10 Japanese tourists nicely offered to take a photo with a view of the bridge... they had a mind to turn this into a full on photo-shoot and kept yelling "one more", so when Manu said that he had to go and they asked why, he responded "I have to meet my wife ... tsuma, kore" ("wife, over there") and pointed towards the bridge. He had a good chuckle when all of them simultaneously went "OOOOOOOH" and waved good bye. ![[photos/day 18 - 19.jpg]] ![[photos/day 18 - 20.jpg]] After zipping down the hill and pushing across the bridge at top speed, Manu finally caught up to Sophia, and we raced into town, reaching the drop-off point for our bikes just in the nick of time. ## Gratitude Sweaty and smiling, we caught the bus that drove us back the way we came. As we neared the starting point, we realized we were becoming dangerously close to missing our train. We reached out to Hotel Cycle who had been storing our luggage for us overnight, and asked them to order us a cab. After our ferry landed in Onomichi, we ran down the street back to the hotel to discover that not only did they have a taxi waiting for us, but they had already loaded our luggage inside, and the receptionist was eagerly awaiting our arrival. Thanks to their kindness, we made it to our train platform with even a few minutes to spare! We messaged them to let them know we had made it, and the employee who replied was so grateful that we had told them because their colleague who had ordered the taxi was very worried we might’ve missed our train. This is just a small example of the genuine care and thoughtfulness we have experienced over and over during our time in Japan. Thanks to the ever-incredible Shinkansen, we made it to Hiroshima in no time, and treated ourselves to a delicious celebratory meal of udon noodles in hot broth, full of joy and gratitude for the two-day Shimanami Kaido journey we will never forget.