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Sunday, 21 December 2014

10/10/2014 - Cycle Touring Japan - Day 19 - Monkeys and the Mist

 

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note: planet of the apes.



Distance cycled: 89km from Shodoshima to 10km north of Kan'onji, Shikoku, Japan
Average speed: 17.5Km/h
Moving Time: 5h05m
Elevation Ascended: 1728m
Total Distance on Current trip: 1575km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 10,716km
Money spent: $20

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Yesterday I was somewhat disappointed by this island (shodoshima) in a word it was boring. Today, however was the exact opposite.
The weather at first was foggy and I knew the view of the Kankakei gorge wouldn't be ideal but just as I made it to one of the viewing platforms looking out to the east of the island the sky opened and I was in for a treat, all that negativity I felt yesterday just vanished and my mouth opened in awe.
What a view... As you can see below with all my pictures I took of the area.
Cycling the road I was treated to more and more spots to view the gorge and each one more epic than the last.
When I came to this island I did not know what there was to see or do, Kankakei gorge was the probably the number 1 thing to see and as I descended the mountain (very quickly) I hopped into the monkey playground that was a lot of fun, and the perfect opportunity to make use of my new lens I bought in Osaka the other day.
There were monkeys everywhere, jumping around, shaking trees, yelling(?) at one another and screwing. Personally I hate monkeys as I had an incident with one a few years back in Nicaragua where one jumped on my head and tried to pull out my dreadlocks, but these didn't mind human presence and pretty much ignored you.
A little hike back of the monkey park there was another view point looking out west, this island is stunning with nature at its finest.
Almost missing the midday ferry (the next departing after 5pm) from the port town of Tonosho to Takamatsu for a reasonable price of $10 I jumped onboard and instantly plugged in all my electronics to recharge. This includes all my photo stuff, GPS navigation, this iPhone and my laptop - it's almost too much to carry and to worry about but in the long run its good to have.
Anyway, welcome to Shikoku! I followed the coast heading west and found some beautiful places where I gorged on mandarins that were sale in the side of the road. Unfortunately they came in bags of about 4kg's and no smaller sizes so eating a lot at one time I saw the benefits of energy produced from all the vitamin C.
Annoyingly though I did not place them properly on my bike and at some point, probably on a bumpy bike path they bounced out of my bag.
They were good and cheap too, hopefully I find more on the road as I continue west.

Fruits here in Japan are extortionately expensive and when you do come across cheap fruits take advantage and get them - just a little advice.


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The eerie dead forest I hiked through

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What a view!

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Monkey island

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This is where people go inside of a cage to feed the monkeys..

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Surrounding views

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Mandarins for cheap too.

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