Shimane coast line cycling(G-12)⭐⭐⭐ ‘24.30th,Dec
This route G-12 is in Area-G “Chugoku". See Area-G map/ See Japan map
Sight & Entertainment ⭐⭐⭐
Food & Drinks ⭐⭐⭐ *Dinner was in different area(Yonago)
Easiness ⭐⭐⭐
Road condition ⭐⭐⭐
Safety ⭐⭐⭐
Due to an unseasonal typhoon on 2nd, Nov., I could not complete Japan main island one round in the last cycling trip. So again I planned to visit the remained section which was from Masuda city to Oda city, where I had used a taxi at \38,000- to catch the flight.
In winter season, this area tends to be cloudy or rainy due to strong N-W wind. I was afraid of the bad weather again but fortunately 30th, Nov seemed just cloudy. Actually when I reached the Hagi airport on time at AM10:35, there seemed no rain there.
The route was simple. After joining R-9 at Masuda city(pic.2), it was only cycling on that road for 90km before going into mountain for Iwami silver mine.
Since the R-9 runs along the craggy coast of Sanin area, there were many up and downs. Sometimes I could see a wild but beautiful sea view from hills(pic.3). But I remember I was mostly cycling in a area surrounded by forests with autumn leaves(pic.4).
Basically thanks to West wind in this season and cool temperature(10C), I hardly ever faced head wind nor felt fatigue due to heat. So gradually catching the PM5:11 express from Oda-city seemed possible if I keep that pace and don’t take long rest.
Slow pace is partly caused by taking pics. So even though I notice good photo spots or beautiful autumn leaves on my way, I neglected them and took ones at minimun opportunity(pic.5~7).
Since I didn’t take enough lunch time and rest and kept over 20km as TTL distance in one hour, reaching Oda-city station before 17:00 became realistic. But Google map was a liar. It told me that TTL cumulative altitude would be 750M excluding hill climb to Iwami silver mine, but before coming to spot-7(pic.7) my cycom showed over 800M. So gradually I felt fatigue in each up hill which continues a few hundreds M.
Finally I turned to right to prefectural R-31 almost on time at PM3:35 and started hill climb to Iwami. The sign board showed “6km to Iwami silver mine" when I turned right but actually my destnation, actual mining cave in 18-19C was located at 10km away. Though the autumn leaves in mining town were much more beautiful, I was so obsessed with reaching station on time, which was the reason I didn’t take pics..
Iwami-ginzan(Silver mine), a world heritage changed the world in 16~17C. Its silver amount occupied over 10% of all over the world, which contributed the globalization and capitalization at that time as well as making Japanese coming out of poverty. When I think about the value of this mine, I can’t help visiting there though I wanted to catch PM5:11 express.
The mining cave is at the end of the long slope along the old quintant silver refining town. You can enter the cave at only \500- and walk in narrow hole for a few hundred meters(8-1).
The time was PM4:20 when I came back to my bike. I had to reach the 15km away Oda-city station by PM5:00. Fortunately the route was mostly down hill. I squeezed out every last bit of my energy and barely reached the station at PM4:56. One minute after I came down the platform, the express approached(pic.9).
The reason why I sticked to the PM5:11 express was that this express would reach Yonago, my final stop this day at PM6:30 whereas the next train at PM8:30. I wanted to enjoy Yonago city’s cuisine since this winter is good timing for eating snow crab.
But I could not book a table because of uncertainty of my schedule. That was my doom in this time. All good restaurants or taverns were fully booked and I had to wait till PM9:00 when the first batch went out of those restaurants. I chose a Sushi restaurant near the hotel at PM9:00 since it was too cold for me. Eventually I didn’t ordered snow crab since it was too expensive(\25,000- for one). Instead I could enjoy local fishes like fat sandfish which can’t be got in Pacific ocean area.
Stayed at Yonago hotel, then I went back to Tokyo from Yonago airport. I got on the 1st train from Yonago station bound for Sakai-minato which is famous as the birth place of Japanese ghost anime, “Gegege-no-Kitaro". On the plarform for this train, there were some statues of the anime(pic.11).
It was the first experience for me but Sakai airport didn’t have a ticket gate and I had to touch the yellow box in the train(pic.12) to get off the train. It’s better for foreigners to buy a paper ticket at Yonago station instead of using IC card.
I got on the AM8:55 ANA flight to Tokyo and reached my home at PM0:30.
<Transportation info>
From Tokyo Haneda to Hagi-Iwami airport: ANA725 AM8:55 → arrival AM10:35
From Yonago airport to Tokyo Haneda: ANA 384 AM8:55→ arrival AM10:10 Total \68,230-
Oda-city to Yonago(in my case): JR express “Matsukaze" No.12 PM5:11→ arrival PM6:30, \2.890-
<Connected routes>
G-10: Hagi⇔Nagato→Masuda