GW2026 D4 from the cold rain into a hot onsen

Route: Obama Beach to Ichinomata

Bicycle: 35 km

Total ascent: 346 m

Average speed: 17,8 km/h

Riding time: 1:59 h

Weather: cold, damp and then rain, 14C

Today was a short day on the saddle and a long day in the onsen. (And more onsen to come after dinner)

I took a relatively direct way from my lodging on the beach… (yes, ACTUAL beach, not something I am used to see a lot in Japan, where often the sea is treated as dangerous and something to be contained rather than enjoyed, maybe for good reasons)…

… to my next accommodation in the small onsen place of Ichinomata. I think there are only 2 hotels and no houses here, and the two hotels are probably under the same ownership, at least when I checked out the onsen of the other hotel online, they claimed that staying guests could use the onsen of the hotel where I am as well. Meaning probably that “my” onsen is nicer. It’s is a nice onsen, with two outdoor pools and a relatively nice view into the landscape. Not a direct view , but as the valley is quite tight, one can see the trees in all the hills around. The water is also special with a pH of 10! I am not sure if I ever bathed in water so alkaline. I have definitely taken baths in pH 1 “water”… (essentially hot acid) in Tohoku (Osorezan and Tamagawa onsen).

I didn’t actually take the shortest route of them all, as that seemed to go over a mauntain pass (not very high for my Tokyo standards) on a road where there are probably no cars all day, but instead more in the valley. Yet even so I managed to cycle on a road that sees 1-2 cars a day. And even when I came to “the big road”, which Komoot tried to avoid at all costs, there were hardly any cars. Well there are hardly any villages and inhabitants. 

With a forced smile I took a selfie when I put on my rain gear. As long as I am cycling , preferably uphill or in the flat, rain and cold is kind of okay  well, tolerable. But no rain and soaking instead in a hot onsen is always better. 

I hardly took any other pictures. One of a coastline …

… and one of a river I was cycling along. What surprised me these days is how much water the local rivers have. It shouldn’t surprise me, after all it’s spring and if there was any snow it melted, but in Tokyo there seems to be a draught, at least the water level in Miyagase Dam is incredibly low. Not so in Yamaguchi!