When we select a spot to camp, we are not too choosy. Sometimes, our campsite keep us awake with a provided yet unwanted overhead light overhead. (Quick solution: bandana blindfold). Other times, we are free to wake up with the rising sun, as was for today, since we had the freedom to camp out in an open field, with no one or reason to bother us awake.
The park were we set up camp was very moist with the morning due. The sun had come up early over a low tree line and we were in no rush, so we let our tents and tarps dry out for a bit while we ate some breakfast and talked about what the schedule should be today, considering that rain was in our very near future.
Apparently rain, or the treat of it, was not enough to entice us away from one very cool tour. You see, the city of Saijo where we had cycled to and camped for the night remains famous for one very simple reason: the Asahi beer factory.
If I had to rank the popularity of beer in Japan, Asahi would be second to none. There is not a whole lot of choice when it comes to beer in Japan, but wherever you go, guaranteed there is an Asahi beer there with your name on it.
So, we decided to take the tour. The math we did assured us enough time to cycle to Imabari, where we could wait out the rain. In the photo above, you can see the giant tanks of fermenting beer, enough beer that if you drank one 350ml can a day, you'd be well over 2,200 years old in finishing all the beer in one of these tanks if you'd start drinking since your first day on this earth.
Waiting for the tour to start, Kyle checks out a photographic map of people getting drunk off Asahi all across Japan.
Did they spell his name right? Doesn't matter if they did, everyone was happy to come to the end of the tour because of what great gifts it brought: free beers and good company. Sure, it was before noon, but time is relative after all. Cheers!!
And me drinking my complimentary beers. Very worth the tour.
After we had ate lunch and sobered up, it was time to hit the road and make some progress into the next city before the rain destroyed our plans. Funny, the Internet oracles had predicted rain at the time of this photo, yet we were dry and happy. Goes to remind us, predicting the weather is still science fiction.
Eventually the rain did come, but long after we arrived at the location we had picked out. Here, I await anything, everything, that comes from sitting dry under a sheet of indiscriminate water shed.
I'll tell ya, it was cold that night. And the water was not so bad that Kyle and I didn't venture out a bit. We took a gamble, we took a risk. We fled the comfort of our claimed habitat in search for a bath house to clean and warm up in. The first one we found was closed, but the second one had everything we could ever want, including a dry sauna to melt away all the sore muscles.
It rained hard after we finished, but our camp site was not too far off. We could make it with easy, although not completely dry. We accepted this. And so, although a bit damp from the rain we ride in on, we set up camp in between the bathrooms and closet space in a nicely protected shelter, and counted sheep. The dream world is calling me, so I say good night.
Love,
-A
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