Japan (Part 1): Jumping Into the Bike Trip (Takamatsu and Shodoshima)

I always claim that one of the most challenging parts of each bike trip is getting to the airport. This trip was no different. With a 2am departure and two children things were a bit tricky. But the kids were troopers. They went to sleep for a few hours at home before being woken up suddenly to come down to catch the taxi. Neil was sleeping so hard I didn’t think he would wake up. I transferred Kai easily to the carrier where he continued sleeping.

On the way to the airport I kept on thinking – what kind of parents are we? Waking up their kids in the middle of the night and taking them all the way across the globe. Wouldn’t it be better for them to just carry on with their routine? How do you know you are really doing the right thing?

In the end it’s all a matter of balancing. While Neil does get homesick sometimes he is also experiencing so much that it makes it worth it. We also assure him we’ll be back home before not too long and soon enough he’ll be back in daycare and his routine. For Kai we are home. He is in this magical age where he’s just happy we’re around him so much. We even doubt that he remembers Vancouver at all.

The 2am departure was also not so bad in the end. The kids miraculously slept for most of the flight which lasted around 12 hours. Then we had a quick layover in Taipei before boarding a much shorter flight to Takamatsu, Japan.

Going Where…?
We noticed that both at the airport in Vancouver and in Taipei the staff didn’t really know where we were flying to. Takamatsu? It sounded like it was a first for them. Honestly I never heard of this place before Gili announced that it would be our starting point.

Takamatsu airport was very small but it still had a well equipped station for assembling bikes, something I’ve never seen before. Since it sounded like getting a van taxi from the airport would be both both complicated and expensive we decided to try putting the bikes together there and to ride straight out of the airport.

It took a good few hours and around 3pm we were finally ready to roll. Since it’s such a small airport riding out of it was no problem and we easily connected to a bike path by the river which took us all the way into town, a distance of 25km or so.

While it was great to ride out of the airport it was also a bit disorienting and I felt like we jumped straight into the trip without acclimatizing.

We had booked a room in a small guesthouse and found a local ramen shop that wasn’t nearly as good as the one we have by our place in Vancouver. By dinner time Neil was falling asleep while eating. Both kids did so well with the long journey but it was time to call it a day.

The next day was surprisingly rainy and the spirits were low. It didn’t help that we woke up super early due to the kids’ jetlag. Memories of many rainy days from our previous trip in Japan started to rise. Will it just be a repeat this time, we wondered? What did lift our spirits was the most amazing udon we’ve ever eaten. The whole region is famous for its udon and this time we weren’t disappointed. It finally felt like we had arrived.

Around Shodoshima
Gili knew that the first couple of days after we’d leave Takamatsu wouldn’t be so pleasant riding wise. So he had a plan. The plan was to first hop over to a nearby island and cycle there for a few days to get a taste of some nice cycling. It was also a good plan with the rumors of a super-typhoon coming our way in a few days since we knew we’d make it back to Takamatsu in time to take shelter.

Shodoshima was basically everything we needed in order to get the bike trip started on the right foot. An hour long ferry ride and we were transformed to another world. Small quiet roads, beautiful beaches, nice camping spots and lots of sunshine.

Kai loves the ocean, and it turned out that that’s the meaning of his name in Japanese too (as well as Hawaiian, which we knew). Already at the first stop he went straight into the water and I had to take off his clothes quickly before they got completely wet. That day we also camped by a nice beach and went swimming twice more.

The highlight of Shodoshima was riding a very small road with zero traffic. It was also hilly but well worth it. After a long climb with ocean vistas in every corner there was a long descent straight to the soy sauce museum and factory. The whole area had such a strong smell of soy sauce. For us the biggest attraction was the soy ice cream which was surprisingly good.

Shelter from the Typhoon
After two sunny days the third day was somewhat cloudy and it felt like the weather was changing. We followed the typhoon warnings closely because at first it looked like it was going to hit our area. In the end luckily (for us) it changed direction and we mostly got some strong winds but no rain.

Back in Takamatsu we went to visit famous Japanese gardens before riding over to our Airbnb that Gili had found that same day. After crossing town and riding through some long arcades (covered shopping streets) we found ourselves in an area with small narrow alleys. I’m not sure how Gili maneuvered and led us straight to the right place.

The apartment was literally on the train tracks, but for us it was an advantage. Every time a train passed Neil got super excited and ran over to the window to take a look.

Everyone was exhausted and in need of a shower and a bath. Gili brought some sushi from the supermarket and we ate at ‘home’ for a change. At this point we were only away from our real home for less than a week but it felt like years since we had left. We experienced so much in such a short time.

The next day was all about relaxing, eating more of the wonderful udon, and getting some groceries and supplies before starting our ride down the coast. It was very windy outside but that was about it. It was hard to believe there was a roaring super typhoon on the other side of the country, the most devastating typhoon in Japan in 60 years.

Also check out:
Japan (Part 2): Along the Coast and Over the Mountains (Shikoku)
Japan (Part 3): The Cycling Highways of Japan (Tobishima & Shimanami Kaido)