Japan - Solemn Travels South

Sadly, perfections cannot be held everyday. 

Our return from Fuji rewarded Go and I a small celebration with friends (my birthday got worked in there somehow) and now it was time for him to walk back into class, and for me to move my ass.

Here's the situation as it stands: after Fuji I still have about a month left of tourist time on my visa. I've thought about returning to Bangkok where work and friends are (May 23 update - Thai military ousts gov in successful cou, indefinite detentions of political leaders including former PM Yingluck, and mandated curfew - dodged that bullet), but I don't want to take too big a step backwards. So, this wandering hippie moves on in no particular direction or motive, no traveling companions, and no obligations further than my June 18 visa expiration. 

This will be a long post. Here we go.

Solum travels for me again, at least, for a while. Just me and my thoughts. Alone with them is part productive in that I can peacefully sort out the ideas and conversations that I have filed in the back of my mind, yet part distractive in that I easily get lost in what's going on up there. 

When I travel alone, I travel on impulse. I leave decisions up to Nature when I come to forks in the road. There's a bird on that sign, I'll go left. Or, this way looks greener, I'll head right. If no obvious sign reaches me, I'll pick up a stick, fling it dramatically high in the air, and cycle down the path that it points to once it's set safe again on the moist soil. 

From Kyoto to Obama:

Out of Kyoto is a pleasure. You never see the tourists who've confined themselves comfortably to the center of the city, the trees grow taller out here, there are less cars, and something tasty comes about in the air.

I heard of Obama, or "little beach," town before I flew to Osaka oh so long ago but never really considered visiting the beach town with sis or Go because it was so far away from our routes. Yet now, cycling through the woods, pondering, listening, I didn't know where to go first after leaving Kyoto. That is when this sign literally presented itself over my head, almost in a blaze of glory, snapping myself out of a daze. So let's go!

Oh and what would a town named Obama be without a small tribute to the leader of the free world....hidden behind a vending machine.

It's a coin toss; which do you prefer? This one, or the statue of him as a child in Jakarat, Indonesia (see "They Say I Met Barak Obama).

 

At least the vending machine out shadowing Barak isn't a Romney supporter. 

Wouldn't you know it, Obama even has it's own shrine and castle ruins.

The Obama river feeding into the ocean. I'm off to win a little sleep before the mosquitos get to my ankles for dinner. 

From Obama to Ine:

From Obama it is not far to one very special tourist destination I never knew about: Amanohashidate. A thin strip of land bridging across the Miyazu Bay that by tradition, you must see upside down. 

There are more and more fields and farmers, more open spaces and patches of untouched forests, more rivers and lakes along the northern coast of Japan. I love the Nature scene, unfortunately there is also a killer head wind pushing me back.

There are also fewer towns along this way. So when I happen to find a nice place to sit down and eat, I doubled up on Okonomiyaki and a twelve order of Takoyaki.

So hungry but couldn't finish.

Hmmm, let's see, according to this child's hand drawn map, I need to keep going left. 

Well, there it is. Amanohashidate. What? It's not taking your breadth away? Your not impressed? Granted today (or most days along this coast) is overcast with beefy clouds, I agree that it's still not that impressive...from this angle.

Here's a new angle, one taken from the starting point of the zig zagging straightaway. You can see how the sand from this land bridge makes up most of the ground, some soil and soul for the pine trees too.

It's a very nice strip of land. I can't say I ever remember feeling like I was walking my bike through the woods, then be able to step out of the crowded tree line and straight into the beach. It's a pulchritudinous (yeah, it's a word) place to wonder through.  

You notice my bike in the picture previous this one. Here it is again from the opposite angle, so you can see just how narrow the land becomes at points. Don't like the view of one coast? Not more than a thirty second walk to the other side.

The beach is amazing, and I wonder why more people arnt jumping in the water? So I go to investigate.

And here is what I see as I walk right up to the water; a huge dead jelly fish. Question answered, don't go into the water.

Riding my bike across the land, I still wasn't in awe of the land strip. I loved it, but there must be a reason why this place was so touristy. 

So I get to the other side, off the land bridge, and I see a temple in the distant hills. Next to it, a type of cable trolley up to an observation area. What's better than a cable car ride up to the top? How about a colorful, individual seat ride to the top - yeah! 

If the brightly colored conveyer seats aren't sign enough, que the theme park music! 

The ride actually lasted a long time. Enough for me to take plenty of cool shots. If I had to title this one, it would be Flying Over Flowers.

And this one, What's That Sound?!

Aha! This is much, much better! From the top of the gondola exit point you turn around and immediately see why this place is so attractive.

It's an amazing feat really, to see it from up here after cycling across. It's one of those moments where you can only appreciate the gift from afar. 

Here we go, the official stand from where to take the traditional upside down view....

So what do you think? Yes? Looks like heaven to me too.

I pranced around uptop a while, ate some ice cream and enjoyed the view a while longer. Eventually, it was time to leave again, and I had a new CouchSurfing host waiting for me to arrive!

Hey, remember those Takoyaki I bought seventeen pictures ago? Well I never finished them. So when I stopped at this dock to gander at the water and use the restroom, I took out the octopus treats for a snack. 

When I came back from the bathroom, I stood in fear.

I giant hawk swooped down inches from my scalp. It wasn't after me. It was after my takoyaki. Help!

Not once, twice did this massive bird of prey try to pick up my treats from the protective shell of plastic which encased them. It tried twice and failed; I felt bad. 

I - ever so quickly - opened the case, pushed my bike away and watched the enormous birds have at the treats. I heard the hawks fighting as I cycled off back into the woods. 

I've arrived in the very small town of Ine. Made up mostly of fishermen, the town contains young children and senior residents; all the young adults have fled for the major cities or are out chasing their dreams. 

I've made it here on half a whim. It's a lovely place, quiet. The kind of place a famous writer would want to live for a year to be left alone aside from the infrequent thirty second conversations that go along with trips to the convenience store for refills on coffee grounds and grocery meals.

I stayed with a martial arts master and restaurant owning chef, Mr. Alex. Always willing to pour another cup of beer or sake from behind his bar, I spent that night entertaining an impromptu dinner guest party at his restaurant.

Stories were shared and laughs passed around, the night crept on but no one seemed to notice or mind. Another glass poured before me.

When the night finally called the guests away, I was surprised to find that I would spend the night in his place of work. It won't be my first time sleeping in a restaurant (thank you Indonesia, you've taught me so much), I threw Alex off by how OK I was with his proposal. And I really was, I slept great that night.

Ine to Toyo-oka 

See? Well, I might have been ready for this picture. Nevertheless, I was rested and ready to tackle another long day of wandering. But first....

But first we had to visit the early morning Fisherman's haul. You won't believe me but the place didn't smell of spoiled fish like you might imagine. 

Here, the giant suction tube lifted out the day's catch and splatted it through a machine which seperated the scaly cargo by size.

Further sorting was completed by hand. So many fish to see! I was amazed at how quick the workers were able to identify, distinguish, and separate the multitude of fish. 

Remember that dead jellyfish I saw on Amanohashidate beach line? Yeah, here's the rest of them!

Mr. Alex's wife sent me off with some home made onigiri - score!!

I feel like I've taken many pictures along the way here. This one is among my favorites. This one is going on my top ten list and I almost didn't stop to take it.

Out of Ine, the rode is still rural. Well, rural for Japan. This means well kept public restrooms and snack vending machines.

Hey, is that snack you just baught cold or even room temperature? Heat it up from this village's community microwave. Seriously, why can't we have nice things like this back home?

Speaking of nice, this is what kindness looks like. 

While stopping at a mini store to empty my bladder and refill on water, a man pulls up and out of his car, smiling. My father taught me many things, and one of them was that you shouldn't trust a man who smiles at you right from the beginning.

I've come to understand further that what my father meant was to watch out for slick sales men. I know the type, I used to half be one when I worked for the Bank . Now I am a better judge of character. So I didn't feel wrong sparking a conversation with this smiling stranger as he approached. 

Well, my Japanese is improving a little (choto). I was able to figure out that twenty years ago this guy had cycled across Arizona. Bravo! He was impressed that I was solo cyclo-touring, congratulated me for my efforts, then disappeared inside the store to rummage for what he came to buy. A moral pat on the back always puts one in a better mood - I was ready to pedal onwards. 

Just as I plopped my leg over my bike frame, the man returned. He had baught me some breakfast and coffee. My favorite - pan dulce y café - how did he know?!? I thanked him tremendously for the treats. It seems some one treated him just as kindly in Arizona. 

Serious tunnel vision. At this point I didn't know that I wouldn't make it to Toyo-oka, the route there is punctuated with tunnel after tunnel. And this usually means only one thing: hills.

After my fourth or fifth tunnel crossing I came to an eerie realization; the angle of gravity is very hard to judge when you're traveling inside these dark tunnels. Up feels like down and vice versa. 

Ramen! Ramen is available almost everywhere in Japan and I'm so happy for that. I can always stop in and ask for a big bowl of miso ramen knowing that the answer will most often be "yes."

As it turned out that day, right after the huge bowl of ramen actually, it began to rain. Shoot.

Nothing this guy hates more than cycling wet and cold in the rain. Your chain gets rusty, your grip becomes slippery, and if it ain't sweat it's just not fun to be drenched in. Well, I was in between cities at this point, maybe another 15km to the next possible hotel.

For some reason, I thought it might be a good idea to wait out the rain at the beginning of the storm. That was stupid. The weather only took a turn for the worst and I ended up cycling through pushy wind and slick grounds the while way there.

I finally did make it to Toyo-oka, soaking wet and short tempered. A hotel took the last of my cash and I layed wondering, spread out on my hotel bed after a warm shower, what surprises tomorrow would bring.

Toyooka to Aioi

The night before I decided it was time to do laundry, so I hauled my stink pile to the local laundry cleaner machines and quickly realized that....that I had no cash. 

Hm, no worries, I'll go down to 7-11 and use the ATM like I always do. Thing is, there's no 7-11's here. There's not even one in the prefecture! Shit!!

Oh, what to do. I still had a few savings to use but no way to reach the billfold. Least to say, I went hungry that night.

And the this morning too. Although I awoke in the comforts of a decent hotel, it was one of the worst mornings. In the iconic words of Cash, "I put on my cleanest dirty shirt to meet the day." No breakfast, and a long way to go before another ATM that would take my MasterCard.

(Side note - I called my sister on the way down south, the fastest way out of the prefecture, and she reminded me how foolish I was. Indeed post offices scattered even in the loneliest ghost towns will take international cards.)

Off again I was to the southern coast sister and I had explored a month earlier. I would have felt like I was missing out more if I hadn't disliked the northern coast as much. Always cloudy, windy, and/or rainy, disagreeable coastal roads if at all, I was ok with traveling South again.

Finally running into some money, I stuffed my face with treats and drinks of the unhealthy variety. Popcorn is my friend. There will be plenty of time for healthy eating soon. And that's my way of telling you that I'll likely live out a few months in Japan. That's right =) I believe to have secured a job on Shikoku with great pay, little work, and an apartment by the beach. Need a reason to visit Japan?

In the end, it's all in the cards why I hurried out of Toyo-oka with no money, sped through Himeji and rested at a Michi No Eki in Aioi that night. Tomorrow, I will find that rare case of life on the road: meeting a cyclist traveling in the same direction as I.

Until then, much love,

-A