Cycled the Shimanami Kaido, and Yamaguchi, Saga, Nagasaki etc.

[rbjhan]

Ah yes, even though I caught some really nice Sakura, the main purpose of this trip is cycling!
Shimanami Kaido has been on my bucket list for some time, finally got to tick it off

Bought CX cash tickets back in May 25 when I was able to stack two promos together. Yeah that price was not coming back anytime soon...

So the flights were MEL - HKG - cough return.

In Japan I went Fukuoka - Onomichi - Kurashiki - Iwakuni - Kawatana onsen - Kokura - Ureshino onsen - Takeo onsen - Nagasaki - Fukuoka.
Don't worry if you haven't heard of half those places hopefully by the end of this TR I can convince people to see some of the least visited places in Japan...

 

[rbjhan]

So, one year ago Cathay was consistently asking about 4k return to Japan.
Then there's the stopover promo for 10% off, I also had a $300 cash back offer on my AMEX. The ticket ended up costing about $3300.

I picked the flights based on time.
Then they switched CX178 to be the B777 with Aria suites, lucky

Not so lucky was the lounge situation in MEL...was advised to use QF lounge
Okay I suppose Plaza Preminum would do...nothing to see here.

Let's fast forward to boarding!

Now this is really nice.





In case you need some help with the new seat...


And the bathroom indicator
Must say I find it very useful!



What are we looking at?
The alleged wireless charging....who design this thing and do they have a 10 year old phone or something??
Thankfully there's a usb-c port down below!

 

[rbjhan]

This was a supper service.
I had the cuttlefish ball with egg noodles.
***You can pre-order meals online 10 days before flight. BUT, unless you are departing HKG, the online choices are exactly the same as inflight menu!



Dessert


When doors were closed...the seat number lights were very handy.


The doors don't close 100% but that's still pretty good.



Time to sleep!

 

[rbjhan]

Woke up and chose the western breakfast....damn so salty！


Anyways we landed ontime at HKG.
I had 1 hour 20 mins transfer time, normally it should be enough....ah BUT...

CX has been doing handsomely since the Middle East thingy broke out....their transfer security area was a total zoo spend 30 mins queueing.....they know how many people are going through each hour, why not add a scanner or two?! (only two scanners in transfer security). Ah that's why Changi is still my favourite airport.
If you are transfering HKG lately, do plan accordingly!

So when I got up to departure level, it was almost boarding time
Keep in mind HKG is huge!
And my gate was in the T1 Satellite building so a fair walk.

At least it was a scenic walk. Went up and over the Sky Deck.

 

[craven morehead]

Looks good so far

 

[rbjhan]

Found my gate, exactly 5 mins to boarding
So I just stood there waiting...

First onboard!


HKers are famously not morning people, just like me ha ha
The 8am flight was not popular, hence the A321 NEO (my return trip was a massive regional set up 777).
For the shortish flight to cough, that's enough I guess.


Thought they might serve breakfast, but nope, got a proper meal instead.

 

[rbjhan]

Final thoughts on the flights:
The Aria Suite is very nice. I love the door, the screen, all the high tech stuff are great.

The display by the armrest showing the time left so you don't need to go fire up the big flight map....


Tray table is now under the screen.


All the small changes are great, except for the wireless charging

However, for me the most important thing is the bed. And here I don't think Aria is that much different to their A350 J seats. It might actually be a tad smaller? I'm a small person so it doesn't matter but others might feel different. Also the mattress is so thin you might as well not have it.

OFC I prefer Aria to their old seats. But for now The Room is probably still my favourite.

 

[VPS]

Following along

 

[rbjhan]

Forgot the amentity kit!


I liked this one quite a lot. The eye mask was extra large, and the multi balm very nice.

 

[rbjhan]

The flight was scheduled to land at 12.55, I think we were maybe 10 mins early?
Coz I was out of the airport by about 1pm!
Last time I was here the immigration took forever. Clearly they've since upgraded the whole set up

1.10pm I've already arrived at JR Hakata Station.
Almost no queue at the JR West counter either.
**Note, Hakata is obviously in Kyushu. But the Shinkansen going north from here belongs to JR West.
Exchanged my JR West Pass and Sanyo Shinkansen One Way Ticket, and I had time for the 2.15 Nozomi to Fukuyama, which was way beyond my expectations!



Even had time to buy a Mentaiko bento


The Sanyo Shinkansen between Hakata and Hiroshima is pretty quiet in general...
Most tourists don't go west past Hiroshima.
Edit, probably why they have this promotion going on:

SANYO-SHINKANSEN One-way Ticket Information | West Japan Railway Company

Save on Shinkansen tickets between Shin-Osaka and Hakata!

www.westjr.co.jp

Fukuyama Castle can be seen on the Shinkansen platform!
Oh boy, the Sakura was pretty



Changed to a local train, finally arrived at Onomichi by about 4.10pm.

 

[frodo]

Following along, I did the shimanami kaido in June last year so I'm looking forward to what you make of it!

 

[rbjhan]

Following along, I did the shimanami kaido in June last year so I'm looking forward to what you make of it!

June! Wow how was the weather?

 

[frodo]

June! Wow how was the weather?

I got pretty lucky with the weather, it was early June during the King's bday long weekend so not too hot but I think it's the rainy season.
Ended up being cloudy and not too hot both days, rain held off until around 3-4pm on the 2nd day and it was a pretty miserable final few km's in the rain into Imabari.

 

[rbjhan]

I got pretty lucky with the weather, it was early June during the King's bday long weekend so not too hot but I think it's the rainy season.
Ended up being cloudy and not too hot both days, rain held off until around 3-4pm on the 2nd day and it was a pretty miserable final few km's in the rain into Imabari.

Yeah June is called the 梅雨 つゆ season。。。
I can't ride in the rain, so that was the deciding factor in how I chose the route...was an unusual one, you will see

 

[rbjhan]

For the first 3 nights in Onomichi, I booked Hotel Beacon which is directly connected to the train station.

Out of the gate, you are 5 seconds away from the hotel staircase!
**The bookself looking thing is their tourist info office.


Queen room on the platform side.
**The windows are not double glazed! If you are sensitive to noise, ask for a room on the other side of the building.


Bathroom was very compact.


Room was good size but I'm not a fan of the sink location....next to the only desk! WHY?

About 15K Yen per night including breakfast, honestly quite expensive by Japanese standards. This is not Tokyo or Kyoto you know...
I guess Shimanami Kaido is really popular
Nearby Fukuyama is also a good place to stay if you want something cheaper, plus Fukuyama is on the Shinkansen line.

 

[rbjhan]

This was Wednesday.
Thursday and Friday's weather forecast was not so great, cloudy with high possibilities of rain
Since it's already the tailend of Sakura, I felt like this day was my only chance - the rain would destroy much of the petals...

So quickly put down the luggage, grab a map from the info office downstairs, I set out to Mt Senkoji - the last ropeway was 5.15pm!

Thanks to the efficiency of Fukuoka airport, I managed the penultimate one going up
Can already tell this would be epic.


Mt Senkoji is named after Senkoji 千光寺 ofc. Onomichi has a ton of temples in the vicinity but Senkoji is the most famous one.
Senkoji itself was halfway up the moutain but the ropeway took us straight to the top where a observation deck was built, Senkoji Park was also here. There's a Temple Walk at the lower part of the mountain connecting a bunch of them if you are interested.

Great view of Onomichi waterway from the obervation deck.


It's been reported as Mankai (full blossom) for about 5 days at this point (you bet I was checking it every day!), luckily the Sakura held.

 

[rbjhan]

Onomichi City Art Museum is also located inside the park.


This was a better angle.
On the right, the original building.
On the left, new wing designed by the famous architect Tadao Ando.


This was taken somewhere along the Bungaku no Komichi, roughly translated to "The Small Road of Literature"? You will just have to do with my Japanese





Walked the whole area and back to the observation deck.
OMG OMG stunning!

 

[rbjhan]

Beautiful as it was, approaching 8pm and I was freezing cold on the mountain top, not to mention starving...time to head back.
The ropeway obvioiusly stopped long time ago. Apparently you can walk down and it only takes 20 mins or so, according to Google maps.
But holy sxx_ the road was pitch dark, no street lights
I went to the back entrance of Senkoji Park (where the car park located) and called a taxi instead
**Uber works in big cities like Fukuoka, etc. Not sure about Onomichi though, I used GO Taxi.

Too tired to go look for restaurants, bought my dinner at the 711 downstairs.
View of the platform to finish the day.


The next day was going to be Shimanami Kaido!