Monday, 18th May - It's going up....

I was woken up by a guy with his pocket radio who strolled past the tent. I quickly got up, dressed and started cleaning up the tent to get ready to leave. Within ten minutes the guy came back with someone else and I got out of the tent to explain myself saying where I came from, why I stayed there and where I would go today. This seemed to reassure them. One of them had an armband and seemed to look after the temple grounds as he cleared up some fallen down pieces of wood from the two days rain and storm. He came back to the tent to chat and he learned German in high school and could still remember parts of Theodor Storm's poems and some other interesting words... He said "Kyotsukete" which I did not know what it means but it sounded familiar. I packed my bags pretty quickly and was ready to go by 10 am. I would take the R158 to go to Takayama, exactly 60 miles away and again over the Japanese Alps into the next biggest valley, right through Chibusangaku National Park at 2000m high. Luckily it stopped raining in the night and I awoke to a fine and sunny day. I manoeuvred out of town pretty quickly using the local tourist map to get onto the R158 starting in Matsumoto. On my way out I met a fellow traveller, Matthias (picture right) from France who has travelled for over 13 years now of which he spent 3 years travelling in Japan. He was on foot with his luggage (on a rollable device) and wanted to hitch-hike into the mountains. We had a nice chat and he explained that "Kyotsukete" means "take care". We had some pictures taken from us with our luggage in front of a snow man and wished each other "Kyotsukete", “Bon voyage” and “See you in the mountains”. And we would. After an exhausting 40 Km uphill I met him by the roadside waiting for his next hike. We chatted a little more and he told me that he is a photographer and on his way into the mountains to see some remote villages. He would work and travel wherever he goes earning money selling his pictures and doing some other work as well. He was very pleasant to talk to and spoke very good Japanese and English. I may see him again in Takayama as I told him I was going there. He asked me if I would like to have lunch, but I said I need to do another hour to have done at least half of my way.

Another agonising nine miles before I had lunch outside a natural spa. I spotted some cherry trees in full bloom, a rarity now because everywhere else the flowers had already withered away. This really was an indication how high up in the mountains I was. I went through 18 tunnels and the longest one was over 4000 m long and no pavement. There was a toll station where I made a fool of myself getting through as I was trying to insert my YEN 1000 note into any of the provided machine slots. This didn’t work and some guy from behind me in his car already came out. I was rescued by a toll gate official who took me over to the side and explained that I didn’t need to pay. He helped me carry my bike up the steep pedestrian staircase so I could continue my travel. I was now in one of the skiing regions and surrounded by almost touchable, snow covered mountain tops (picture left). There were lifts and I could see the whole slope as well. Must be nice in winter. I asked the toll gate official how much higher it is and he explained another couple of pretty steep roads and then it’s done.

I went up the serpentine and there was a road construction side with only one lane traffic. These sites are always operated with two people on each side with red/ white flags and walky talkies. I passed one of them and it must have taken me ten minutes to pass the construction side as I had to make some stops to catch my breath. On the other side the guy smiled and I looked at the row of cars waiting for me to get off the road... Hihi...One more tunnel and it was done! 45 miles of uphill would come to an end.

I was at the other side of the National Park with its gateway city Takayama to the east another 19 miles away. The other gateway city was Matsumoto. All along the way were busses taking tourists into the park and people enjoying the many onsen and hot springs. At the mountain top I spoke to a couple who were picking herbs (udon, wasabi and some others) and enquired about the onsen in Takayama. From here it was all downhill and I set my new record with 43 mph - laying flat on my handle bar and pedalling like mad... The next 19 miles went by in a jiff, 45 minutes to be precise. This meant that it took me 6 hours for 43 miles uphill and only 45 minutes downhill. What a rewarding journey downhill it was. My heart jumped for joy and some passing motor cyclists sounded their horns and gave thumbs up...

I arrived in Takayama and stopped at a temple/ youth hostel to charge my battery equipment and to take a hot bath in the temple onsen. This youth hostel is very nice and has a very luxorious feel to it. As it is a temple strict closing times (gates are locked at 9.45 pm) and lights are out by 10 pm are being observed. In the morning is some drumming and chanting to be heard from the dormitories. I was only one of 3 guests and had a good nights sleep.