May 25
Iya Valley - Kotohira
Well, it was a shame to leave that hotel after only one
night. It was such a beautiful property
and comfortable room; I could have spent a rest day there. But – on our bikes for another
adventure. We started out under
cloudless skies. We gradually got a few
more clouds throughout the day, but it certainly never threatened to rain.
As we started back out through the little village, there was
a big truck going through washing the streets.
I’m thinking to myself – haven’t they just been washed by the rain the
last couple of days? Oh well - here’s a school zone sign; very cute.
And just a few km later there was a worker blowing all the
debris off the road. No wonder they’re
so clean!
Our ride this morning through the Iya Valley was absolutely
stunning! And – a very quiet road,
narrow and twisting. Oh – and mostly
downhill! A few of the many pictures
that I took.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Our big climb du jour started at about 26
km. 9.6 km at an average grade of
7.2%. Yes, I was walking parts of
it. At the bottom it was very sunny and
hot (up to about 35C). I thought I might
be walking the whole thing. But – it cooled
a bit as we went and there were some places to rest in the shade. By the time we hit the top it was about 10C
cooler.
Right at the top was Unpenji Temple; number 66 on the
pilgrimage. Most people stopped there,
and it was spectacular! I left my bike
at the entrance and walked the approx. 1 km & 80m elevation to get up there. Wow – so worth it! It is the highest elevation temple on the
Shikoku Pilgrimage.
Five hundred life-sized statues of arhats, Buddha’s
disciples, stand throughout the temple grounds.
They are lined up along a path around the temple grounds. Each statue has its own unique physical
features, emotional expressions, and pose.
Some of them are dancing happily, some are still and stoic, and some are
angry. The stone statues were created by
the Buddhist monk and sculptor Kocho Nishimura during the temple’s restoration
in the 1980s. I took a couple of long
videos as I walked by them in addition to the pics below.
The grounds were stunning as were the many buildings,
observatory, and temple itself.
The view from the top of the observatory was expansive, if a
little hazy.
Other than that one brutal climb (and a couple of small ones
at the end), it felt like we were going downhill most of the time.
And after the temple there was a big downhill – steep and
winding on an unmaintained road. It was
a bit challenging in places with the debris on the road, but at least we didn’t
have to worry about traffic. Also – the
bird calls through the descent were magical.
Lunch was at about 44 km; more downhill after lunch.
At the end of all that downhill we appeared to be back close
to sea level. Rice paddies and other
agriculture, and the smell of fish in the air.
After having been on what seemed like our own private roads
for most of the day, we were spit out onto a super-busy highway. The two-lane road wasn’t all that wide and
there was a massive amount of transport traffic on it. Yikes!
I chose the often overgrown sidewalk (where it existed) over competing
for road space with transport trucks.
The route got us off that road as soon as possible, but that
meant a few short steeeeep climbs to get into Kotohira. We’re staying at a massive hotel
tonight. Too hot to even think about
going to the onsen. Another (approx.)
17-course Japanese dinner tonight. Most
of it was pretty tasty and I even got through 90% of it with chopsticks.
Other than being really exhausted tonight, it was a fabulous
day. Travel day tomorrow to Kyoto and
then a rest day there.
Stats for the Day:
Garmin: 71.42
km. 3737 feet up. 4858 feet down.
RWGPS: 75.6 km. 1711 m up.
2046m down.
Your photos did not publish on this day... I'm sorry I couldn't see them!
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