Japan - day 7 - rounds of applause and knights in shining armour

Today is likely to be one that I won't forget. And those who know me well will tell you that today must've been really bloody memorable.

It began well. A pre-6am start, and the road out of Kyoto was south, straight as an arrow. Not much traffic about that early so I made good time. Once out of Kyoto, the route Strava had assigned me was superb, must remember to thank them. Another cycling road, along a beautiful river, for miles! I was grinning from ear to ear (or 'ere to 'ere if you could see me). The weather was cold but sunny, and I'm glad I took the warm lobster gloves and the shoe covers.

Unfortunately, the cycling route could last forever and I joined the traffic again. Today's route was 85 km in total, and would take me to Yoshino, THE place in Japan for blossom viewing. It's pretty much 30,000 (ish, I guess) blossom trees on the side of a mountain. Note: mountain. So I started taking on some hills, gradual ones initially, but then they just started going ooooooon, and oooooon, and ooooooon.... You know me, I'll take on a challenge, but my legs had already been pedalling for close to 4 hours, so it wasn't easy going! But, I persevered, and conquered them all! Except one... Well, two if you count a getting-your-breath-back stop as a failure. I don't... I can still feel that hill in my legs. For the hill where I did have to get off and walk, a local on a bike was going down the hill, and said something to me as he went past. I heard "loser", but it could've been something else, possibly in Japanese. Maybe the Japanese word for "loser".

Suddenly the route took a turn that led me onto a bridge and up a mountain road, just big enough for one car. It was absolutely stunning!

Eventually I made it to Yoshino at about 1.30pm, which turned out to be a town with lots of shops and restaurants. I wasn't allowed to cycle, nor could I have due to the number of people, so I just had to get on and push. And push I did, it was all uphill to the end of the town. Unfortunately, the blossoms weren't in full bloom so Yoshino certainly didn't take my breath away. It was probably a couple of days away from full bloom, at a guess. Check me out, making out I'm some kind of expert!

The streets in Yoshino were crammed, but as always, there was no trouble with getting around. I decided to find myself a spot so I could drink (was sooooooo thirsty), and asked a lady who was waiting for her husband (he'd gone up to a lookout point that she couldn't be arsed to climb), to take my picture. We started chatting, through charades and the odd English word, and it turns out we were both in Arashiyama yesterday! Small world. She was impressed with my cycling expedition and even bowed and gave me a round of applause. Not the first round of applause I'd had, either. A guy was so impressed with my efforts at pushing my bike up the steepest street in Yoshino, that he offered a round of applause too. Greatly appreciated.

Once I had done with Yoshino, about 4.30pm, it was on to the camp site, which was about 15km away. It was a pleasant ride, though I got a bit lost, and I couldn't find the campsite to begin with. Eventually, at about 5.45pm, I did find the campsite, I think, because there were toilets there, and sinks and what not. Except it was completely empty. Not a soul to be found anywhere. I figured I could set up camp anyway, at least I had the amenities. Except they were locked. Shit. Sunset was around 6.30pm, I knew that much, and I knew I had until about 7pm before it got dark, so I set about trying to find somewhere suitable to set up camp, preferably near a toilet and some people. There was nowhere to be found. I asked an old man to help, but he just started spouting Japanese at me. Don't know what I was expecting...

At this point it was starting to get dark, and very cold, and I'd spent 20 mins or so getting to some sort of civilisation, so I headed for the only lights I could see where there were humans, the Higashiyoshino Village Office. I parked the bike up outside and headed in, asking if anyone spoke English. Nobody did, so it was out with my Japanese phrase book app (which is shit btw, it doesn't have anything about camping in it) and we established I needed somewhere to sleep. As appears to usually be the case, the youngest person in the place was summoned, as the one most likely to speak English. They showed me a map with my campsite on, and I gave the Japanese sign for no/closed/off/not allowed, which is a cross with your forearms. This sparked the 'ooooooooooohhh' that I am so used to by now and they got their thinking caps on. I asked if there was a 'hoteru' (that's the actual word for hotel), and they said that there was, and a couple of phone calls later I was booked in.

In true Japanese style though, they didn't just point me in the right direction, the older of the bunch said he and the young guy would take me. I figured they meant I would follow them...

Nope, it was on to the wagon for Serena, me and the boss in the front, and the young guy holding the bike at the back. Did I offer to do it? Of course I did, but it would never have been accepted. Once we'd got to the hotel and I'd been shown around, it was time to say goodbye. I asked the young guy what his name was. Hirocan, he told me. Hiro... Of course that was his name. "See you next time", he joked as he left.

 

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Japan - day 6 - wonderment, reflection, and toilet humour

Today was emotional.

It is quite extraordinary that something so pleasing to the eye can stir such emotion. And I'm not talking about the rather handsome young men pulling the rickshaws either, although that has nearly brought a tear to my eye too.

The day began with gremlins. You know the ones, trying to persuade me to stay in bed, not to go running, that I'd already seen Philosopher's Path and why would I need to go again?! Well, you and I both know I won that argument as I eluded to that fact in day 5's blog. I love running. In fact, I wish I had the legs to run everywhere, all the time. Somehow you're no longer part of the world you're in, you're just a passenger, watching the world go by. My route was pretty straight all the way to my destination, the kilometre-or-so blossom-lined path I went to yesterday, but I inadvertently took a wrong turn and ended up seeing sights I would otherwise have missed.

Yes, I got some funny looks. A gaijin? Running? On her own? Apparently not so common it would seem, if expressions are anything to go by. But I dished out some funny looks of my own this morning, with accompanying thoughts of "just take the frickin' dog out of the buggy and let it use its own legs, it's blatantly eager to!". Apparently it's a 'thing' here, dogs in buggies. Poor things.

Anyway, it was worth heading up to the path so early...

Smug.

It was a completely different atmosphere this early. It seemed like we were all seeking out tranquility somehow. It sounds corny, but I don't know how else to explain it. There wasn't as much chatting, or as many photographs being taken, it was just peaceful.

An hour and twenty minutes later, I returned to the hotel, showered, got my stuff together and headed out in search of the laundry place that Manabu had found for me. And as if by magic..!

Looks complicated, turns out to be simple. Open door. Place clothes inside. Close door. Choose programme. Insert money. Wait indicated time. Open door. Retrieve clothes. But here's where I'm putting my incense stick firmly back in my pocket - it was 1800 yen!! That's over £10!!!! Granted, the washing machine takes 16kg worth of laundry, so if you fill it up it's probably worth it, but for my little bag?! Anyways, went for breakfast while the laundry program was executing. Now, here's an observation I've made... Whenever I order something in a restaurant, the waiter/waitress always looks expectantly at me and when I indicate that that's all I'm having, they say "just?" as if I should be ordering something else. Yes, JUST this starter, these two main courses, and this extra side... kudasai.

Another thing I've noticed is the Japanese toilet humour. And I don't mean they crack mean poo jokes (though I'd love to know if they did - somehow I doubt it), but they have a sense of humour when it comes to their toilets. Enter the lavatories of an establishment and it's 50/50 whether you'll be sitting on a heated toilet seat or pissing on your own shoes. I know which I prefer.

My dry, fluffy washing retrieved, I headed to the first of my sights for the day, the Kinkakuji Temple.

I cannot describe to you how absolutely incredibly beautiful this place is. I couldn't help blubbering a little from the sheer joy of witnessing something so awesome, but once the emotions had subsided somewhat, I figured I'd treat you to a picture of it. Unfortunately someone photo-bombed it.

(Note the new beret)

Next up, the Ryoanji Rock Garden (Google for pics). Also strangely emotional, even though in itself it wasn't particularly stunning, or interesting, but for some reason just sitting there looking at it made you contemplate life.

Then it was a fair ole ride to the bamboo groves, which were magnificent. I'll treat you to the picture without the swarm of humans...

After that I pretty much milled around the area (Arashiyama) getting my bike in people's way, watching an American guy do basketball tricks while making the crowd howl with laughter. As I said to him afterwards, no idea what he was saying (he was talking Japanese) but it was very entertaining.

Food wise, it's been the complete opposite of yesterday and Laurence would slap my wrists if he knew what I'd eaten today, so we best not tell him (toast, jam, egg, sweets, handful of nuts, dango (Google it), more sweets, ice cream, and a burger). Ssssshhhhh....

And finally, having pretty much been outdoors all day in the sun/rain/wind/etc, I decided to eat at the hotel and have an early night. Tomorrow is an 85km ride, and it's IMPERATIVE that I get to my destination before lunch, so it's as early a start as possible for me. Wish me luck!

 

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Japan - day 5 - birthdays, kaiseki, throngs, and a beret

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me-e, happy birthday to me. It's true, I'm a year older! Truth be told, I don't look a year older, but maybe I'm just being modest.

Before you get too excited, the karaoke didn't happen, am deferring that one until Tokyo.

Rather than risk a Hulk-incident, I decided to have breakfast at the hotel. Yes, it was expensive as all hotel breakfasts are, but what a spread! Two portions of smoked salmon and scrambled egg, two French roast, and three mini-pancakes later, I was set to go. When I say 'set to go', I mean I was ready to spend countless minutes lugging bike rack and contents to the bike and attaching it. So much for the finely-tuned machine! I needed to do some laundry so took that with me on the bike (in a bag, not hanging off me, that would just be a bit weird). Found a dry cleaner, who I tried to explain to that I needed a laundrette. In the end, google translate came through on the word 'washing machine' and she sent me packing. In a nice, friendly, Japanese way, of course. Further attempts to find a laundrette ended without success, so I gave it up as a bad job. I figure now that I must've been leaving a smell behind me all day as I rode my bike through the streets of Kyoto.

I headed up to Philosopher's Path, the number 1 place for blossoms in Kyoto. And it's not difficult to see why.

And it's not difficult to see why the title of this blog contains the word 'throngs'. The place was absolutely rammed. In any other country there would've been bumping and shoving, I'm pretty sure, but the levels of respect people have for each other here are immense. As I'm writing this blog the morning after, I can tell you that this morning I went for a run to Philosopher's Path, at about 7.30am, and the throngs had not yet formed but there was still a steady trickle of people. They went out of their way to give me room to run, and it was an absolute dream. When people treat you this way, it makes you want to be a better person. Somewhat different to the beepers and the shouters back home, who make you want to go for anger management. Or the knife, whichever is closest.

Along the path I came across the Ginkaku-ji Temple, a stunning place, but also full of people, including one gentleman... sorry, just a man... whose way I got in when he was taking a photo, so he proceeded to give me the dirtiest looks he could find, with his gormless wife waiting for the shutter to open and close. In my defiance, I stood there until I got bored. Needless to say, he was not Japanese.

I had decided that I would buy a bento box for lunch and eat it hanami style in Maruyama Park, and I'd already picked out the place I would get it from, in the Gion area of town. Could I find it? Could I heck! It was probably between 日本人は難しすぎる and 私がすいた but how would I know?! After wandering around for what felt like an eternity and ending in the same place I started, I figured I'd just get lunch at a restaurant. And in Gion, that means somewhere like this:

I chatted a little bit with the very smiley waitress who informed me about what they actually shout at customers when they leave. It's 'arigatou gozaimasu', which means 'thank you very much'. Simples. The food here was exquisite, as you would expect, and, after frequenting the lavatory, you got to wash your hands in one of those bamboo fountains. Quaint as.

Post birthday lunch I headed to Maruyama Park, which was so ridiculously busy I was pretty glad I didn't bother with hanami there. My highlight was two giggling women in face masks helping me push my bike up the stairs.

Now, no blog would be complete without mentioning the weather. Ooooh it was a cold one. I decided I needed a hat, so searched high and low for something warm, and that actually suited me, rather than made me look like a child. A tall task. So, one out of two ain't bad. You can see the beret in day 6's blog.

Upon returning to the hotel, I had a quick kip, which could've lasted a full 12 hours had I not forced myself awake, and headed out for my kaiseki reservation. Don't know what that is? Well, google it, don't be lazy! I walked in to the restaurant, named Rin, be greeted by the chef standing behind a counter with lots of Japanese people sitting round it. He introduced me to everyone (my name had been given at reservation) and he pointed me to the only empty chair by the counter. I took my coat off, put my bag down, told him I has to return to the hotel, sprinted back to the hotel, went to my room, retrieved my purse that I had left (like the blonde idiot that I am), and sprinted back. He looked a little perturbed, and asks me if I'd forgotten my camera. When I explained I had forgotten my purse, he seemed to forgive me for running off. Everyone was really friendly here, and nobody laughed (much) when I ate the food in the wrong manner.

As if today's theme, other than my birthday, was exquisite food, this place was one up on lunch. These were my courses:

And a dessert, which I appear to have neglected taking a picture of. My accompanying drink was cold sake. I was asked at the beginning of my meal if I wanted hot or cold sake, to which I replied hot, but quickly changed my mind when I saw the expression on my chef's face. The sake was, of course, absolutely gorgeous.

The chef explained in the best English he could what each of the dishes were, but when he couldn't explain, he shouted to one of the other customers (who also was his friend it appeared) who would then do his best to translate. Eventually, this friend, a lovely man by the name of Manabu, came and sat with me, and we chatted about Kyoto, and food, and cycling, and restaurants, and Indonesia, and why no Japanese people have helped me with my bike, amongst other things. Like why the beef is marbled. This I must research. Anyway, I was told to guess the ages of Manabu and the chef and, in turn, they guessed my age. When they found out it was my birthday, there was song, clapping, and Manabu even went to 7/11 to get cake!

What an absolute gentleman!! I was having so much fun, I decided to scrap the karaoke idea and stay there instead. I'm so crap though, I forgot to take photos of everyone! So, I'd like to dedicate my 38th birthday to Manabu and the chef from Rin, for making it an evening to remember.

 

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Japan - day 4 - winds, sakura, shouting at customers, and a finely-tuned machine

First thing's first. Today I peed at 186 mph (that's 300 kph for you metrics out there). I also walked at 186 mph, ate sushi at 186 mph, and wrote part of this blog at 186mph. Do you know why? Because that's how I roll here in Japan. It must be also be mentioned, that the pieces of sushi were shaped like the front (and back) of this Nozomi bullet train. Don't you agree?

And here's a picture of me smiling at 186 mph. Pretty fast smile, wouldn't you say?

Apologies for looking knackered, but that's what happens when you get wind-blasted, as was the case today. A wise, wise decision to not head out on the bike today. One which I do not regret.

My morning did not start as I had planned, with a breakfast and a hot spring bath, but it did start with breakfast. Fish, specifically. With fruit and tofu almond butter, and waffles with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce for afters. Fish for breakfast is not something I will seek out in future, but it was worth a try. Maybe I should've kept some in case I come across someone who says Japan is expensive.

After brekkie I headed out in search (not really, I knew exactly where it was) of Himeji Castle. You may have seen it featured in the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice". If not, it's not difficult to find it on Wikipedia. But no need, here it is in all its glory!

Oh.

Now, you might be laughing right now and feeling sorry for me, who went all that way and stayed longer in Himeji just for that. But stop! Of course I knew this was the case, they don't call me Kajsa 'Research' Tylen for nothing! My research had led me to believe that, not only was Himeji Castle incredible, even under wraps, it was also a prime sakura spot (that's blossom in Japanese) and this must surely be true.

This place was wonderful! I arrived early, and the crowds had yet to arrive so it was a peaceful journey to the first part of the route round the grounds. I entered the west bailey (shoes off) and wandered up the stairs. I say wandered, but it was more of a shuffle due to the ridiculously large slippers they had made me wear. As you can imagine in Japan, I wasn't alone with this issue. The bailey consisted of a bunch of rooms that went to tell you about the history of the place. Each room had a view onto the blossom below and, as I was taking some pictures of them, a man (estimated age around 60) asks me "may I talk with you, prease?". From his stern expression I was convinced I was in for a bollocking. Instead, he proceeded to give me the history of Himeji Castle in his wonderfully sweet Engrish, of which I understood about 25%. I found out all about Princess Sen, which he later nicknamed me, and I found out about the renovation work taking place (from the video they showed). He followed me around until the end of the bailey, he laughed at all my jokes (gold stars for him!), and kept me informed and entertained. I didn't want to leave, but we had to part and so we took each other's picture (he said he wanted to remember Princess Sen) and waved goodbye. He said he would look forward to seeing me on March 27th next year, when the castle is finally unwrapped. Sounds like a date to me!

After that, the rest of the tour just wasn't the same so I took pictures and headed out to the Koko-en Japanese Gardens, or the Koko-en Gardens as they're known here. By this point the wind had really started picking up but the skies were blue and the sun was shining.

I just want to point out that, whenever I'm with my bike, as I was today, I leave it locked up with all my luggage still on the back for anyone to steal (I take my valuables). But it is always just as I left it. Sometimes I wish they would steal the luggage, it would make riding the bike so much easier...

Anyway... The Koko-en Gardens; what a treat! I even sampled a traditional Japanese tea ceremony:

Of course, sitting like that for that long made my sun burn burn, and sent my legs to sleep. The Japanese don't appear to have either of these problems.

The sweet they served at the ceremony did little to stem my increased hunger, and I was rapidly heading for a Hulk moment. I decided to head to the train station to catch the Nozomi to Kyoto. I could eat on the train (refer to earlier in the blog). Now, this is where the finely-tuned machine comes in. That'll be me I'm talking about. Pay attention.

• Open near-side pannier.
• Extract bike bag, unzip, open and unfold onto the floor.
• Remove rack from bike. This is somewhat tricky when fully loaded with bags.
• Remove handlebar bag and ipad holder from bike. Attach the two together.
• Turn bike upside down onto the bike bag.
• Remove both wheels.
• Wrap derailleur in bubble wrap and tape.
• Place both wheels against bike.
• Zip up bike bag.
• Attach shoulder strap to bike rack.
• Ready to get on the train, bike rack on one shoulder, bike on the other.

Like a finely-tuned machine. And for some reason, carrying it all was a hell of a lot easier today than when I arrived. Must be all that protein I'm eating!

Once off the train, reverse the manoeuvre and I'm ready to head to my Kyoto hotel. Which, by the way, is rather posh. And my suitcase had arrived, woohoo! All my luggage was taken to my room on a trolley by a lovely woman in a kimono, who seemed nearly offended by me trying to help.

I settled in (emptied the contents of my bags onto the spare bed), showered and headed out for the nighttime illumination of Nijo Castle, just across the street. Despite the rain, the cold, and the rumbling belly, it was worth it.

For you food fiends out there, my evening meal consisted of gyoza as well as pork and rice. Not a patch on previous meals, but in this restaurant they also did what I had noticed previously - shouted at customers. They shout when you arrive and they shout when you leave. All the staff shout, there's no way you could sneak out, I don't even reckon a Ninja could, but I'd pay to see him try! Apparently they shout "irrashai mase", which means "welcome!". Love it. Thinking about it, did Hattori Hanso do that in Kill Bill?

Enough now, my fingers have developed verbal diarrhoea! I will continue to enjoy my first ever Sake in Japan in the hotel lounge, whilst watching the waterfall outside the window. Night. X

 

 

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Japan - day 3 - potholes, men at work, and executive decisions

After publishing yesterday's blog, I continued my meal at the restaurant, and the staff began asking me questions, in the limited English they knew (a lot more than my Japanese, it must be said). "Where are you from?", they asked. "England", I replied. "Oooooooooooooooooooh", was the response from Minami, the waitress, coupled with an excited-looking expression. The chef, whose name I did not find out, promptly placed his hands in an upside down 'V' shape over his head. "Beckham!", he exclaims. "Yes", I say, "he's my friend". Oh you should've seen the expression on his face..! Before he got too excited, I told him I was joking. The was a load of laughter and the conversation was quickly translated to those who didn't understand. This, in turn, prompted more questions... What was I doing here, how long was I here for, why have I come to Soja, and so on. There were more "ooooooooooooh"s as I explained where I'd cycled from and where I was cycling to. I left with waves of goodbye and smiles all round. I got Minami to write down the name of the place, someone remind me to review it on Trip Advisor when I get home.

And on to today.... I had an early start 6.30am on the bike and, after getting directions on how to find the Kibiji Cycling Road from the lady at the hotel (lots of Japanese and pointing and the words 'committee house' and 'police station' got me there), I was en route. The cycling road was magnificent, a tarmaced (is that a word?) path through fields and alongside villages.

The highlight, by far, was the Bitchū Kokobun-ji temple. This may have been because I veered off the trail about half way through, but I've read that this is the highlight anyway. And this is why:

The whole setting was so beautiful I was brought to tears! More photos on my Nikon. Lots of them.

So onwards went the journey. Through towns, industrial areas, more towns, more industrial areas, and the occasional town and industrial area. Then finally I came to the sleepy town of Wishicouldreadjapanese-ji, where the world suddenly became Japan, and a smile once again appeared on my face. Until I realised I'd gone the wrong way and had to backtrack, and onto the road of towns and industrial areas, though that had now been replaced with shipping areas and hills. Needless to say it was not the most pleasant of rides, and when my stomach started rumbling I realised that all I'd eaten all day (it was by this point about 2.30pm) was a sandwich and some chocolate peanuts. Oh, and I'd drunk a salt and lychee drink - step aside grape Fanta, we have a new king in town!! I had to find something to eat, and it had to be now! Of course, there was not a shop to be found. Well, I say that, but there was one, though it was unfortunately a hardware shop. Handful of nuts, anyone? So I kept going, my legs becoming more and more tired. Then finally I see an old sign that says 'cafe', but it looks really run down and the door leads straight in to someone's living room where a family are watching telly. The man of the house sees me peer in and pokes his head out. I quickly make the universal sign for eating and he sends me to another door, through a crappy looking fishmonger's establishment, and up some stairs. Shoes off first! I go up the stairs and through some sliding doors to this:

Looks ok so far... The man didn't speak English, so he pointed at an ornamental wooden fish and I nodded. He then said sashimi, and I nodded.

What a feast! I savoured every mouthful and by the time I finished I was absolutely stuffed. And all for just 1500 yen, that's less than a tenner. Where's that incense stick..? By the way, those aren't caramelised onions on that rice, they're little tiny caramelised fish. Like tiny tetras.

The remaining journey was hill after hill after hill but the scenery was nice. By this point, I had gone the wrong way twice, and, as I'd cycled through many towns (including Okayama, which I suspect is actually a city) I'd come across many workmen. Instead of STOP/GO lollipops they have at home, here they have white and red flags. And many flag men even bow as you go past. I began noticing these guys all over the place, everywhere there were road works. Even when they weren't on the road! That guy would never have used his flags! I also spotted men in uniform standing by the side of roads, as if waiting for something to happen. Still have no idea what they were there for.

Now, another memory of the day were the road surfaces. My hands are pretty much numb. The roads today were a far cry from those yesterday, and cry is exactly what I wanted to do. Luckily there were segments that gave me some rest.

Anyway, the goal of the day was to get to Himeji in time to see the castle, but that didn't happen, due to a slower average speed than yesterday. In the morning, I had booked a hotel (couldn't face the additional few kilometres to the campsite), so when I arrived in Himeji I checked in to the Dormy Inn. And there I made an executive decision. Instead of making the 147km ride to Kyoto tomorrow, which will take at least 8 hours, plus another 3 for breaks, etc., I'm going to spend some hours in Himeji, enjoying the castle under the blossom, and giving my body a break. I will get the train to Kyoto mid afternoon. This does mean that I miss out on the famous Sanda beef, but it means I actually get to see something other than industrial and shipping areas. Did I mention those earlier?

Dinner this evening should've been Shabu-Shabu, some kind of Japanese fondue, but, after a long-winded conversation with the waiter using google translate, it turns out I didn't have time before my massage. Hey, I deserved one! So I ended up eating a mediocre yaki soba at a place next to the train station. Yaki soba will need to do a lot to live up to the one I had yesterday!

Other stuff that happened today:

• I had a race with a kid on a bike. He didn't know.
• The lady you can just about see in the picture of the food downed a Smirnoff Ice and two beers with her sashimi and oysters, and burped loudly the whole way through. Her husband had a quick kip on the floor before the food came.
• Hand cramp. Sun burn. A pain between my sternohyoid muscles in my neck, similar to a feeling you would get if someone placed a blunt object on the area and pressed really hard. That lasted from about an hour in to the journey and lasted the rest of the way.
• A clicking noise from the bike whilst pedalling. Stopped as soon as I made a motion to check what was making it.
• Saw these:

Right, I'm hungry again so better get to sleep so I can have breakfast and a hot spring bath. Night all!

 

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Japan - day 2 - cycring

Note to self: it is not possible to cycle 7 hours in 7 hours. Apparently it takes about 9.

After a deep night's sleep, I woke at 6.30am for a 7am breakfast. I figured that it would be wise to get a decent night's sleep and a hearty breakfast on my first day, rather than head off at the crack of dawn. Probably not so wise.

Today's route started with the 70 km Shimanami Kaido cycling route, from Imabari to Onomichi. What a magnificent route! Three quarters of it was cycle paths, and not the shitty ones we get at home - no, these were smooth as a velodrome and completely blocked off from the beepers. That's cars, to you non-cyclists. The very first part was over the bridge, until you reached the first island, then the route, which was marked the whole way, winded round the island before hitting the next bridge. And so it was repeated for every island reached. At the end of the route, on the last island, you had to get a ferry, apparently the shortest in the world and I believe that! It took about 2 mins.

The Shimanami Kaido at sunrise, from Sunrise Itoyama Hotel.

The only people I spoke to on route was a fit Japanese-looking guy wearing Rapha cycling gear (unfortunately heading in the wrong direction) and an Australian-sounding couple who reckoned the toll booths were just for "donations". I think not. The weather was perfect, sunny but through thin cloud, around 10-13 degrees in the morning. At times there was a bit of wind (no, not mine; Mother Nature's) but it didn't ruin the tour. I stopped off a couple of times, once for a simple temple on top of a hill involving too many stone steps, and once for lunch at Kasenji Temple, which was absolutely stunning. All the photos of that are on my Nikon, so this will give to a taster: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3480.html It looked better than the photos on that page though, because the blossom were rife. Oh, how I love the blossom!

Do you know what else I love?

• Japanese drivers - so patient and polite
• Vending machines at the side of the road. I'm never more than a kilometre of two away from my newly discovered grape Fanta.
• Elderly Japanese people. They know how to rock a rock a trolley, and I've never seen anyone ride a bicycle with shopping bags on the handlebars that slowly but with that kind of control.
• The young lad who had pulled his face mask pulled down for a crafty fag. Seriously?!
• The way the Japanese can't say 'L's, so cycling becomes 'cycring'. It's fab!
• This sign:

Porcupine?

Got my first glimpse of people enjoying hanami:

The second part of my journey, the remaining 70km, was simply a race against time. With my late start and my impromptu temple visit (it was so worth it), I didn't have all that much time left to get to the campsite outside Soja, where I had planned to stay the night. The route was mainly through built up areas, even some large towns, but the drivers remained patient (except when I headed down a dual carriage way I shouldn't have been on when I got beeped. Rightly so!). It certainly wasn't the most scenic route, but it was pretty much flat the whole way. I arrived in Soja at 6.30pm, just as the sun was setting. There was still another 5km to the campsite, so I decided to find (thanks Google Maps and mobile wifi) a hotel. Hotel Ikedaya was an absolute steal, and with en suite shower (unusual to find apparently) at just under 6000 yen (that's about £35)!! Whoever said Japan was expensive needs to be hit round the head with an incense stick!

Now I'm sitting in an awesome little restaurant eating amazing Japanese cuisine and listening to One Direction. Can life get any better?! I'm even having a beer..! And another thing I love about Japan is the waitress at this restaurant - so sweet! I'm just about to have a lice ball; night all!

 

 

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Japan - day 1 - longest day of my life

Despite a 45 min delay from Copenhagen, we landed at Narita 5 minutes early. My bike was already on a trolley, and my suitcase was heading in my direction. Brilliant, I thought, looks like I'm having some early luck! Erm... Not so much. My check list for bike assembly and luggage storage/delivery was quite clear, but the execution was far from it. The wheels are ingeniously attached to the bike box, which means the skewer of the wheel, or whatever the real name of it is, is on the outside of the box. First wheel came off beautifully, but the second one, not so much. After struggling with it, and nearly ripping the skin off my fingers, I asked some Swedish men to help me. Turns out they were feeble Vikings... Well, one was, the other one just stood there looking down his nose at me. Eventually, thanks to a nice Japanese fella behind the luggage storage counter, I managed to get hold of some pliers. With some forceful persuasion, and manage to get the bolt off. Turns out it was bent...

Looks like I'll need a bike shop earlier than first thought! Then began the palaver of putting pedals on, reattaching the steering wheel, inflating tyres, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla. I wrote steering wheel, I meant handlebars of course. No sleep and hours of faffing makes the brain mushy.

Once I'd sorted the bike out, I put the bike box in storage and headed to get my suitcase sent to my Kyoto hotel. "I'm sorry, we can't guarantee it will get there before you leave Kyoto", I'm told. What?! That's 7 days from now!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, my suitcase is being sent to Kyoto, and if I've left by the time it arrives, they'll send it back to Tokyo. Oh goodie. So much for some nice clothes while in Kyoto then!

Still, got a workout carrying about 30 kg worth of stuff along a train platform that felt like it was 53 miles long. And I got to see a lady on a musical floor polisher:

And you see that Starbucks in the background? Well, not very Japanese, I know, but it was the only food place in the station, so thought I'd sample their version of the cinnamon swirl, the cinnamon roll.... Am yet to taste it, needed some vegetables!

I'm now on a train that sounds like my fridge, surrounded by people in MJ-style face masks, watching bamboo go past the window. In an hour or so I'll be on the famous Shinkansen bullet train, heading past Mt Fuji, which I already saw from a distance on the plane.

An hour later...

Right, the only thing that's happened since I last spoke to you is that the make-shift bag handle loops I made at home using cable ties, snapped. Oh and I got on this bad boy, fell asleep and am now in Kyoto. Should've dropped the bag off myself!

There are bikes everywhere here in Kyoto! And blossom, too. Can't wait to get a good night's sleep and start this holiday properly.

....... It's 23:05... My train arrived in Imabari at 20:51, I spent 45 mins putting the bike together, and it seems to weigh a hell of a lot more than it did previously. Here it is, in all its glory!

Of course, there seem to be further setup to be done, but I don't care, I'm at the hotel now, it's time for sleep. Well, after eating an interesting sandwich I bought on the way from the station. Good night peeps, perhaps you'll get a more interesting blog tomorrow, because tomorrow, I get to see this in the daytime...

 

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