Japan in a nutshell...and what a tough one to crack

Hip-hip....hooray!  Or is it AWWWW...however you want to embrace the end of the Japanese leg of our tour in Asia we certainly can say it will be memorable.  I mean, you don't  quickly forget some of the most stiffling, mind bending heat and humidity of your life or that you just happened to arrive at the site of the world's first atomic bombing on the 70th anniversary memorial (without accomadation...not recommended btw), or wonderfully welcoming new friends we made...be it the exceptionally friendly 7-11 clerks, the team of police that jumped into action to find Chiara's wallet and passport when she left it behind, or to our lovely hosts Jun and Bee in Yadoriki who made it a challenge to want to get back onto our bikes.

From the start Japan felt different from our first stop, Korea.  Gone was the loud traffic, construction cranes, honking taxi drivers and selfie-sticks. The southern part of Japan ,where we started our tour, was full of tranquil beach towns,  courteous drivers, and curious friendly locals, many on their usual August family vacation.  We want to say here that we HIGHLY recommend not touring Japan in August, or if you do go north to Hokkaido.  For our timeline it worked out that Japan was our second country to visit, less we wanted to hop and skip all over the contintent.  But looking at pictures, talking to locals and just expereincing the heat and crowds that come along with the traditional holiday/family vacation season we encourage everyone to organize your tour in Spring or Fall (Just our 2-cents).  

As far as the vibe I think we agree that Japan is nothing like its nearest neighbor, South Korea.  The 30 year economic stagnation and the strong ties to and unquestioning faith in tradition make for a place that at times seems stuck in a period in the past.  Other than Tokyo and parts of other cities like Osaka where nightlife, music and energy abound, the rest of Japan is quiet, with fewer young people, dying elders, disappearing villages and vacant homes that one gets the feeling may never again be inhabited.  In both countries we had some interesting conversations about the future.  What the decline in birth rate means for South Korea and Japan and what is being done to curb the potential deleterious effects of a population consisting of mostly elder folks supported by the meager number of younger nationals.

Things we loved about Japan:

-courteous drivers and well kept roads

-convenience stores with totally acceptable coffee, free wifi and no limit on loitering

-THE FOOD

-umami

-safety and politeness abounds

In fact, while we pedaled our way around Tokyo lazily making our way to Henada International for our early morning departure flight we talked at length about how we felt about Japan.  After more than 4 weeks and 1600km we couldn't come up with much that was unpleasant except the heat/humidity and the cost.  Of which the former is our own fault choosing to tour Japan at the hottest time of year and knowing it would be trying at times.  The latter is a fact that is well known amongst most people coming to visit but it really hits home at the times you are trying to find a cheap place to spend the night and you are charged not per room or campsite, but per person using the shared space.  Or when you go to buy a piece of fruit at the store and an apple costs $2.50 and a red pepper cost $1.50 and the result is you eating large quantities of rice and noodles to fill the gaping pit where your stomach once stood.  

Japan, ultimately, treated us well excepting these small inconveniences.  We, however, found ourselves slightly wanting for interpersonal interactions.  Except a few gracious and warm hosts the people were so reserved and stoic that the rare moments of levity and lightness felt almost out of place.  Japan abounds as a place of beauty, culture and history but when you are people that feed off the life energy of your host country it, at times leaves you feeling as though the wind has been pulled from you sails.

A brief foray into Tokyo

Tokyo has maybe more build up than any city I can  think of.  It is a city that I relate with it's pop-culture references, it's famous fashion and subcultures, its electronics.  I had rented a small apartment in a quieter part of the city, which we were very happy to poke around in.  On that note, we had a pretty chill time in Tokyo in general.  The thing about riding through a country and seeing so much is that for Bruce and I, by the time we get into a city we don't feel a huge need to see all the sights.  So we wandered  around some different parts of Tokyo, saw some of the sights, and got a very small experience in the giantic city that was the end-cap of our Japan journey.  Tokyo, at least the parts that we saw, struck me as a very clean and orderly city, with  visual interest all over  the place, teeming with young professionals in starched white shirts.  It is very cool, but also very expensive, so we were limited in what we were able to experience in Tokyo.

Bruce riding into Tokyo, Ginza area.

The best tako-yaki ever! (little douggh balls with octopus inside).

The busiest crossing in Tokyo, Shibuya area.

A Cute little area named Setagawa-Kitazawa, narrow streets with lots of second-hands stores and cafes.  I bought asuper yellow checked shirt from the 70's to cycle in.

      

Big crowds and colorful shops in Harajuku

Gorgeous brewing museum and tasting room at Yebisu brewery.

Huge tori lead to a beautiful temple nestled in a park.  One can almost forget they are in the city.

Next up.... Taiwan!

Family Matters

The weather in Nippon has finally broke in our favor and Fall seems to be upon the land.  Cooler days, breezes and regular rain showers fill our days.  It felt like quite a 180 from the first half of our tour of Japan.  The more comfortable conditions started straight away when we left Toyohashi, this time by train, and headed north into the mountains as we discussed in the last post. The true value of our choice in bikes comes out at these times as we were able to simply fold and pack the bikes and bring them on the train with us free of charge.  Something to think about for those that may be considering a tour in Asia.  There are trade-offs, ie. slower riding pace, but if there is even the remotest possibility that you will move throughout the countries any way other than by pedaling, one of these bikes might be for you. The  southern 'Japanesee Alps' turned out to be more a place of beautiful scenery with a series of lazy rivers, bridges, steep forested hills and small towns and villages.  

     

Leaving this area to head south and toward Mt Fujisan we found fantastic fall riding conditions.  This was short lived in the quickly changing and mildly manic Japanese weather as clouds quickly rolled in for the second half of the day and we started the longest climb to this point in our tour.  Over a 2 hour period we climbed about 1000m, or 3000ft up hairpin winding roads on a friendly grade.  We entered the 5 Lakes area of Mt Fuji just in time for the real rains to start.  Here is what we saw at what is said to be one of the most picturesque places in Japan...

Here is an artists rendition that is on the 1000 yen bill. 

 It would have been a nice view but one thing you learn is nature is truly the one thing that you can't fight and will drive you mad if you allow, so you smile and move on to find your camp.  Which we did at a local camping ground and went to sleep in order to fight another day.

A long night of torrential rain led to a morose wakeup and thoughts that we may not be able to move that day.  We waited out the worst of it and were however able to make our break in between the downpours.  The riding along the 5 lakes region was highly enjoyable and we encourage those touring this area to put it on their list.  We also, however, encourage you to check the road grades prior to setting out.  We were lucky to choose the correct route as we headed out of the region and back down toward the coast we encountered amazing views and unrideable grades...18%!!  That is 18ft  of vertical for every 100ft horizontal.  That may not mean much to most of you but if you have ever tried riding an extended 10% grade and know the misery that can create then 18% is about a hellacious as it comes.  We were luckily descending this and enjoyed the hell out of it...especially Chiara who was a bit weary from being wet and hungry but found a new found energy after this amusement ride style route.

  

Our destination after the all this riding was the home of a friend of a friend, Bee.  Steven, Bruce's ex-coworker and buddy let us know when we entered Japan that an old friend of his lived there.  We contacted Bee early on in our trip, assuming that we would stop there for a night or two.  As it turned out we stayed for 4 nights, and we both felt as though we could stay longer.  Bee, her husband Jun, and their two children live in a small village named Yadoriki, high in the hills at the bottom of the Fuji area.  It was breathtakingly beautiful at thier house.  Lush, mountainous, verdant, with singing insects, visiting monkeys (that we weren't able to see) and steep, narrow roads, they live in a pretty remote area in a comfortable, expansive house near Yun's family.  

Bruce and I were so excited for a room and our own bed, and the family made us feel comfortable right off the bat when Jun picked us up at the nearest 7-11, rushing forward to give us a big hug and sheparding us into his van.  What a great 4 days.  We cooked great food, lazed around, watched movies, visited places in the village and in the nearby town, cycled around, and most importantly, hung out with people that started to feel like family by the end of our stay.

  

Hard to tear ourselves away is the understatement of the trip thus far.  Morning rain, a hot breakfast and the prospect of another day of perpetual wetness meant we once again dragged our feet on departing from Bee and Jun's place in Yadoriki.  The 'Crack of Noon' Tour strikes again...

We nevertheless made our way to Tokyo, the longest single day of riding to date on this tour (106km), in intermittent rain and traffic. 

Three's Company

To start with we had the most enjoyable ride from Osaka to Kyoto, which was a nice change after which we visited the innsanely busy Kyoto Station and then we met up with our Warmshowers host, Ken.  Ken is the only Warmshowers host in the much-visited city of Kyoto, so needless to say he is a busy guy that has tons of cyclists staying with him.  He had a very nice small apartment that he graciously welcomed us into and gave us maps and information with which to explore this beautiful, ancient city.  Kyoto was once the imperial capital of Japan for over a thousand years, and it is chock-full of castles, shrines, temples, gardens, geisha, and the natural beauty of the mountains and stream that surround it.  There's too much beauty see in two lifetimes is Kyoto but we did our best to wander and were rewarded with ancient wonders, lazy rivers, good weather, and fun hosts.

             

  

Scenes from Kyoto's many sights

We camped at Ken's for a few days, and on our last evening theere we made dinner and shared with Yoko, Ken's neighbor, and Remy, a French cyclist.   Remy made  crepes for desert.  YUM!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for a wonderful 3 days.  

  

Ken and Yoko

With Remy, who is doing a world tour by bike

We decided to head in a southeast direction along the coast to yet another ferry.  Along the way we experienced some amazing views, mildly treacherous, busy, and narrow roads and more torential rains but luckily they lasted for just one night.  The heat and humidity have begun to wane so we could finally enjoy the scenery ,stopping for photos and not feel like the flesh was melting from our backs.  We had two very nice camping nights and then found our way into Toyohashi where we met our next Warmshowers host Aaron (or A-Aron for all your Key and Peele fans) a Spaniard living and working in Japan, his 6 year old son, and his amazingly welcoming and generous landlords.  By Japanese standards Aaron lives in an extraordinarally large apartment with a great view. We sat out each of two nights drinking beer, whiskey and sochu with him and his landlords talking about everything and nothing while eating little treats of nuts, cheeses, octopus, and ham.  It was truly an international experience.  We are very greatlful to Aaron for welcoming us so openly to his home and feeding us amazing food.  His hosting is well worth going a bit off the usual cycle touring route in Japan for all those looking for experience rather than just seeing the sites.  

     

A-aron, his fun 6 year-old, Augie-son and his wife (probably spelled wrong).  Augie-son had a huge antenna on the top of the building and he was in radio contact with people around the world, even a Pole living in North Korea.  Crazy.

We have also been lucky enough to meet someone that knows a bit about what to see and how best to see it...that meaning a gorgeous train ride north from Toyohashi into the Nagano prefecture and the southern part of the Japanese Alps.  This was only our second foray into train travel and was one of the best decisions we made based on our situation.  We had only about a week left in Japan and were hoping to see something other than busy coastline as we headed into Tokyo.  This afforded us the opportunity to ride in comfort up into the beautiful countryside and then ride our way out of the mountains back to the coast and our last Japanese hosts prior to finishing the trip in Tokyo.

    

Cheers: It is Suntory Time!!

Leaving Takamatsu via ferry we arrived on the island of Shodishima.  It was scenic and enoyable though a bit longer than expected as the ferry we took landed further away than we anticipated.  Another ferry ride and we arrived in Himeji at the perfect time for dinner and the best ramen known to man kind.  

  

We camped in a wonderful park overlooking the coastline where we arrived to find all to ourselves...or so we thought.

Starting around midnight and then every hour after until dawn by raucous partying teens setting off hanabe (fireworks) and shining lights on the strange tent in their local park, we didn't exactly sleep as we would have hoped.  Never the less we started our day as positive as we could heading for the "White Crane" castle in Himeji. We only were able to see this amazing beautiful structure from the outside however due to the holiday season leading to choking crowds of sightseers, both Japanese and foreigners and 2 hour lines just to get in the building.

  As Chiara and I have realized about ourselves at this point, we really enjoy these amazing old structures but they are certainly not what is the route of our enjoyment on this journey so after walking the grounds for an hour, a few photos and a quick stop at the local udon shop, where they make the noodles by had right in front of you (YUM!) we hit the rode heading north.  

(Rolling our the udon noodles)

In front of us lay Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto.  All places Chiara was excited to see.  We hoped to get a night in a real "camground" which are surprisingly rare in Japan and can be pricey, in order to get a shower and wash some clothes.  We arrived at our intended camping destination north of Kobe around dusk only to find hordes of families camping, bbqing, and sitting amongst loads of things that they carried to the campground that, based on the small sizes oof the homes and cars, must have involved every bit of extra money and space they had, in order to celebrate the holiday.  Ugh, the same damn holiday that had been tripping us up for more than a week.  

(View from the campground)

Long story short, we were turned away...they actually turned away foreign cyclists and denied us a place to put our tent for ONE night!  Dumbfounded, we tried everything we could but only met the famed "death x" as we call it where they use their arms in form of an "X" in a way of saying "No way, not going to happpen".  Exasperated and exhausted we turned to them and simply stated (though they had no idea what we were saying), "Ok, then we will walk up the hill to the park above and camp there".  Acting like we won a small victory (which we absolutely didn't as we just wanted to shower more than anything) we trudged back up the hill and plopped down in the field for what turned out to be a restful, quiet night.

Kobe was a neat, small city witth some interesting old achitecture.  

We debated trying the very expensive Kobe beef but decided neither of us had a palate that would discern the difference so ate at a nice cafe and headed out of town.  Along the busy taffic streets we rode from Kobe to Osaka/Kyoto we met our kindred spirits (in reverse) David and Eleanor.  

   

(Eleanor and David)

Easily passing an hour loitering outside the "7" and exchanging travel stories and consoling one another with tales of surviving the unrelenting heat, we had to tear ourselves away and head in ourr opposite directions. (We alll lamented the fact that we were not heading in the same direction as they seemed like a couple with which it  would be fun to tour).  

(Osaka at night)

We camped a quiet night along the river outside Osaka after passing through some very lively and colorful little neighborhoods and trying to get into a loud, smokey bar filled with the sounds of an energetic live band (but alas turrning away when we found the cover to be exhorbanent).  The next stop Kyoto... or so we thought.

A slight turn from the main route to avoid some heavy traffic and narrow shoulder led us, to my though maybe not Chiara's glee and excitement, to a little slice of heaven called the Suntory Whiskey Distillery.

  It could not have been planned better and we whiled away an hour in the tasting room and museum sipping on some of the most unique and inexpensive and downright  good single malt whiskies I have had in my amateur tasting experience.  We came to find out later that this distillery has recently won the prize for the overall best whiskey in the world beating out perrenial favorites from the US and Scotland, which was too much of a surprise after tasting these little treats.

We were a little more "relaxed" after our foray to whiskey nirvana we the rode the last leg to Kyoto, excited to meet our next warmshowers host, Ken.  

Perfect Strangers

One month in the books and we are still finding a way to get along...and at times even thrive, on this journey of ours.  

Not that there have not been a few bumps, in the road, on our bodies, on the bikes, pretty much wherever they could be honestly, but we are taking them as they come and building on our missteps.  We will pretty much be invincible by the time this is done...or not, but either way there will be some great stories.  Now for today's  adventure...

We road in from Imibari where we spent a night with a nice Japanese woman, Neo, and her husband in their small, traditional home.  She fed us a nice meal in the morrning and we once again braved the blazing heat heading up the coast.  

The riding was mostly city other than one beautiful hill where we stopped to take in the view.  Stopping regularly for snacks, water, A/C'd stores, and the like we made it to our destination.  We spent  two, nice air-conditioned nights in a hostel/hotel in the quaint port city of Takamatsu. The nights indoors are so replenishing on one's soul (it may sound dramatic but words never have felt so true).  We had our first taste of a local favorite, tako-yaki, a little ball of cooked dough with octopus inside, which is delicious and mostly sat around and enjoyed not doing anything in particular.  It is nice to be off the bikes and walking around the towns.  This one in particular has a wonderful outdoor covered shopping region that covers a good quarter of the city with food, restaurants, shops, and lots of people watching. 

 We continued on by boarding  a series of ferries to cross the inland sea, as they call it, to Himeji to continue our journey up the undulating, lush landscape of Japan.