Japan Exodus - Day 30: One Month Down But Not Out

Even though I have been on the road for one month now, I don't feel like I have made the progress across the country like I maybe should have. And the reason I think that way is because while I don't have an official schedule to keep, I do have to be out of the country by June 20th when my visa expires.

One month in, I could make it to Hokkaido before my bday if I wanted. I won't be goin straight along the northern cost.

Technically, it has only been a little more than a week since I started from Okinawa and biked since the bottom of Fukuoka. Along this map, that is not bad. I could make it to Sapporo,Hokkaido by my birthday if I wanted to follow the northern coast all the way there. But, I don't plan to. Around Osaka I will dip south and see my friend in Wakayama along the southern coast, then keep that route till I hit Tokyo one last time. From there, it is just a straight shot north until the island of Hokkaido any way I want to go! Wish me luck!

Right, back to the story. Last I left you with a small journey after a stormy day to a new small island. Tsunoshima is just a bridge ride away but from the looks of this exposed bridge, I will have to fight a nasty cross wind before I can rest my head.  

All ready to go - should I be worried that there are no cars going across this thing in the wind. I believe a cargo truck would not dare if it not care to fall on its side. Keep in mind that the wind is still strong enough to push the waves away from the shore and back into the ocean of Japan. That, my family and friends, is serious wind power. 

Choose your level of comfort. There is  no walkway for cyclists or pedestrians to get across safely away from cars. On a heavy traffic day I might have reconsidered this. But, today there was absolutely no one about. 

This is a challenge I could do. A little dangerous, not to mention difficult against the wind pushing me back and the my side, though a little necessary too. From crossing the bridge my nerves hold a little more steady, another experience to draw strength from when I get tired, another story to share across a camp fire. 

When I got to the place I scouted on the map, where I thought would be an ok place to sleep, I was happy to have crossed that bridge. You see, there was no one around when I arrived. There had been no cars along the way, there were no light on in any of the houses, there were no stores open, and not a single soul could be heard along the way or in the place I found myself. I started to wonder if the storm had caused an evacuation of the island.  

I wanted to leave, but my nerves held. Over the course of cycling along those narrow dirt roads in Indonesia against double decker buses going the wrong way, racing wild oxes, weaving traffic filled streets of Kuala Lampur and Bangkok, and from everything that put a little thicker callus on my nerves and refined my judgment of people and situations along the way, I wanted to leave but knew that what I thought were scary sounds was just wind flapping a loose board about, and that the sound of what I thought were cries are just the wind whipping across tight corners. The creaks in the building caused by the lowering temperature, and the shadows just exactly that. There was nothing to be really scared of and once I took a better look around, the island I found myself alone on is actually quite beautiful. 

After all, I was the only human to see this sight today. From here, I sleep well.

And in the morning the mood had of the island switched from everything scary, to pleasant harmony. There were even some cars in the morning returning to the island once I made me departure. The wind too had returned but nothing compared to what strength the day before brought. Today was safe enough to cycle at a comfortable speed, and even to take a rare selfie. 

A small hill in the bridge on my way out provides a morning view that is worth all of yesterday's troubles. 

The cool motorcyclist yesterday suggested to me a mountain passage to take so I could see a famous temple. Temples I am not so keen to go out and see, but mountain roads promise a clean safe ride where one can do more thinking than cycling, so I took him up on his suggestion. The ride really took it out of me, I think that the road must of not felt so difficult for him on his motorbike. But for me, although beautiful, I was tired by 11AM after coming down from the detour. 

Along the mountains, I saw this school just hanging around with nothing else around but a little farm land and a lot of untouched shrubbery. Amazing that a preschool exists here, apart from everything else. Or, maybe not. They must take the most amazing field trip walks, literally. 

Then there was this small mountain lake, also in the middle of no where. No towns exist up here, just some houses and one post box I counted. Not a post office, just an orange Japanese post box. I dream about what I would do if I could live up here. 

Ha! This guy. As mentioned before, I was exhausted from going through the steep mountains for five hours, and when I got back down I stopped off at the first store I saw to refresh up on clean water and some much needed breakfast. I usually mind my own business, not that stops people from coming up to me, as this wondering Japanese hippie did. Traveling in his old VW green and rust van, he was on a personal mission to surf all the cool spots in Japan. One of the first things he told me after all the pleasantries exchanged was, "No money, but happy," as we commented on all the people moving around us. There was indeed many people hurrying around to get lunch and hurry off back to work. 

What are two wandering hippies with no schedule to do? We plotted right there on the street in the shade, drank fresh green tea, looked at maps, and wondered why we were the only two. 

After tea, he told me that a little kettle maintenance was necessary. Apparently you must rub the used tea bag along the outside of the pot after use. 

Speaking of maintenance, my Japanese improves with each character I meat. Yours can too, if you are not scared to ask what this or that word means. From my new friend I learned two new words to use. The first is ごえん pronounced go-e-n. I thought for a second that he was saying go-yen (five cents) but the context didn't fit (sometimes the "y" in yen is left out). We used Google at first. What we got was "your edge." That didn't work. So we talked a little more and I could finally put together what he was saying. "Goen" comes to represent the idea of fate. That we came together here, that either one of us could have stopped off at any other place, or me not taken that detour this morning, or even one of us being in a foul mood, and we would not have met each other's acquaintance. Sort of makes you think of all the other people who we had the potential to meet.

The second word is a useful one, its たび or tabi. Again, I first got this word confused with "tabe,"  which surrounds the action of food and eating. I thought it was an unusual conjugation from a local dialect. I was wrong. Tabi means journey, or voyage. So, when we add a "iyoi" (good) as a prefex, we get the general message of "have a good trip," "bon voyage," and the like. Seems like a chore at first, but once you get some key words under your belt, you really start picking up vocabulary!

My new friend and I exchanged info, and I told him to call me when he gets to Shikoku, I have some awesome recommendations for him when he gets there, and some like-minded friends to introduce him to. The rest of the day was spend, as you can guess, moving along the northern coast of Honshu. I had wanted to go a little further than I did today just to keep up appearances. However, that is the worst way to go about things on the road. Never force things to happen, I've learned. 

Today, I figured I had enough and fell in love with this stretch of coast. Along a lonely palm, I decided to revere Mother's greenery and ocean, and call it a day.  

Welcome to Abu town. The local attraction are the two island you can sort of make out in the background. The story is that the two islands are lovers. Never moving closer or apart from each other, they appear completely made for each other and we are again reminded that although they appear apart on the water surface that they are indeed connected in ways that we cannot see. The shrine that captures their love here is a popular place for young couples to express their love for a crush, and in the summer time young men prove their love by swimming out the islands to impress their would be lovers. 

Yeah, I think I'll camp here =)

Often these rest areas are also places where farmers sell their products to the government branch of agriculture for money, and where they in turn sell it to the people. In this way the government acts as the middle man and the farmers don't have to wait and be salespeople to the public as well as farmers. Not all, but most. The system certainly is more expedient for the farmers, I am not sure if the government makes or looses much money in this way.   

Anyways, there was no such place in this rest area, so I grabbed dinner at a local supermarket. Super hungry, I ate about have and saved the rest. 

On the recommendation of a friend, I am hooked on these new chocolate and coffee candy treats. I don't see them everyday, but when I do, I snatch them up!

How great is this sunset? Watching the sun go down over the Western waters is the one sight to always fall back on, and remind me of home. 

Big surprise, I was not the only one watching the sun set. What was just a me and a Japanese couple sitting on adjacent benches, turned into a seven person feast. Seemingly out from no where, wine and food was brought forth, laughs and jokes told, and cultural differences expanded upon. It was one of those nights where everyone lifted up everyone else's spirits and stood as a reminder that we all have red blood and love a good drink over better food.  

Update: funny, I ran into this traveling man and wife three more times along the way, once at another rest stop, and twice they passed me on the road, waving and chanting for me to do my best. Would you believe that to be the first time? In Indonesia it happened every day. Japanese people are much more reserved when it comes to expressing emotions physically. 

Admittedly, this is not where the party ended. Way past the last lights of the sky became useful for looking around, we stayed and burned the night oil. There was no one around to complain, and these older locals kept bringing out wine from their RV. When you are having a good time with good souls, no expense is spared. I was happy that I did not eat all my dinner because we all became hungry later on that night and morning. 


I almost forgot to say that between the festivities, I excused myself to take a much needed onsen. This place did not have farmers market, but there was on onsen. And really, today that is much more what I needed. Not only am I clean, my leg muscles are relaxed again. After the wind, food, laughs, and onsen, I know that whatever tomorrow might throw my way that I will be in good condition to take on the challenge. I really love days like today. I don't know if perfection can be achieved in an discipline or experience, I don't think so. Today finally ends at pretty close to a perfect day, at least one that I would not mind repeating again and again and again.


Onsen love,
-A