Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Island 4 - Enoshima Island, Japan, biked 20th April 2014

Very cute train
First find your island
Enoshima is a tiny island in Japan, near Kamakura. It is only 4 Km around the edge but there is only a road some of the way and one into the centre and up through a shrine (tons of shrines here, of course) to an observation tower where you might see Mount Fuji on a clear day. It's not a clear day so we didn't try that but did find a nearby convenience store which rented bikes incredibly cheaply.
Then find a bike

We took the cute local electric train to Enoshima station and picked up two bikes from this valiant lady who spoke little English and whose machine refused to do the necessary booking in English but we managed fine in the end.

at a convenience store
We cycled over the bridge to the island, among the tourists on the pedestrian way. Cyclists and pedestrians share the same paths here and tolerate each other in a way that is amazing to us who are used to open warfare between the two tribes.

There is not much cycle-able (or drive-able) road here but we cycled what there was and then went onto the sea wall where we had fun cycling over and back. We came across a do-it-yourself reflexology space - there were spaces of different kinds of bumps on the path and a notice showing you what to do. See pics below.


After our lovely cycle we took the bikes out along the mainland coast for a couple of hours and enjoyed seeing Enoshima on a holiday. There was a major volunteer beach clean-up happening and lots of surfing, either training or having fun. People here bike their surfaceboards to the beach - see final pic.

What a lovely morning! Many thanks to Debbie for her support and enthusiasm.

Reflexology area
Reflexology instructions













Getting to the beach, Japanese style

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Island 3 - Miyajima, Japan, biked 15th April 2014

Thanks to Tomoyo for lending me her green bike
Miyajima is a wonderful island off Hiroshima. It is most famous for its sacred Itsukushima Shrine - an orange arch which 'floats' in the sea at high tide. We came to check it out for a place to visit and for an island to bike. We loved it so much that we tried to find a place to stay but had no luck with that.

Thanks to Debbie for being photographer
Being on an island, and in the Pacific, I inquired about renting bikes. No. 'Could I borrow one?' I asked various people. No.

This is too beautiful an island to be put off by these setbacks and then I met Tomoyo. She owns this lovely green bike and was very happy to let me rid it around for a while. Thank you Tomoyo!


With the lovely Debbie taking photos, I cycled up and down, weaving my way through the crowds and trying to avoid the deer (see my other blog for those pics, when I have a minute to update it!) which roam around the waterfront trying to eat paper and anything else that tourists might have on them,

It would have been nice to have had a bike for longer but I am so grateful to Tomoyo for making it possible for me to bike this extraordinary island in Japan.