Leaving the Kansai area and into Chugoku the first prefecture is Okayama. I did come here a few times while living in Kansai, but not as frequently as Osaka and Kyoto. There are a lot of cool things to see in Okayama, but I feel like it lacks the “wow” factor of some of the other prefectures. On this day I took a rural bicycle road that stops at a few interesting temples and burial mounds along the way. This temple at the end of the path has the only 5-story pagoda in Okayama Prefecture that stands out above the trees. After enjoying the leisurely ride through the countryside, I tried to put in more distance to reach Hiroshima Prefecture.
Day 70 – Onomichi, Hiroshima
Out of all of the sections of my bicycle tour across Japan, I was most excited for this part, the Shimanami Kaido. This 70km bicycle path island hops from the Chugoku region to Shikoku along six huge suspension bridges. The majority of the route is a dedicated bicycle path without any cars and there are tons of places to camp along the way. It’s truly a bicycle tourer’s paradise! The icing on the cake was having perfect weather with mostly clear skies and not too hot for the entire time along the route.
