Japan Exodus - Day 23: Sea Legs

Good morning!

The day had started correctly. Thats what happens when you sleep the whole afternoon and the entire night as well. I did wake up once around six thirty in the evening. Have you ever done that and know the feeling of uneasy unbalance? I didn't know whether now had been the morning, or the evening. Really, could have been either.

The morning bell rang to wake all of us sleepy heads on the boat a good half hour before we arrived at the dock. I collected my things and made line for the main doors, ready to grab my bike and be on my way again. One strange thing that happened before I got off was that a staff member collected the tickets as we got off.  This is not what happened when I got off in Naha. So, I assumed that the ticket was garbage after I had boarded and threw the rectangular paper in the trash. And now that the man was collecting them, my heart sank.

I explained however that I had thought it was trash. He didn't like my answer but it must happen enough because he let me go on ahead fairly quickly. Maybe he just wanted to keep the line moving, or that I was a tourist who didn't know any better. Either way, it was an honest mistake and I soon collected my bike and took off toward a near by park to repack my belongings and find some breakfast.

Check out my Japanese skills! Sometimes I amaze myself. Two years in a country where I didn't know anyone or speak the language, and here I am making good conversation with people and drawing up signs. 

The top of the sign reads: 日本縦断 or, Japan longitudinal. 

Second line is: 沖縄 the Kanji for Okinawa where I want to "officially" start my cross country journey. I also decided that since I was technically as far as I could go in Okinawa on the 12th that I should start there too. It also happens to be my sister Gabi's 32nd birthday, so I thought that was a nice touch to the chronicle. 

The third line, you might guess, is my ending point. Hokkaido in Japanese is 北海道. The question mark is self explanatory, I am just not sure when I will arrive! 

Since I made this sing on the ship ride over to Kyushu, many people have asked me about it. Even today when I first put it on my bike, the ferry crew staff couldn't believe that I was going to cycle to Hokkaido. They told me to cycle hard, and to not give up on this dream. 

Breakfast! An American breakfast at that! Oh, the free coffee refills is really why I came here, but the food aint bad either!

Check it out, the sing fits! I am so happy that people can see my goal, though the way I have it mounted partly obscures the message. Still, so far, I guess people can read around the obstruction because I keep getting praises!

After a really good day of cycling, one of the best things I have come to enjoy are the foot bath onsens. Hot water baths for your feet, made public, just waiting to be used by weary travelers such as your faithful narrator. Whats even better is to give the old dogs a soak and then let the air breeze get at them and melt away any stress. 

The rest I gave myself on the ride back to the main island of Kyushu had done me good. I cycled more than 100 km today and don't feel tired. Yet, the sun getting low and I found an excellent place to call my own for the night. The feeling seems automatic now, almost instinctual, how I can tell if the day is complete or not. I know what I am looking for in a rest area, and how tired I feel. Either it is time to settle down or it is not, I don't have to force myself into anything I don't want and that is one freedom of traveling alone.  

Hehehe, I think I will camp next to this giant tangerine and watch the sunset over the waters of the West coast. 

Where the sky ended on the horizon was not so clear that I could watch the sun go down all the way and disappear behind the water line, but none the less beautiful.

Coming off Okinawa, I was quickly reminded that the nights would not be as warm as I was used to. I entered a room where space was provided to watch the sunsets, and so I did. There was also a small market where I bought some pastries. 

Mmmm, can you believe I found this for a dollar!? So good. There were nuts and dried fruits inside and everything! There I sat, watching the sunset off the Japanese coast, eating delicious pastries, checking the map for future routes, and everything just seemed so epic. This will be one of my favorite moments, or at least one that sticks out the most, along the journey. 

The finality of the sunset that night. 

Right, so they tell me an earthquake happened. A few moments before we were to disembark the ferry, the news came on and people where in shock. I kept hearing the Japanese word for "earthquake" but I didn't know where. After getting off and checking the local news, turns out that the island of Kyushu, specifically Kumamoto, survived a serious earthquake with some casualties already reported. That the epicenter happened in the middle of the island means that I will not truly be able to avoid any aftershocks, so lets hope that there are none. 


Because I am a native Californian, I know all too well the dangers that earthquakes promise. I am ready. I have water and food. I am sleeping outside where nothing can fall on me, especially those pesky power-lines that are just everywhere in Japan. There is no rain coming at least, so the chance of landslides are pretty low too. Aftershocks are the ones that scare me, because they can come anytime after the quake, even a day or so, and you never really can be sure if it is just an aftershock, or another big one. And with that, I will dream of sweeter things, and bid you all a good night. I'm safe and capable.

Love
-A