Bags are just about packed, now just waiting to take the bike to Yokohama and get on the night bus to Matsushige, near Tokushima and the start of the Shikoku pilgrimage. The pilgrimage starts in Tokushima as its the closest point on Shikoku to Koya san in Wakayama prefecture. Koya san is the headquarters of the Shingon sect of buddhism and is the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, and many of the pilgrims (known as o henro) will visit this temple complex before or after the Shikoku 88 temple tour.
Weather looks decent tomorrow, terrible on Saturday but after that its going to be a great temperature for cycling. So lets hope the bike (and me) make it to the island in one piece for an early start tomorrow morning. Little chance of a good nights sleep though, these night buses can be a real pain, but its half the price of the train, and gets me there nice and early instead of wasting half a day.
Here goes...
Weather looks decent tomorrow, terrible on Saturday but after that its going to be a great temperature for cycling. So lets hope the bike (and me) make it to the island in one piece for an early start tomorrow morning. Little chance of a good nights sleep though, these night buses can be a real pain, but its half the price of the train, and gets me there nice and early instead of wasting half a day.
A night bus? Is that the only option?
ReplyDeleteApril the 24th be with you, Andy-san.
ReplyDeleteThe night bus turned out to be very comfortable, 3 single seats in a row and we were sealed off inside the bus in a continuous curtain, so there was no external light to wake us up.
ReplyDeleteI dont recommend the bus for cyclists, but if you're on your own they should be able to find room for your bike.
I took the night bus because it got me to the start point soon after 6am, the train would have been near 1pm and twice the price.
You need a bike bag to take your bike on trains or buses in Japan, but for longer trips people normally use the very efficient and cheap package delivery service (takyubin)
You can fly to Tokushima as well, but for cost and arrival time this was not an option.
The cheapest and most scenic would be to get the train from Osaka to Wakayama, then catch the 2hr ferry across the water to Tokushima.