Japan

Mark inside just a few of the 10,000 vermilion-hued torii gates of Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Mark inside just a few of the 10,000 vermilion-hued torii gates of Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Kyoto is an amazing city. We were here once before, celebrating after the 2008 election, and were enchanted then with a visit of just a couple days. This time we had five nights – a welcome relief after the series of one-night stops on the bike trip – and we loved pretty much every minute of it.

For over 1,000 years Kyoto was the capital of the Japanese empire; it was only in the mid-19th century with the Meiji Restoration that ended the shogunate and returned power to the emperor that he moved the capital to Tokyo. As a result of that history the city is filled with ancient temples, beautiful shrines, and remarkable gardens and ponds. Of course, much of Japan’s historic legacy was destroyed during the bombings of World War II, and the U.S. military considered Kyoto a prime candidate for one of the atomic bombs it was preparing to drop. Secretary of War Henry Stimson, though, insisted repeatedly that it be taken off the list; ultimately he went to President Truman directly to insist that Kyoto be spared. Why? He said that it was too important culturally and was not a military target. But neither Hiroshima nor Nagasaki were particularly important militarily, either. Instead, historians suspect that Secretary Stimson spared Kyoto for distinctly personal reasons: it was where he had spent his honeymoon while he was Governor of the Philippines. And thus a stunning cultural heritage was preserved.

Beauty everywhere in and around Kyoto

Beauty everywhere in and around Kyoto

Pretty much everywhere you turn around the city you find big temples and green spaces. There are 17 sites in and around the city listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, fully one in five of all Japan’s sites. That’s a lot of history and a lot of beauty. Even with four days and five nights, we couldn’t do more than scratch the surface of all Kyoto has to offer. Of course, truth be told, we didn’t need to see all of the UNESCO sites. To Western eyes like ours, at least, they all kind of look the same. I often wonder if Asians traveling in Europe get bored with all the cathedrals, thinking they all just look the same. At any rate, it was a treat seeing some of the temples but we didn’t kill ourselves trying to see them all.

Instead, along with poking around our neighborhood in the northern part of the city, we headed a bit out of town to see some of the further-flung sites. One day we caught a train maybe an hour away to Nara, Japan’s first “permanent” capital. Until the 7th century, on the death of an emperor the new emperor chose a new capital. In 710, though, the emperor decreed that Nara would be Japan’s permanent capital. As the capital quickly developed its own inbred bureaucracy that threatened imperial power, though, after just 75 years the capital was moved to Kyoto where it lasted a lot more than 75 years.

One of Nara's gardens

One of Nara’s gardens

The legacy, though, remains. In pre-Buddhist times, deer were considered messengers of the gods, so there are hundreds of tame deer rambling about the area, looking for handouts from tourists and, well, taking stuff if it’s not offered. More impressive is Todai-ji, a massive temple with a giant Great Buddha. When I say massive, I mean massive: it is claimed to be the largest wooden building in the world. We were inclined to be unimpressed. I mean, who really cares if it’s the biggest or the third biggest or whatever, right? Walking through the gate, though, was a truly “Holy shit!” moment. That was one big building. And the Buddha inside stands (OK, sits…) at some 50 feet tall consisting of well over 400 tons of bronze and nearly 300 pounds of gold. Impressive indeed.

Nara's massive Todai-ji temple. The picture can barely suggest the scale of the building; walking through the gates to this sight was breathtaking.

Nara’s massive Todai-ji temple. The picture can barely suggest the scale of the building; walking through the gates to this sight was breathtaking.

And the Buddha was pretty big, too

And the Buddha was pretty big, too

Then there was the day trip to Kurama and Kibune, this time just a 30-minute train ride north of the city. You take the train to Kurama and hike up to the mountain temple. Then you continue on to the mountain peak (it’s really just a big hill) and down to Kibune, an impossibly cute little town with lots of little inns and ryokans and restaurants and cafés built along a cute mountain stream with its cool rushing waters. The temple itself was, well, kind of like all the other temples, but the hike in the woods – what Lonely Planet calls old-growth Cryptomeria, a cypress tree – was something close to heaven.

The hike from Kurama to Kibune. The signs in Japanese weren't a lot of help but the beautiful trail was easy to follow.

The hike from Kurama to Kibune. The signs in Japanese weren’t a lot of help but the beautiful trail was easy to follow.

The little main street in Kibune was simply beautiful

The little main street in Kibune was simply beautiful

Then there was Fushimi Inari-Taisha, the #1 Kyoto Highlight in Lonely Planet. Simply put, this put the awe into awesome. The site is spread out up a big hill over many acres and consists of some 10,000 torii gates – those classical orange gates that signal the entrance of a Japanese Buddhist site. OK, I call it orange, but apparently it is officially vermillion, a word I had to look up since I only know it as a huge lake in Northern Minnesota. But vermillion it is, a reddish-orange. I was skeptical that there were really 10,000 until we started walking up and up and up … and up. The crowds were heavy near the bottom but as we climbed, and climbed, and climbed the crowds thinned and the sights became more ethereal and the experience more calm and beautiful. I wasn’t sure we’d ever get to the top but we did and then got to walk down, again through all those torii gates. Stunning.

I didn't realize the hike up to Fushimi Inari-Taisha was going to take well over an hour, but it was worth it

I didn’t realize the hike up to Fushimi Inari-Taisha was going to take well over an hour, but it was worth it

And finally, much closer to home, was the Path of Philosophy, a walk along a tiny canal just a mile or so from our hotel. Peaceful, calm, quiet, beautiful … it had everything going for it. Mark & I walked it our first day in Kyoto, then I walked it on my own a day or two later, and then Mark went back up and did it yet again. It was like having a tiny, elegant village right in your back yard.

The Path of Philosophy ran along a little stream, just calm and relaxing (except for all the damned tourists sometimes)

The Path of Philosophy ran along a little stream, just calm and relaxing (except for all the damned tourists sometimes)

So that was Kyoto, for us. Morning runs along the Kamo River, a night tour of the geisha district, some good food, beautiful walks, historic sites. Kyoto really is one of those places in the world you just have to get to know so I suspect we’ll be back in a few years. First, though, we have to get back to Europe for the summer so we’re taking a train up to Tokyo and then a flight to Paris on Thai Airlines via Bangkok. The only tragedy is the prospect of going to Bangkok and not spending a few days!

The Kamo River, running right through the heart of Kyoto. The water was clean and shallow and periodically you'd see kids playing in it. And while there were big modern bridges across the river for traffic at several places there were also these large boulders (some in the shape of turtles) that allowed people to walk/jump from one side to the other without having to go up onto a bridge.

The Kamo River, running right through the heart of Kyoto. The water was clean and shallow and periodically you’d see kids playing in it. And while there were big modern bridges across the river for traffic at several places there were also these large boulders (some in the shape of turtles) that allowed people to walk/jump from one side to the other without having to go up onto a bridge.

Ducks in the Kamo River

Ducks in the Kamo River

Japan - even modern Japan - has limited private spaces in the typically small dwellings. So musicians come out to the parks to practice. This guy seemed to be enjoying himself immensely in his own private world.

Japan – even modern Japan – has limited private spaces in the typically small dwellings. So musicians come out to the parks to practice. This guy seemed to be enjoying himself immensely in his own private world.

Mark on one of hikes. That vermilion color is extremely popular around here.

Mark on one of hikes. That vermilion color is extremely popular around here.

One of the Buddha's top guys protecting him at Todai-ji

One of the Buddha’s top guys protecting him at Todai-ji

And this guy was just outside the temple. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be or to represent but Mark observed that it had a look of one of those paintings of some long-forgotten Roman Catholic Cardinal.

And this guy was just outside the temple. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be or to represent but Mark observed that it had a look of one of those paintings of some long-forgotten Roman Catholic Cardinal.

Random beauty

Random beauty

And speaking of beauty, we had dinner twice with Ethyl (there, I got her name right for a change). This one was a tapas place, along with Natalia and Luba from the bike trip, after a night tour of Gion, Kyoto's primary geisha district.

And speaking of beauty, we had dinner twice with Ethyl (there, I got her name right for a change). This one was a tapas place, along with Natalia and Luba from the bike trip, after a night tour of Gion, Kyoto’s primary geisha district.

And sure enough, while touring the geisha district there comes a real live geisha - fancy kimono, fancier hair, white makeup, and all that - down the street. Japanese emphasize that geishas are NOT prostitutes, but still you're not supposed to take pictures if they're with johns customers to protect their privacy. Sounds suspicious to me.

And sure enough, while touring the geisha district there comes a real live geisha – fancy kimono, fancier hair, white makeup, and all that – down the street. Japanese emphasize that geishas are NOT prostitutes, but still you’re not supposed to take pictures if they’re with johns customers to protect their privacy. Sounds suspicious to me.

I keep coming back to random beauty

I keep coming back to random beauty

And more

And more

Then there were all these pictures from Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Then there were all these pictures from Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Lots of pictures

Lots of pictures

And more

And more

If you like one, you should like lots of them, right?

If you like one, you should like lots of them, right?

One of countless shrines in   Fushimi Inari-Taisha

One of countless shrines in Fushimi Inari-Taisha

OK, the last one, I promise

OK, the last one, I promise

The first lilacs of the season for us. As we're off to Paris from here, we're expecting to see more.

The first lilacs of the season for us. As we’re off to Paris from here, we’re expecting to see more.

Nara has thousands of tame deer walking around. If you weren't giving them food, they weren't too interested in you.

Nara has thousands of tame deer walking around. If you weren’t giving them food, they weren’t too interested in you.

Speaking of food, while you think of Japanese food as sushi and sashimi and other fish dishes, they also have incredible steaks

Speaking of food, while you think of Japanese food as sushi and sashimi and other fish dishes, they also have incredible steaks

And oddly, a nice French restaurant with this Niçoise salad. I say oddly, since of course we're off to Paris from here but we decided to do a little preview of our next stop for dinner one night.

And oddly, a nice French restaurant with this Niçoise salad. I say oddly, since of course we’re off to Paris from here but we decided to do a little preview of our next stop for dinner one night.

And then there were these white strawberries that we saw a couple times in Japan. Strange; never seen anything like them before.

And then there were these white strawberries that we saw a couple times in Japan. Strange; never seen anything like them before.

The kind of thing you see all over Kyoto

The kind of thing you see all over Kyoto

Boston Bear loved Kyoto, too

Boston Bear loved Kyoto, too

We spotted these guys fishing along the Path of Philosophy the day after Boston Bear had gone bar hopping with them

We spotted these guys fishing along the Path of Philosophy the day after Boston Bear had gone bar hopping with them

Luba & Natalia ready to set off on our last day of biking. I think we were all a little happy and a little sad at the same time.

Luba & Natalia ready to set off on our last day of biking. I think we were all a little happy and a little sad at the same time.

We finished this two-week bike tour with a real highlight: after a three-hour bus ride from the little fishing village of Ainan we arrived at the southern end of the Shimanami Kaido, a series of stunning bridges that connect Shikoku to the main island of Honshu across six islands in the Seto Inland Sea. At just under 45 miles the trip could be done relatively easily in a single day but our route took us around a the islands, rather than just straight across them, so we took two days for the journey.

Good planning, it turns out, as the first day had decidedly imperfect weather; a light rain fell pretty much all day. Not enough to make the riding miserable, but not the sort of thing you’d really choose. The forecast for day two on the bridges, though, was pretty good so we figured we’d at least have one nice day of riding.

The Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge. And we bicycled over it in the rain!

The Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge. And we bicycled over it in the rain!

As it turned out, riding in the light rain had a beauty of its own. Again, not something you’d choose but all the gray and overcast and gloom was, in its own way, beautiful. And then for day two on the bridges we did pretty well; not exactly bright blue sunshine but certainly dry.

Mark biking in the rain, with Allison, Peter, and Judith behind him

Mark biking in the rain, with Allison, Peter, and Judith behind him

The bridges were just amazing. One of them, the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, is nearly two-and-a-half miles long, allegedly the longest suspension bridge in the world. Another, the Tatara Bridge, is one of the world’s longest cable-stayed bridges. Opened in 1999, they were all built with bicycles explicitly in mind so there were dedicated bike lanes, completely isolated from the motorized traffic. The bridges were plenty high – have to let ships through, and all that – but the ramps were graded pretty modestly so getting up there wasn’t too big a chore. Once you made it up though, well, there’s just something about being so far above the sea and the islands below. Every time we’d make the climb up another ramp to the start of a bridge and see the world below us I’d break out into another big smile even when it was raining and I was cold and wet. The views, the sense of being on top of it all, was just too much fun.

And then, ultimately, it was over. Natalia had measured each of our rides on her Runtastic iPhone app and calculated that altogether we’d ridden something over 500 miles, not bad for a little under two weeks of riding. In fact, we’re both really pretty beat; that’s a lot of work we put in to finish the ride.

Mark on one of the cable-stayed bridges, this time in the sun (or, well, not exactly sun, but at least it wasn't raining anymore)

Mark on one of the cable-stayed bridges, this time in the sun (or, well, not exactly sun, but at least it wasn’t raining anymore)

Along with great rides along rivers and the bridges and sometimes amazing meals, the real highlight was all the fun people we met. From my experience it’s pretty unusual to get this many strangers together and not have at least a couple that you learn you want to avoid at pretty much any cost. I’m remembering the judge we biked with in Italy who was just a Hillary-hater; not someone I enjoyed very much. But this group was a lot of fun, good riders but lots of laughs along the way. Meeting people is a big reason Mark & I do these organized bike tours and this was a solid win for us.

Christine, Rob, Judith, Allison, Jackie, and Dean ready to head off after what may have been our last snack stop

Christine, Rob, Judith, Allison, Jackie, and Dean ready to head off after what may have been our last snack stop

Finally, it’s always fun to observe some of the quirks of a place. One that appears to be idiosyncratic to Shikoku, or at least we’ve never experienced it anywhere else, is the bean bag pillows they use. We can get used to futons on the floor when we’re staying at some traditional Japanese place even if they’re not as comfortable as you’d like. But lots of the places we stayed had small pillows filled with dried beans. Seriously. Not sure why they haven’t discovered feathers or whatever modern pillows are made from, but the Heavenly Beds at the Westin in Kyoto where we’re headed next are sounding awfully good now.

Bridge pictures

Bridge pictures

One aspect of biking in Japan we’re really going to miss are the onsens – the hot springs and baths – after a long ride. I’ve mentioned them before but they deserve one more shout out. What a great way to relax after a long, tough ride: a thorough cleaning and then a long soak maybe with pools of multiple temperatures, maybe outside in the cool air. Of course, they have their own quirks, too. Japanese have a pretty different attitude about nudity than we Westerners do. In one of the onsens we visited a little girl, maybe four years old, was there with her father, running around between the various pools in the men’s bath just as butt-naked as all the men were; apparently Mark and I were the only ones who thought that was unusual. I just don’t imagine that happening in a locker room in the U.S. That was the same onsen where a woman was cleaning the men’s bath area, again with no one giving it a second thought. Probably a healthy approach but … unusual.

Worried the gray and gloom and rain is going to get you down? Just ride behind Luba and her pink raincoat and that will cheer up anyone.

Worried the gray and gloom and rain is going to get you down? Just ride behind Luba and her pink raincoat and that will cheer up anyone.

So now it’s goodbye to Grasshopper and all the great people we biked with. It was a great ride, notwithstanding a few little lapses and problems. From here we’re slowing down in Kyoto for five nights before catching a long flight to Paris. All that after we rest up, though, because all that biking is tiring!

In case you were wondering, these are the islands we hopped across, connecting Shikoku to Honshu. The blue dot is where we stayed en route and the yellow star at the top was our hotel the last night, finally back on Honshu.

In case you were wondering, these are the islands we hopped across, connecting Shikoku to Honshu. The blue dot is where we stayed en route and the yellow star at the top was our hotel the last night, finally back on Honshu.

And this was the route we took, starting in Kyoto and working our way around Shikoku. It's worth noting that we didn't bike all of this; most days we would be in a van or a bus or train part of the way.

And this was the route we took, starting in Kyoto and working our way around Shikoku. It’s worth noting that we didn’t bike all of this; most days we would be in a van or a bus or train part of the way.

Allison and Rob in the rain

Allison and Rob in the rain

Mark's back

Mark’s back

The ramp up

The ramp up

A view of the Seto Inland Sea

A view of the Seto Inland Sea

One more picture of that cable-stayed bridge

One more picture of that cable-stayed bridge

And finally, our last morning before heading back to Kyoto I went walking around Onomichi. Finally the sun had come out in all its glory and there in front of me was the world's strangest fire station. Yup, that's a fire station.

And finally, our last morning before heading back to Kyoto I went walking around Onomichi. Finally the sun had come out in all its glory and there in front of me was the world’s strangest fire station. Yup, that’s a fire station.

Here we are at Cape Ashizuri, the southernmost tip of Shikoku

Here we are at Cape Ashizuri, the southernmost tip of Shikoku

We’ve been on this trip for over a week now and I still haven’t said much about Shikoku. Shikoku is the smallest and least populated of Japan’s four major islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu are the other three). Shikoku’s primary claim to fame is the 88 Temple Pilgrimage, a 750-mile route that connects 88 temples. As the full pilgrimage takes anywhere from 30 to 60 days to complete most people these days do it mostly by bus or even bike, but some still do it on foot. You see them walking with conical hats, distinctive white over-shirts, and walking sticks. The one temple we passed on day 10 (#38) is over 60 miles from nearest temple, so the walkers have gone a great distance to get here.

Shikoku is a lush, green island and every so often you'll see these big fish strung out across a river valley, blowing in the wind

Shikoku is a lush, green island and every so often you’ll see these big fish strung out across a river valley, blowing in the wind

And, while I’m filling in the blanks with things I will want to remember 20 years from now when I go back and read this again, I should say a bit about the 11 riders and four guides we’re traveling with. Who are these people?

• Rob & Allison, a Canberra couple who claim that while Canberra is obviously not a great tourist destination it is a wonderful place to live. We agree fully with their estimation of Canberra’s tourist appeal but we’ll have to take them at their word about the city as a place to live.
• Jackie & Peter, Auckland dentists and almost inhuman bikers. While the rest of us are struggling to get up these long hills Peter will ride to the top and then go back down just to do it again.
• Christine & Judith, a really cute German couple living in Switzerland.
• Ruth, a Sydney judge who asks a lot of questions.
• Ethyl, semi-retired Broadway conductor and all around interesting woman who has spent literally decades biking all over the world.
• Dean, a retired IBM employee and third-generation Japanese-American with long-lost roots in Shikoku.
• Natalia & Luba, childhood Russian friends. Luba is an investment banker in London while Natalia is still in Moscow.
• Alan, our lead guide, an Aussie living now in Cambodia. He’s filling in for an injured Grasshopper tour guide who’s supposed to be leading this tour and finding the long rides almost as challenging as us amateurs do.
• Issy, our Japanese driver and occasional biker. Limited English but always big with a smile, which is helpful when you’re dying going up a hill.
• Tatts, another Japanese guide, pretty much the nicest guy in the group.
• Tom, a young 20-something French bicycle racer – a serious racer – living in Japan with his Japanese girlfriend.

They’re all well traveled, adventurous, and strong bikers. Which is a good thing, because we’re doing some serious (and exhausting) rides.

Judith, Christine, and Mark practice pounding the mulberry pulp that will become Washi paper

Judith, Christine, and Mark practice pounding the mulberry pulp that will become Washi paper

Day 9: We started by driving up to a tiny village and learning about and making Washi paper. Washi is the traditional Japanese paper that you’ve probably seen at some point, but the traditional ways are disappearing. There is a Dutch guy, though, married to a local Japanese woman, whose life’s mission is to maintain and restore those traditional methods of creating Washi paper. His process starts with the bark from a mulberry bush and involves lots of boiling and washing and separating of fibers and pounding and washing some more. We went through just a little of that process and then, well, made our own paper that included lots of little local flowers and petals and leaves. As I write this it is supposedly drying in his studio and will be mailed to our last stop on the trip. I’m not the artistic type, but lots of the small sheets seemed as though they’d be beautiful when finished. We’ll see.

Then we had a gorgeous ride on a warm sunny day along a beautiful river. The problem was that we started so late after the Washi paper experience; we’d have been much happier to ride in the morning and do the paper thing in the afternoon.

Day 10: This was a long ride, another 60 miles or so, but lots of it was gradually downhill to the coast. Then we went along the coast to the southern tip of Shikoku in more up-and-down terrain.

We rode through scenery like this on Day 10. And yes, the Shimanto River was really that color.

We rode through scenery like this on Day 10. And yes, the Shimanto River was really that color.

We’re finding two big drawbacks on this Grasshopper tour relative to other bike tours we’ve done. First, the rides are just too long. On the 10 days we’re riding after that first mini-ride in Kyoto, we’re averaging about 50 miles per day, with two days over 60 miles. That’s a lot of riding and a lot of time on the bike. With Zephyr (the company we’ve used in Europe) there are always three options, a short, medium, and long ride. And even then the long ride is rarely over 50 miles. These days are a lot longer and we’re getting tired.

The bigger frustration, is that there is a sense that we should all stay together for most of the ride, or at least regroup every five to 10 miles. That means we’re waiting around too much and riding in clumps instead of off by our blissful selves. Mark and I both love riding on our own with no one to watch and nothing to see except the scenery. Instead we’re nearly always clumped with other riders, trying desperately to stay out of each other’s way. And there is a safety issue: when we’re clumped up, with several of us just itching to pick up the pace a bit, if one goes down a bunch will go down. We have Garmin GPS devises on our bikes with the route marked, and someone goes ahead of us in the van marking turns in chalk on the street. We really don’t need to be altogether like this all the time; I’m inclined not to do another Grasshopper tour if they’re all like this.

The view from Cape Ashizuri, the southern tip of Shikoku

The view from Cape Ashizuri, the southern tip of Shikoku

Just a couple hours after I took the picture above the weather changed and a big rainstorm blew in. As it cleared, Mark took this picture from our room. Pretty nice view, eh?

Just a couple hours after I took the picture above the weather changed and a big rainstorm blew in. As it cleared, Mark took this picture from our room. Pretty nice view, eh?

Still, the ride again today was a pretty nice ride. The river was beautiful and the rest of the scenery great, too. The weather was mostly nice, though near the end it was seriously threatening to rain. One highlight was the onsen in the hotel at the end of our ride. It turns out you never know what you’re going to get at an onsen; it might be just a single indoor tub, sort of a shallow swimming pool filled with hot water, or it could be multiple pools with different temperatures including both indoor and outdoor spaces. This one had something particularly wonderful: an outdoor pool – with nice hot water, of course – overlooking the ocean. Just an incredible place to rest and soak after a long day’s ride.

And then another nine- or 10-course meal at the hotel with every imaginable preparation of fish and all sorts of other stuff. After the meal on day three at the Buddhist monastery when we just didn’t have enough food I was worried about the standard that was being set. I needn’t have worried: since then dinners at least (not always lunches) have been extraordinary.

The table set for a feast after a long day's ride

The table set for a feast after a long day’s ride

Finally, Day 11. Another nearly 60-mile day, more riding along the coast this time to a really tiny little fishing village. The weather wasn’t quite so cooperative today. We delayed our hotel departure by maybe 45 minutes as it was raining pretty hard. Alan, the lead guide, was watching the radar and it seemed as though it would pass. It wouldn’t; apparently a big cloud was just sitting over the hotel. Finally he said OK, enough delay. If you want to ride in the van that’s fine. It looks as though we’ll ride out of the rain in maybe 10 minutes and after that it shouldn’t be too bad. Sure enough, that worked. For a while. After lunch we got caught in a huge downpour, getting off our bikes under awnings and eaves as quickly as we could. Even then, though, the rain eventually eased and we sort of dried out over the rest of the ride.

And rain or no rain, we’ve continued to eat really well. Our hotel was pretty modest – OK, distinctly modest – but you wouldn’t expect more than that in such a small village. There wasn’t room for all of us in the ryokan they’d intended, so five of us lucky duckies stayed at a separate place just up the hill a bit. They were both modest, both what would be two-star hotels in Europe, but ours had more than just a single bathroom for the whole group, so that was a step up. And we had a resident kitty, though the owners insist on putting her out when guests are staying. Still, she was around, and that was almost good enough.

Allan with our ryokan's cat, expelled for the night because of us

Allan with our ryokan’s cat, expelled for the night because of us

I love this view, part of a long downhill stretch after a really long uphill climb

I love this view, part of a long downhill stretch after a really long uphill climb

This was our view at a picnic lunch stop on the Shimanto River

This was our view at a picnic lunch stop on the Shimanto River

The next day this was our fun, quirky lunch stop

The next day this was our fun, quirky lunch stop

Our hotel dining room on Day 9. As you can tell the weather has been extremely varied; it goes from sunny to drizzling and back to sunny with remarkable regularity.

Our hotel dining room on Day 9. As you can tell the weather has been extremely varied; it goes from sunny to drizzling and back to sunny with remarkable regularity.

Meal time is often a feast

Meal time is often a feast

Mark at the Washi paper-making activity, starting to like the results

Mark at the Washi paper-making activity, starting to like the results

Here's his work of art. If it dries in time they'll ship it to our last stop with Grasshopper so we can take it home. Or could take it home, if we had a home!

Here’s his work of art. If it dries in time they’ll ship it to our last stop with Grasshopper so we can take it home. Or could take it home, if we had a home!