Pearl Bridge and Seaside Trail

Today I went on a walk that I've been meaning to do for quite some time, but never did until now.
I walked from Asagiri all the way back home. It was a really nice walk along the ocean from Asagiri until Suma Beach.  After Suma, it was just normal roads, so not really anything worth mentioning for that part.

Close to Asagiri one part of the road had many different ocean themed rock murals...

One reason I wanted to walk this way was simple curiosity.  I didn't know for sure if you could walk all the way next to (or relatively close to) the ocean or not.  Final verdict: you can, at least up to Suma Beach anyway.  Another reason was I was wondering if a person could walk across the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge to Awaji or not.  You cannot...it's for vehicles only.  But. In Maiko Park, you can go up to the Maiko Marine Promenade where they apparently have a gallery that is on the underside of the bridge and you can take a look around in there.  I didn't go in this time though...I spent most of my time wandering around in Maiko Park and then eventually continuing along my way.  The park has a few historical buildings, lots of nice grassy areas to relax in, and across the road there is a pine grove that you can wander through. As an aside, I think this area would be really nice at sunset, but I wasn't staying that long today. Maybe another time.  A little bit of information about the bridge: it's almost 4km long and it connects the mainland to Awaji Island (I used to go across it all the time when I was visiting Kansai from Takamatsu).  It has also been named the "Pearl Bridge" and it's apparently the world's longest suspension bridge.

They made the kanji look cute!

Akashi-Kaikyo bridge

The "Dream Lens": lots of representation here...3 surfaces of rock to represent people, nature and science.
Also supposed to represent the mainland, Awaji Island and Shikoku (connected by the bridge).

 

Some of the historical buildings in Maiko Park 

Cross the bridge for the pine grove...

Bye~~

On my way to Maiko Park, I noticed quite a few signs for the "Tarumi Seaside Trail", and it sounded kind of interesting and looked like a nice route, so I decided to follow it.  It goes from Maiko to Shioya (although of course you can keep walking after that) and as the name implies, it takes you, for the most part, along a path that gives you some nice views of the ocean.  The signs are also quite frequently placed, in addition to locational maps, which makes it quite easy to follow.  There are also many cafes along the way, which almost all advertise having a nice view of the ocean.

Quite close to Azur Maiko (a beach) is Mitsui Shopping Outlet, which is a rather large shopping complex, with many restaurants as well, and it's right next to a marina.  There was some kind of festival going on today, so there were tons of people around, and lots of food stalls.  I might have stopped for some kurumi melonpan. Hehe.  Along the way there are also lots of places where many people stop and do some fishing.

Marina with restaurant area in the background

Yummy!

After the "Seaside Trail" finishes, there is a very narrow sidewalk that is sandwiched between the road and the JR railway.  It has some really pretty views though.  On the road side there is the mountainside, and on the railway side is the ocean, and you can look back and see the bridge as well.

It's a pretty walk! 

Ocean view

Looking back...

Once I got to Suma, you are still able to see a lot of the damage and garbage brought up by the typhoon we had a couple weeks ago.  They probably haven't gotten around to cleaning it up because the beach season has been officially finished for a month or so now. (Even though the weather is still quite warm, and there's still people out at the beach).

View at Suma...looking back towards the bridge. Can you see it?

Overall, I believe I ended up walking just over 25km today.  It's been a while, since it had been to hot to walk for a long time in the summer!  Hopefully I don't regret walking that far, since I may have also walked a similar distance (but in a different location) yesterday as well....😅