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Published: April 24th 2017
Day 11 Ashizura to Ainan
93km. 950m ascent.
Chris summed up today spot on when he declared it "Stunning". It was one of the best touring days ever with 29 degrees of wall to wall sunshine, as predicted. The coast was followed closely for most of the day and the first piece took us about half way up the hillside so that the rocky, island strewn coast could be seen in all its glory. Most of the villages were occupied by fishermen, fish factories and fish markets. Going around one bay we noticed some smoke, or dust, coming out of a tall building. When we got closer we could smell wood smoke and fish, only to find it was a fish smoking factory working on a Sunday. Luckily they allowed us to photograph and film them at their work sorting through the fish and knocking off the dried fins etc. Towards the end of the day we saw that almost every bay had fish farms in the sheltered areas which added to the view. Lunchtime was a real treat when we arrived at a restaurant specialising in savoury pancakes which we found were to die for. The base is flour
and egg and we had a filling mixture of bacon, prawns, onions and other lovely tasting morsels. 10 minutes each side on our table, which was a hot plate, and then various sauces and mysterious powders added. Absolutely delicious. We had a few big hills with hairpins, which are a pleasure to descend but less so on the ascent. However, the gradients weren't too bad and the views staggering. Kites were plentiful today hovering very close to us and at one point there must have been about 40 kites and crows flying together and the crows squawking, as they do, and the kites jousting with each other. I managed some nice photos of them for a change. We split into two Ryokan tonight and, as usual, we are expected to take off our shoes at the door. The only problem this time is that the slippers they gave us were of the wooden variety with two horizontal bars for soles. Clip clop. The Onsen was also small and just enough room for two in a cosy/friendly position. It was a good job I was early and on my own. The men's urinals are a also a sight to behold in
the corridor to the Onsen for all to view at no extra cost. The fumes therein at no extra cost either. No bleach on hand?
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