Cyklade genom Japan 1996, Bummer, det var ju väldigt längesen... ! Skrev då en RR, hittade
orginalet i arkiven, bifogar, (har inte koll på MTB), men det var en superhäftig upplevelse !!
I guess every trip really starts at home, in this case with some planning
and research. Finding out about the climate and when its suitable to go,
planning a good route, getting maps and info, getting your stuff and your
spare parts together, trying to beat the 20 kg baggage allowance on your
flight when carrying a bike and camping equippment, worrying about costs
in Japan, and biking a lot and getting fit in the months before.
I have only been a few days in Tokyo before, and don't speak Japanese,
so there are lots of things to find out about.
My Game-Plan was to fly into Sapporo, bike in Hokkaido for a while, then
down the Japan-sea coast to Kyoto and fly home from there.
I dismantled my bike completely and packed it in a box together with some
foam plastic and some tools. I put my tent, sleeping bag and thermarest in
the rear bike panniers and then in a big sack. These two items went as
checked baggage on my flight, about 21-22 kg.
The rest of my stuff was compressed like a neutron star, and then went
as handcarry: the tools and spare parts, the stove, some clothes, books,
a small backpack, and the two front bike panniers.
The flight was of course early, so I had to get up in the middle of the
night, almost, but never mind, I was finally on the road again.
Stockholm -> Paris -> Hongkong -> Sapporo, flying with SAS and Cathay
Pacific. All the security checks went well in spite of all the evil-
looking metal objects I was carrying, but I had to uncompress and show
them my things a few times.
Arrived at Sapporo / Chitose airport around 5 pm next day, after a long
and sleepless flight. A new boring airport that looked like a hospital,
Japanese people everywhere, and dark and rainy outside. And my bike and
camping-sack arrived too... Great, one of my biggest horrors (lost baggage)
didn't happen. Very thorough customs, every small item was inspected.
I relaxed for a while, wondering what to do now, bought a fish and
some seeweed in a shop, then started to put my bike together again on
the sidewalk outside the terminal building.
The wheels were not straight or round any more, and some parts were loose,
I guess the bikebox had been run over by a 747 or something... Anyhow I
managed to straighten them out pretty good, and after loosening the breaks
everything worked! I put on the panniers and packed everything, got out
the map and the compass, and tried to ask for some directions at the
airport police box ( not easy, I don't speak any Japanese.. ). And then
my Japan bike trip started, 10 pm, pitch dark, raining, and lost.
I did get my bearings after a while, after biking around and asking
several people for directions and pointing wildly at my map. I wanted
to go to Shikotso-ko lake about 20 km away, where there was supposed to
be a campground. After a while a nice guy in a big van pulled up and
offered me a ride. This was of course cheating, but since it was raining
a lot by now I was glad to accept. We put my bike in his car, and he then
took me the rest of the way to the campground. I guess I was lucky, it
would probably have been difficult to find it by myself in the dark and
the rain. I put my tent up and threw my gear inside. It rained heavily
during the night and I had to go outside a few times to divert the water
flowing down the sloping beach towards my tent. Bad start weatherwise.
The distance biked this evening was 20 km.
Friday, Aug 23, 1996.
It rained until lunch, but never mind, I was sleeping in my tent, and
most worries were over now! Me + my bike + my stuff installed in a
campground in Hokkaido, and the road ahead!! Today's goal was to get
my stove going, try out some food, organize my things, fix my bike, and
sleep. Lots of people in the campground, familys in cars, people touring
on motorbikes...
I guess I have to get used to cup-noodles, rice, dried fish, tuna in tins..
There was only a small store at the the campground and not much in it.
Saturday, Aug 24, 18 km.
The weather cleared up today and revealed a very beautiful crater lake
surrounded by mountains. I worked some more on my bike, the front wheel
got almost perferct, the rear one ok, but I still had to loosen the rear
breaks a little. The rear wheel wobbled some during the rest of my trip but
I didn't feel anything while riding, and this never caused any further
problems except that the breaks didn't work as well as they should, and
that the rear tire wore down faster than the front one.
I didn't feel quite ready to bike for real yet, but maybe a small
relocation...? This was also a good idea since the beach was
slowly getting packed with other campers, to within 5 mm of my own tent.
I loaded everything up and biked 18 km to another campsite around the lake,
nice road and view over the lake, perfect weather and great to get going.
The other site was real nice in a wooded slope towards the lake, not much
people and some space. Then a small girl with long black hair on giant,
fat tire touring motorbike pulled in and made camp, and things were
brightening up even more.
But this soon changed, the campsite filled up during the afternoon, the
noisiest gang stopped right beside me: kids running around, a small trip
with the car every 10 minutes and beaming the headlights into my tent,
lots of noise. I was still suffering from jetlag and it was hard
enough to get some rest anyhow. This continued until around 1 in the night,
then at 6 the next morning the huge black ravens woke everybody up.
Not enough sleep and food.... No more campgrounds, please!
Sunday, Aug 25, 79.4 km.
So I started early, before I really felt like it, maybe a good thing.
I went over the mountains towards Sapporo, hills and switchbacks, maybe a
few hundred meters altitude gain. It got really hot during the day, a lot
of traffic but most of the time there was a separate bikepath or a sidewalk
I could use. I went down on the other side, into the suburbs of Sapporo with
lots of alien-looking houses and gardens, flags everywhere, and strange
signs and billboards that I couldn't read. After a while I found a real
store, with other goodies besides cup-noodles, (the only thing to be found
in the campgrounds), and I immediately wolfed down some milk&bread&
bananas&chocholate.... Yes!
I continued into Sapporo, most of the time the roadsigns were also in
english and fairly easy to follow. I also used my compass to go in the
right direction when I didn't know where I was, and this worked very well,
I found the right road when I surfaced on the other side of town....
After a while the road came out to the coast, and beside a small village
I found a secluded spot on a beach for my camp. Great place, quiet, and
only the surf and the sunset to bother me... I retired to my tent, lighted
some candles, had some food, and fell asleep listening to the sea.
A small observation:
When I told people at home about my plan to go to Japan, I could
hear the following....
- it's very expensive / nobody speaks english
- they have foodpoisoning there
- it's too hot / too much rain / too much traffic
- it' the tyfoon season now / it's impossible to bike
- and so on and so forth...
Nobody who said: That's great, I want to go too!!
Isn't that STRANGE ???
26/8, 46.9 km.
A late start, I didn't feel too great today, probably still a mixture of
jetlag & not enough sleep and food. A fair number of hills, some tunnels,
and a great road following the coast north. Beautiful nature, but not as
nice as some parts of the Pacific Coast HWY in California and Oregon that
I biked 2 years ago... Warm and sunny with some light clouds. I was tired
today and stopped early, I found a good spot on a beach just S of Hamamasu
town. Today was a day of doubt... a stupid trip, too much work and trouble,
I should have stayed at home... But the thinking part of my brain told me
no turn-around decisions when you are tired, give it a few days first,
rest some more, and things will be better.
27/8, 79.2 km.
Hot day, but the wind cools you nicely when you're biking. I felt great
again and the road and the coastline were suberb, lots of narrow tunnels,
rocks sticking up from the sea, and some mountains and hills. I also met
some other Japanese bikers heading south. Stopped at Obira where I found
a perfect beach for my camp, then invested some money in a couple of beers,
had a swim, watched the sunset. Life is a bitch sometimes....
28/8, 56.9 km.
Another rather short day, I felt a little squashed again and stopped
early, around 1.30 pm. I found a good spot and also suspected a lack of
good campsites ahead when I consulted my map. Normally it was too hot to
stay in the tent during the day, but on the beach here it was very windy
and I put up just the outer shell of my tent so the wind blew straight
through it, and had a perfect place out of the sun to rest and read for
a while. I almost had enough food and water for dinner and breakfast, then
just a couple of k's to the town of Shosanbetsu in the morning. Talked
some with a Japanese guy and his dogs, and I think I understood what the
dogs said.
29/8, 84.8 km.
Great speed today, and closing in on the northen tip of Hokkaido. I was
carrying quite a lot of extra food and water since I wasn't sure about
the size of the next town or wether there was a store, but mostly this
was unnecessary. Still it's good to be safe so I don't get stranded
without food, on the other hand it's also really annoying to carry some
heavy stuff for hours over the hills and then come to a store where you
can buy it all... Met a number of other bikers going south, both lightly
loaded hotel-tourers, and loaded campers like me. There was also a guy
walking south with a big backpack. I could see the vulcanic island of
Rishiri offshore to the north, the top of the mountain raising through
some clouds and mist, and in the afternoon I stopped on the beach just
opposite the island for my camp. Amazing place, many kilometers of
straight deserted beaches and a good view of the vulcano from my tent.
30/8, 59.3 km.
Continuing great scenery and a good tailwind. I reached Wakkanai around
10 am and biked around some and had a look at the town. After that I
navigated my way to the ferry terminal and bought a ticket to Rishiri,
1850 Yen, 11.50 am -> 1.30 pm. Nice views from the ferry when it was
closing in on the island, but some clouds partly obscured the top of
the mountain. I landed at Oshidomari, bought some food, had a lunchbreak,
looked around town, and started off down the road around the island.
Really beautiful place with small fishing villages along the coast, old
windbattered wooden houses and fishingboats, and fishingnets and seaweed
laid out to dry in the sun and the wind.
The wind was comming the wrong way now, and it was a relief to reach the
small campground close to the southern end of the island. Nice and quiet
place with not many other campers, and the slopes of the vulcano raising
up above. I had a really freezing shower from a hose with cold water, and
did some bike and stove maintainance.
31/8, 74.8 km.
Continued around the island and back to Oshidomari and the ferry. For
a while I thought about stopping some extra days and climbing the vulcano,
but decided against it. I'm getting enough excercise anyway... For various
reasons I decided to go back down the coast the same way instead of going
through the interior of Hokkaido, I do like coastlines and I wasn't sure
about my scedule and timeplan if I had choosen Daisetsuzan and the
mountains. I had another great camp on the beach opposite Rishiri, a little
further south this time.
September 1, 118.6 km.
Some clouds and not so hot today, and some occasional light rain,
but nothing to really get you wet. I had a tailwind again and picked up
good speed today. I had a chat with some other japanese bikers during the
day, and with a painter from Sapporo on vacation in Hokkaido. In the late
afternoon I could see some suspiciously dark clouds piling up ahead, and
found a good spot for my tent on a beach just before it started to rain.
I sat in my excellent tent, had a few beers and some mysterious food I had
bought, and listened to the rain. The rain stopped later during the night.
2/9, 94.9 km.
Partly cloudy but no rain today, but I had a slow start today and was
tired before lunch. After that it was great going again, down to a park/
campground in Hamamasu. During the evening a wild party developed on
the lawn beside my tent: Hamamasu High school students + large bottles
of Japanese whiskey, a dangerous combination.... I had a swim, some food,
white liquer + coke, some beer and whiskey and a great time. Never mind
the language.
3/9, 102.1 km.
The goal today was to reach the port city of Otaru, and somehow find some-
where to camp there. I passed a Japanese girl bike-touring during the day,
had a tailwind again, and full speed. The last part towards Otaru was bad
with lots of traffic, not much space for biking, and an unexpected
mountain ridge which had to be crossed before descending into town.
I searched my way down to the port and the ferrys, and amazingly found
a small area for camping nearby. Great, my luck still holding....
Lots of people were camping here, while waiting for the ferrys, mostly
people touring on motorbikes. I put up my tent and biked into the center
of town for a look. I had a bowl of noodles at the station (first
restaurant visit), saw some other Westerners for the first time, and
walked around in the shops. Great, tomorrow will be a stopover-day in Otaru.
4/9, 0 km.
Perfect with a restday now and some sightseeing. Shops and restaurants and
things, and some old wooden merchants houses european style. Lots of walking
around today, nice with a change from all the biking.
5/9, 81.4 km.
The rain-God was evil today. I started quite early, and it was raining
almost from the start. Also there was a headwind to make things extra
miserable. I followed route 5 out of Otaru and there was lots of traffic,
cars and big trucks. I was biking in shorts, Tshirt, Goretex jacket and
shoes without socks, and was totally soaked after some hours in heavy
rain, but the rest of my stuff kept almost dry. A little cold too, but
ok while biking and keeping the heat up. The busshelters were a perfect
place for a quick stop out of the rain, small houses 3*4 meters where me
and my bike fitted in nicely. After a while I turned off route 5 and
reached Iwani out by the coast, where the rain slowly decreased, and
I slowly dried... Still a massive headwind and slow going. Very nice
scenery again with a rocky coastline, a winding road and many tunnels.
At first during my trip I found the many tunnels a bit scary, because
they were for the most part old and narrow with no extra space for biking,
and sometimes badly lit. But after a while I got used to it, and found
that the drivers of cars and trucks were often very considerate and passed
at a safe distance, or slowed down behind me and waited until they could
do so. I always turned on my red blinking taillight before entering a
tunnel.
In the afternoon I found a nice beach again, and stopped for my camp. It
was almost too early, but if you find a good place, why not, and who knows
the road ahead ?? 42!! Later, when I was sitting on the beach, having a
beer and writing in my diary, a minibus filled with amazingly goodlooking
girls stopped by, everybody ran around on the beach and got caught in the
big waves, asked me to take their photo, then went off like a flash again,
leaving me with a strange look on my face and wondering what actually
happened...
6/9, 99.7 km.
Very beautiful road today, the best so far. Many tunnels, small fishing-
villages, eroded pillars of rock sticking up out of the water and along
the coastline. It was also perfect weather and a tailwind, Yes!
A day like this makes everything worth your troubbles! I had a lunchbeer
and a lunchswim with my lunch today, and both were needed. A strange
experience to bike through a 2 km long and absolutely straight tunnel,
you can see the other end all the time but no matter how hard you pedal
it doesn't come any closer. It must be some quantum phenomena...
Some parts of the coast today almost resembled a smaller version of
Na Paali in Hawaii!
In the evening when I was starting to worry about a campsite, I again
found a great place with views over some rock-pillars, just outside the
town of Setana. But I do miss some Swedish rock-music, I should have
brought a freestyle and some tapes.... (Instead of that stupid radio with
57 channels and nuthing on...)
7/9, 82.5 km.
Almost as good today too. The day started with a stretch of inland road
with small farms and ricefields and almost tropical growth, then a big
hill with a tunnel on top and then out along the coast again. Suberb
scenery! Stopped at Otobe, the last beach before Hakkodate, had a beer,
roamed the beach, watched the sunset, and read about "Christianity
during the four first centuries" in my excellent book "History of Western
Philosophy" by Bertrand Russel. Very interesting and strange.
8/9, 95.8 km.
It was a very hot day today, and quite a lot of traffic, as route 227
turned inland towards Hakkodate. First it was just enough uphill to make
you wonder why everything was so hard today, almost not visible. Then a
6%, big hill in the heat, great... There was a local bikecompetition going
on, with lots of racers zooming by and waving. After the downhill on the
other side of the pass, I came to the finnish of the competition and the
support team invited me in and offered me some food and drink. That was
great, and nice with a chat even though it's difficult with the language.
After reaching Hakkodate I spent a long time biking around and looking for
the ferry terminal. All other roadsigns were in english, but not the one
to the ferry... I finally found it and bought a ticket to Aomori, 2000 Y,
2.50 pm -> 6.30 pm. After having a Kirin beer aboard the ferry, I started
considering the problem of wether the watermolecules in the sea here have
ever been in lake Malaren outside Stockholm??
In Aomori it was dark and confusing, and I biked around looking for a
spot for my tent, and I found several bad places. I considered moving on
out of town at once, but after I while I stopped among a bunch of trees
not far from the ferry terminal, not a very good place and not very
secluded, but would have to do for the night.
9/9, 87.0 km.
Today was partly cloudy, just the right temperature and no rain. I started
off by going back into Aomori for a quick look at town. I really felt like
a bum in my not so nice biking clothes, among all the welldressed Japanese
heading for work. It would be great to be in a suit in an airconditioned
Mercedes...
I followed route 7 out of town, and this was not too good for biking:
lots of heavy traffic, sometimes hard to follow the signs and find the
way, and generally miserable. I turned off towards Goshogawara and passed
several large pink Love-Hotels on the way. I also spotted some vending-
machines with porno-magazines later on...
The road continued to be narrow with lots of traffic, but still the
scenery was nice with farmland and ricefields, and the vulcano Iwaki-san
raising up from the plain in the distance. I reached the Japan sea coast
again with some nice small towns (Ajigasawa). Some old wooden houses and
temples and a different style. After following the coast for a while I
came to a parking-spot with public toilets and coin-showers, (HOT!). Yes!
This was only slightly cheaper than the Kingdom and half the Princess, but
absolutely worth it after days of freezing showers and swims.
A little further I stopped for my camp at a small beach, complete with
rocks and a small lighthouse.
10/9, 99.9 km.
Good day again, sunny and warm, nice scenery. I passed through several
small, nice towns on the way, Fukaura, Iwasaki, Iwadate. These places
were often a welcome break from the road, where I could slow down, take
some photos, get some goodies from the shops, refill the water bottle and
have a look at the town and the harbour.
I also saw an enormous wooden waterwheel, functioning and rotating. It must
have been at least 30m in diameter, amazing, I didn't think there was
anything like that left. (I'm not sure wether it was original or rebuilt
for tourists...)
Suberb biking until I reached route 7 again south of Noshiro, which was
narrow with lots of traffic and for some parts no fun at all. After about
10 km I turned of the main road and searched my way out towards the
coast again, looking for somewhere to camp, following my map and signs
indicating 'bathing place'.
After crossing some sand dunes I found many k's of deserted beach just
north of Oga-Hantu peninsular. And it was all mine for the night. The only
bad thing about all the beaches was the sand, which in the morning could
be found everywhere amongst my things.
11/9, 91.5 km.
Terrific start of the day again. I continued south on some small, narrow
and winding roads through small villages, just inside Oga-Hantu. This was
exactly like it's supposed to be in Japan, some old wooden houses, small
gardens with 'bonsai'-trees, and the occasional small temple with a tori-
gate outside.
Then there was this horror-road for a while, construction, very narrow,
and big trucks, and I had to practise biking straight exactly on the edge
of the road with all the traffic zooming by 2 cm away to my left...
Just before passing through Akita (boring industrial town), I again came
out on terrible-7, but most of the way now there were sidewalks or
bikepaths of varying quality so I didn't have to fight the traffic.
I talked some with a truckdriver who offered me (and my bike) a ride...
but managed to resist the temptation, no cheating unless something breaks...
During the days there were often lots of people waving or greating,
some truckdrivers, most people touring on motorbikes, even some of the
HD-guys. Gambatte!! This must of course be because the 'bicycle-tourers'
are the toughest... or is it stupid and crazy ??
In the evening, as usual, I stopped at my private beach, had a beer and
some food and watched the sun die in the ocean, and wished that the trip
would last for ever, ( like the flying Dutchman on a bike ...?? )
12/9, 94.1 km.
Hot day again, biking terrible-7 all day, through Nikaho and Fukura,
got lost in Sakata, nothing much else to say today. Camped on a beach
about 15 km south of Sakata.
13/9 107.0 km.
The day was cloudy, but with perfect temperature, which was welcome after
a few days of frying in the toaster. A really good day again with mostly
small roads, few cars and small japanese-style villages. First the road
took me along the coast at Tsuruoka, then route 345. It was often narrow
and winding, and passing through many of these small villages. Especially
the many different styles of black, glazed roofing-tiles on the houses
made it look different, together with the gardens and the yellow rice-
fields. Often I could bike the old road winding between the houses in
the villages when the main road passed by outside. And then there were
all these tiny old Japanese ladies walking around everywhere, heads
covered in cloth, bent doubble after years working in the fields, they
must have had a hard life.
In the afternoon I passed through some small resort towns along the coast,
with nice hotels and BMW's and luxury tourbusses parked outside. It
probably costs more than Ghana's defence-budget to stay there a weekend!!
( Senami, Iwafune...)
Even the terrible-7 wasn't so bad today, winding along the coast. The only
bad thing about today was that it smelled like shit on the beach where I
camped for the night, but by then I was too tired to continue and look for
another place, especially after having dragged my bike through the sand
for some distance to reach the beach...
I had rice, some strange seafood, and potato-sallad for dinner, 160 + 250
+ 200 Yen.
14/9, 79.0 km.
It rained during the night and the morning, but stopped before I got
back on the road. The day was just a day of transport, to cover some
distance and get through the town of Niigata. There was quite a lot of
traffic and some navigational problems ( that means I got lost ). I
eventually passed straight through the buissness districts and shopping
areas during lunchtime, with millions of well-dressed people everywhere,
and again I got this feeling of being a bum and an outcast, but also of
having a great time with no schedules to meet, just biking around
whereever I wanted...
After a while I found my bearings again and continued south down the
coast on the other side of the city. I stopped early on a beach S of
Niigata, I thought it looked beachless for a while ahead when I looked
at my map.
Read some about "The rise of science" in my superb book "History of
Western Philosophy"...
15/9, 99.8 km.
The first part of the day was an old and narrow road along the coast,
'the sea-line route', which was superb for biking. Most of the heavy
traffic went the new inland road, and here it was only rich girls in
brandnew open sportcars cruising by ( almost...). Anyway it was really
nice scenery with narrow tunnels, some hills, and some small villages
along the coast. In Teradomari it was marketday with many vendors selling
seafood on the sidewalks, and packed with people strolling around and
looking at all the displayed shrimps&crabs&lobsters.... After that I
had one of those bad stretches again, when the headwind and the heat hit
me, and got tired and miserable, and you have to bring out all your
determination, keep that frozen smile on your face and just keep going....
After passing the town of Kakizaki I followed an old road through villages
close to the shore, with nice old wooden houses and fine gardens.
Everything was getting more crowded now, compared with earlier during my
trip, with more urban areas and roads, and it was harder to find places to
camp. Most of the land was allready taken.... I found a place after a
while, it was more like a parking lot down by the sea and not this great
beach I was used to, but still ok.
It now looks like all my time and economy-plans are perfectly on scedule...
Some extra time or short days in the Japan Alps, and about a week for
sightseeing in Kyoto!! Perfect.
16/9, 108.3 km, +900 m.
About 8'clock in morning I passed by the first MacDonalds so far in
Japan, in Joetsu, and I suddenly felt this urge for burgers... As usual
a dissappointment, a small rubberburger and ice with some coke in,
but still tasty. Most of the way to Itoigawa there was a separate bike-
path along some parts of the old road, passing through villages and old
tunnels besides the main road. Full speed in great views! In Itoigawa I
finally left the coast and Japan sea, and turned inland on route 148
for the Japan Alps. Too bad really, the sea had been a nice companion
during my entire trip so far...
Soon the valley narrowed and the road started to climb. For some reason
I hadn't expected the hills to start here allready, but had I looked at
the map I could have seen the elevation difference. First it was tough
going, very hot, a lot of gravel-trucks, a narrow road. The whole valley
from one side to the other seemed like a big construction site. New bridges
and roads and reservoirs and tunnels everywhere, gravel and concrete and
big trucks. The valley was quite narrow, the road following the
mountainsides, passing through tunnels and winding upwards. Especially
some of the tunnels 'with an uphill inside' were hard, lots of trucks and
sometimes bad ventilation. But also some nice views and scenery...
After a while the construction ended and things brightened up. I reached
the town of Hakuba and was by then really tired and felt a serious lack of
energy, I hadn't eaten properly during the whole day, and the total uphill
climb was probably around +900 m. I found a 7/11, stuffed myself with
chocolate and milk, bought some food, and went off in search of a campsite.
My first thought was to head for the skislopes I could see outside town
and camp somewhere close by. On my way up there ( more uphills...) I came
across a 'real' campsite outside town, but they wanted 2500Y for some
space and a cold-water tap... no way, I prefer to camp for free!!
I followed a gravelroad beside a stream, continued upwards, and eventually
found a perfect spot by the stream. High mountains around me, a stream
tumbling by, no-one about and a great wilderness-feeling, almost like
SAREK national park in Sweden. (But only almost.) I put my tent up and
proceeded with eating all my food, hoping there would be no hills tomorrow.
17/9, 80.1 km.
I had a late start, lazying around my camp and enjoying the scenery.
Then I started of towards Matsumoto. The day was overcast with some very
light rain, the valley opened up and got wide and flat, but there were
still some hills up and down around the lakes. I passed several smaller
towns with closed skishops, and skislopes on the mountains flanking the
valley. After reaching Matsumoto in the afternoon I biked around and had
a look at town, partly this was involuntary since some of the signs were
confusing... After I while I found the main railwaystation, had a big
yummy meal at a restaurant while doing some people-watching... , then
returned the same way back out of town to a campsite beside a river I
had seen on my way in.
18/9, 112.6 km, +1500 m.
Today it was time to attack a big one, the pass over the mountains to
Takayama. It's a mixed feeling to approach a high pass, first you're
expecting great views and beautiful nature, then you're scared of the hard
work to come, especially when your bike is loaded with lots of stuff.
The main thing is to keep the right speed, use the right gears and don't
push to hard in the beginning.
Otherwise everything was perfect: some clouds and not too hot, a beautiful
valley, not much traffic, a road climbing upwards through many old and
narrow tunnels, sometimes a steeper road with switchbacks. I also passed
some reservoirs and small villages along the way. After passing the turnoff
for Kamikochi the last part to the top of the pass (1880 m) was very step
with switchbacks all the way, the road climbing the wooded mountainside.
Here I kept thinking: ok this is the last one, after the next bend I'll
be at the top, hmmm there seems to be another one, but after that its
over, well no, one more, just around the next turn I'll surely reach the
top, damn it's still uphill but up there it seems to be flat.....
There was no snow or glaciers or really step rock like the european alps,
the scenery was much nicer when I biked the high passes in Austria and
Switzerland. This was more like high wooded hills.
The downhill at the other side was great, with sometimes a very steep
road, and I had to make a few stops to let the wheels cool down, they got
very hot from all the breaking. I passed a small town, then there was
another minor pass again before comming down into the valley leading down
to Takayama. This part was very beautiful with yellow rice fields, lots of
old farmhouses and flowers and trees....
When I reached Takayama I biked up&down&back&forth and then to the railway
station and found a tourist information center. There was a youthhostel
located in an old tempel not far away, to bad it was full, it would have
been great to stay there. The girls at the center looked somewhat concerned
when the YH was full and I just took off instead of booking into some
expensive hotel.... Instead I stocked up on food and went off in
search for a campsite.
This almost developed into a crisis, it was not easy to find any good
spots, and I was tired after a long day in the mountains. After biking
about for a while I found a small secluded park maybe 5 km away, with
public toilets and lawns. Perfect, Buddha was still with me, by now I had
developed a certain skill in finding good campsites.
While I was making my camp ready I talked some with a girl playing
with her kids in the park, and later in the evening she and her husband
stopped by again at my little home under a tree and gave me a bag with food.
They were really nice people, nice with a chat, and good food.
19/9, 15.1 km.
Takayama was the nicest and most 'japanese' town so far, and perfect for
a day of rest and sightseeing. I visited Hida Folk Village, a collection
of old farmhouses from the surrounding areas. The town itself had several
temples, old canals, and areas and streets with old wooden houses. There
were Sake-breweries, shops with strange stuff, and shops with stuff I could
recognize. I had lunch and dinner at small restaurants I found in the back-
streets, and in the evening I returned to my own little park again.
20/9, 83.5 km, +800 m.
The plan today was to cross another pass into Shokawa valley to the west.
I first headed north from Takayama on route 41, then followed a river
through a valley, then west into the mountains on route 360.
This was probably the most wilderness-like area so far, and not much
traffic or urban areas. The weather was not so good though, cloudy and
foggy and raining. When I entered the valley leading to the pass it was
just a light drizzle and the temperature was fine. Further up as the climb
and the switchbacks started the rain increased and it got colder. Very nice
road, sometimes very narrow and winding along the mountainside, especially
after the pass at 1290m and on the way down on the other side. By the time
I came down to Ogimashi in Shokawa valley I was cold and totally soaked
through...
The area was very beautiful, also the fog and the rain gave it all an
alien touch... The village had a bunch of 'gasho-zukuri' style farmhouses,
surrounded by mountains and ricefields. After looking around for a while I
continued out of town maybe 6-8 km, and stopped for my camp at the lake-
shore behind the reservoir. I tried to stop my wet things from touching
my dry things, and had some food and beer, and fed my brain with some more
thoughts from my philosophy-book.
21/9, 70.9 km.
The rain continued during the night and didn't stop until early morning.
When the weather cleared I spread out my things to dry, so I had a late
start this morning. First I went back into Ogimashi again for some more
sightseeing and photos. There were several tourbusses around and also
some other Westerners, and I felt really good about cruising along on a
touring bike and not being dependent on busses and scedules.....
I continued south on route 156 and the scenery stayed nice... A lot of
wilderness and a narrow winding road, some tunnels as the road followed
the mountain-side around a reservoir. I then had a long and well-earned
downhill into the town of Shirotori, really nice, but I couldn't enjoy
it to the full since I knew I had to climb the same altitude up tomorrow.
I found a decent campsite beside a river almost inside the town, ok since
it was dark by the time I made my camp.
It's also time for some bike-maintenance soon: almost nothing left of my
rear tire in places, nothing left of the brake-pads, slimy unidentifiable
substance on the chain and other moving parts...
22/9, 116.0 km, +400m.
The day started with a mini-pass, about 400m climb and not so bad. The
valley on the other side again had a great road for biking (route 158)
and lots of wilderness. Especially tha last part was fine, the valley
here was very narrow with meanders, the river had cut it out of the
mountains and it was twisting back and forth as it followed the river.
After passing the town of Ono the road then left the real Japan Alps
and came out on the plains, and here I ran into a massive headwind, and
the horizon was filled with black scary-looking clouds heading my way.
Just before reaching Fukui I turned south on route 8, the wind now came
almost from behind and gave me terrific speed, but the rain started
to pour down, it must have been at least a small tyfoon...
This was almost an urban area with lots of traffic and things, and I was
getting worried about my camping. Since it was really blowing hard I also
wanted a place with some protection from the wind. First I thought about
camping under a highway bridge to get out of the wind and the rain,
but decided against it since it was too awful a place otherwise...
I eventually found a small parklike area down by a river, after turning
off on route 365, close to Takefu. Windy and rainy and wet, it's really
nice to have a good tent like mine which can stand the wind and the rain,
and which is easy to put up even in high winds. There's also enough space
for me to make food on my stove inside, between the outer and inner tent,
essential when the elements are attacking you full force.
23/9, 79.6 km, +500m.
I felt somewhat unmotivated and tired today, all the terrific roads were
done now and not far left to Kyoto. The day started with another small
pass crossing the mountains, with switchbacks the last part to the top.
In the afternoon the weather improved and it got warm and sunny again,
nice after some days with clouds and rain. I reached the north end of
Biwa-ko lake, and it was also great to see some water again. There were
quite a lot of people about along the shores, picknicking on the beaches
or in small parks, windsurfing, fishing or out on waterscooters. Many
people came out for the day and installed themselves with lots of gear,
tents & tables & chairs & grills, then packed everything up again and
left in the afternoon. In the evening just before sunset when things were
quitening down, I found a small beach along the northern shore of the
lake for my camp, and had some beer, goodies and a swim.
24/9, 85.0 km.
I took it easy in the morning again, then started off down the Western side
of Biwa-ko towards Kyoto. The first northen part of the lake was great with
good biking on small roads through villages and along some beaches and
parks. I suddenly came by a bikeshop in a small village and stopped to get
a new rear tire, the old one showed clear signs of disintegrating. This
bikeshop was exactly to my taste, every available space stacked with
bikeparts.
Further south I came out on route 161 and I had to fight the heavy
traffic for the rest of the day, narrow or no shoulders and urban areas.
There were sometimes sidewalks I could ride on but often of bad quality.
After reaching the southern end of the lake I turned off towards Kyoto on
route 1, the traffic-nightmare continued all the way until I eventually
reached Kyoto in the late afternoon. I stopped for a break, trying to
get my bearings and find out where I was, feeling confused and lost among
all the traffic, streets, people and buildings in the downtown area....
After getting some food and consulting my map I set off south, following
a small river and looking for somewhere to camp. After about 3-4 km I found
a secluded place among some trees along the riverbank. Quite good actually,
it was sort of a dead-end path, no roads passing by, and only 4 km from
downtown Kyoto.
And this was also the end of my main biketrip through Japan, now totalling
about 2600 km since leaving Chitose airport 33 days ago.
******************
25/9 - 3/10.
I stayed 3 nights in my Kyoto river-camp, then moved to a Gaijin-house
in the northen part of the city. This was a great place to stay, cheap
and with nice people. It was shared accomodation in 2 or 4-bed rooms,
with kitchen and livingroom, 4500Y for 3 nights.
I stayed there for 6 nights, biking and walking around in the city and
sightseeing. I visited a lot of temples, museums, handicraft-centers,
gardens, shops and restaurants and so on, (not to forget the Pub with
Guiness) and it was great to have some time left over for this, not having
to rush things.
My escape-plan worked equally well. I found some big boxes I dragged back
to the guesthouse, where I made a box for my dismantled bike with the help
of a knife, some string and tape. The rest of my things I packed the same
way as on my outbound journey.
I got a taxi to the railway station, then limited express Haruka directly
to Kansai airport outside Osaka. I was a bit worried about how this would
work out in advance, but everything went smoth, I had to carry everything
a few hundred meters at the railway station, then a short haul at the
airport until I got to the baggage-carts. I checked in my bikebox and my
sack with camping equippment and got on the flight for home.
Too bad everything was over, my great game-plan now totally executed....
And finally here's a list of my stuff:
- Touring-bike with low-rider bikerack
in front, 700C*32 tires.
- Hilleberg Nallo-2 tent.
- Thermarest & light sleepingbag
- MSR whisperlite stove + small fuelbottle
- 4 bike panniers and a small backpack
- 3 Tshirts, 1 shirt, 2 shorts
- 2 long pants
- socks & underwear
- Goretex jacket + rainpants + cap
- Jogging shoes + Teva sandals
- Big plastic sack for packing
- Flashlight, candles, matches
- Things to keep me clean
- Things to take if sick
- Extra string & light cord & plastic bags
- Compass, Swiss knife, 2l waterbottle
- Camera and film, radio
- LP Japan Guidebook
- Japanese phrasebook
- Detailed Roadmap in Japanese (Kanji) 1:250000
- Overview map in english, with larger towns.
- Waterproof mapholder
- Interesting and thick book
- Notebook, pens, adresses and other info
- Extra tubes, spokes, screws & nuts
- Extra brake & derailleur cables
- Screwdriver, spoke wrench, cone wrench,
- Pedal wrench, hex wrenches....
- Pump, tire-removal tools
- Chain breaker, patch kit, oil
- Cateye blinking red rear light
- Bike computer
