Best of Shikoku by E-bike and SUP

You arrive in Dōgo, Matsuyama, and check into your hotel. The hotel has its own hot spring bath, and is located close to the famous Dōgo Onsen Honkan, Japan’s oldest spa. After a short orientation covering what to expect during the adventure, we visit a geisha teahouse for a delicious dinner with sake and traditional entertainment.

After breakfast at the hotel, we drive by a scenic seaside route to Ōyamazumi Shrine in the middle of the Shimanami Kaidō. At this historic shrine, we pray for a safe journey. At the Murakami Suigun Museum on Ōshima Island, we learn about the pirates of the Inland Sea. Then we take a boat out into the fast currents and whirlpools of the Inland Sea, passing the tiny island fortress of Noshima. Finally, we cross the great Kurushima Straits Bridge and drive through the mountains back to Matsuyama, where we stay another night at Hakuro. Dinner is seafood from the Inland Sea and local sake at an izakaya in Dōgo.

This is your last chance for a morning bathe in the waters of Dōgo. After breakfast, we drive through the lovely scenery of Kuma Highland to the foot of Mt. Ishizuchi where we meet our e-bikes again. From the pretty Omogo River valley at 600 m, we make a long ascent by paved road that winds up through deciduous woodland before emerging above the tree line at 1,500 m. Here, weirdly shaped peaks rise above slopes cloaked in dwarf bamboo. At the Tsuchigoya rest stop, we receive a traditional Shintō blessing, complete with a conch-shell fanfare. For lunch, we’re served a delicious pasta with locally sourced wild boar sausage. Then we cycle the dramatic UFO Line, a largely flat traverse across the shoulder of the mountain to Mt. Kamegamori, with views of Ishizuchi and vistas stretching over much of Shikoku. We do an hour’s hike over one of the peaks, Kamegamori. The support vehicle meets us at the other end with our bikes. After the hike we cycle mostly downhill to the Kanpuzan rest stop. From here we drive to an inn with Japanese-style rooms beside a reservoir on the Niyodo River. Dinner is local cuisine with ingredients sourced from the rivers, mountains, and ocean of Kōchi.

We’re served a traditional Japanese breakfast of locally grown rice with fish, pickles, and miso soup. At breakfast time, the dawn sky is reflected on the lake below the inn. Today, we actually get into the river. The Niyodo River is known for its translucent, turquoise blue water and the beauty of the scenery along its banks. From the inn, we cycle on a paved road beside the river to the river sports base where we have lunch. Now we switch to SUP boards to continue our curving descent of the river. Our route includes some highly picturesque bends in the river, with deep, calm stretches, and some shallow rapids for a bit of excitement. From here, the bus takes us to a nearby boutique riverside hotel with onsen baths. The hotel restaurant focuses on the unique local ingredients of Kōchi prepared with a European flair.

The early morning view of the Niyodo River from the hotel invites you to follow its course all the way to the sea. Breakfast is locally grown rice with tofu, fish, pickles, and soup. The mulberry trees and glue-bearing vines that grow along the Niyodo River are essential for making traditional paper. We cycle to the Ino Paper Museum and try our hand at making some washi paper by the traditional method. Lunch features sweetfish caught with a rod by a local fisherman. Then we cycle to the mouth of the Niyodo River where it flows into the Pacific Ocean. Water from the Niyodo River is an essential ingredient of the excellent sake brewed in Kōchi. We cycle to Kameizumi Brewery, where the master brewer takes us on a tour of the facilities and serves tastings of the brewery’s line-up. Then we drive to Kōchi city for our last dinner together, at Kōchi’s famed Hirome Market.

The morning finds you on the southern edge of Shikoku beside the vast Pacific Ocean. We spend the morning hiking a picturesque section of the Shikoku Pilgrimage. After lunch, it’s a short drive to the airport for departure.