Cycling on the Shimanami Kaido
When friends around me are thinking of climbing Mount Fuji, my only interest is to cycle on the Shimanami Kaido（しまなみ海道）. It is a 60 km toll road that links Japan's main island Honshu（本州）to Shikoku（四国）, connecting 6 small islands in the Seto Inland Sea（瀬戸内海）. It is also traversable by foot/bicycle, though the route is longer at 70 km. I finally managed to make an attempt in April 2017. Actually, autumn would be a better choice, as spring weather tends to be unpredictable and showers are common. Of course, summer would be too hot and winter too cold. Experienced cyclists should have no problem completing the whole journey in a day, but since I'm an amateur, intended to cover the route in 2 days, staying in a ryokan (Japanese inn) on the 3rd island (Ikuchijima) on the 1st night. However, it was raining all the time on both days, so I was left with the option of covering half the journey on another (sunny) day, or postponing it to my next Japan trip, due to lack of time. O...