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.