From Oboke, you head east through the mountains - and, more to the point, up again. However, the elevations are not high, and the "scenergy" is great. ("Scenergy" is my own word; it means the boost a cyclist gets from being in a beautiful natural setting.) On this day, the weather was perfect and the mountains were green from recent rains. A unique thatch-roofed gate over the road announces that you are entering the Iya region, perhaps the most famous of Japan's "hidden valleys" whose lifestyle had changed very little up until relatively modern times.

This is another of the Shikoku's main attractions: Kazurabashi, one of Japan's only remaining vine bridges. Kazurabashi has steel cables for added reinforcement, but the bridge itself is composed entirely of wood lashed together with vines. When I visited it, it had just undergone extensive renovation work. If you want to play tourist and walk across the bridge (needless to say, cycling is not an option), you should remember two things: (a) during peak tourist season, you may have to wait in line, and (b) the bridge can be extremely slippery, particularly if it has been subjected to rain, mist or morning dew - so be careful as you cross. One more tidbit: there are actually TWO "Kazurabashi" bridge sites; the other one, called Oku-Kazurabashi on signs in the area but the same "Kazurabashi" on maps, is about 20 km further along this road and left on Route 439. It actually consists of two parallel bridges, and has far fewer tourists - but more of a climb is involved, to 750 m along the road that leads to Tsurugi-san, Shikoku's second-highest mountain.