After my night out I woke up around 6.30, way too early for my liking. I packed my bags checked with reception to get a trolley and then went to write my blog. I wanted to check the local shop for a new mattress, but the shop wouldn’t open until 10 am so I browsed for my route and headed off to Starbucks just before 10 to get a coffee and finish uploading some pictures to the blog. Then I headed to the shop, sadly it was just a clothing shop with no mattress in sight. One of the shop assistants told me to go to another shop in another mall. Sadly here too, no mattress. At this time it was almost 12 noon and I eent back to the hotel to grab my stuff and start cycling.
Today should be an “easy” day, but I also need to take it easy as my cycle sores needed healing, and I didn’t want to overdo it. My plan was to get as close to the ferry port as close as possible and I picked a nice route along the ocean. The first 20 km were difficult. The streets were busy coming out of Nagasaki and there was lots of traffic. I didn’t enjoy cycling so much on busy streets. But eventually as the roads got quieter as I headed higher up into the mountains, the rice fields turned into potato fields. Apparently this region is really famous for its potatoes and vegetables. I went into one of the local shops picked a muffin and some strawberries for the road. I had to stop at one of the local convenience stores to check my plasters, which by now felt just as uncomfortable as the cycle sores themselves, as they presented just another foreign object on my skin. I then grabbed some more water and then was on my merry way.
The roads overall were pretty bad compared to most of the days and in one of the larger towns, on a pretty big downhill, there were so many potholes that I couldn’t avoid. I continued cycling but had a bad feeling and after some checking, my front tire got damaged. It looks like some of the metal threads got broken and now there was a lump on one side. It seems okay to cycle but this can only go one of two ways, it’s either gonna stay the same or get worse over time. There’s no cycle shop that will have the same quality tires here so I will have to wait until I get to a bigger city or just manage. This is a bit unnerving as my tyres are so critical and they held up so well until now.
After another 10 km or so Google Maps told me to branch off into one to tiny Seaside Roads. This was the nicest cycle I’ve had so far with the road snaking around the coast - It was beautiful.
I had to decide whether to quickly soak myself in one of the many local Onsen, because there might not be another one where I was going to stay tonight. I picked a really small one that was from 1937, as the elderly lady at the entrance told me after some Google translation magic. This spa really was a blast from the past. It’s a wooden lockers were from a time long gone. This Onsen had two entrances up front, one for men, and one for women, both overseen by an elderly lady indoors, who pointed me towards a ticket machine for ¥200. There was only one big bath and the water was boiling hot, but smooth and silky. Two elderly gentleman just left as I came in thought I had the bath to myself. I had to remove the plasters before going into the water and I don’t think I’m going to put them back on tomorrow. It just seems too messy and I’m not sure if it’s doing anything.
After the bath, I had another 10 km or so to go, but I was getting more hungry and I was looking for the restaurant to have some dinner in the place. I picked turned out to be a fish shop and not a restaurant which wasn’t very apparent from the outside, at least not for me. A young man with AirPods in his ears came out. He even spoke some English and told me that this was a fresh fish shop, and that there might be a good restaurant in either eight or 10 km away from here if I’m going down south. Eventually more family members came the sister the mum and dad we got talking and eventually they invited me to stay for some sashimi and rice balls. We enjoyed chatting to each other and eventually I parted with one of my two remaining Toffifee (chocolate) boxes. They then insisted to take some pictures for their Instagram account and we had a great time together. The father told me to go and visit his friend down at the next village who runs a Japanese restaurant.
By this time, my bum continued to hurt and I wasn’t really up for cycling that much further I had already picked a campsite and a local shop that would do some more food. This was another four or 5 km from where I met the friendly family. however, I got to the shop bought some dinner and then cycled down towards the harbour. Sadly the road leading to the campsite was broken and derelict and didn’t seem to be used for many years, I should’ve listened to the family and went straight to the restaurant where they also told me that the beach nearby is great for camping. Oh well listen to your intuition I had another big gulp of water and somehow those last few kilometres just flew by.
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| Many tunnels, where only one car could pass, or me.. |
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| The shimmering light on the other side is where I came from earlier |
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| The narrowest roads yet. Everyone here has tiny cars |
By this time it was already 730 and the Sun had already gone down with a spectacular sunset. I quickly pitched my tent through my stuff into my tent and then walked a few hundred metres towards the Japanese restaurant. The owner immediately recognised me as the guy from the fresh fish shop had called ahead to inform him of my potential arrival. This felt very welcoming. I was greeted with a starter on the house. There was another local who was sitting next to me on the bar drinking shochu, an alcoholic beverage made from wheat with 25% alcohol. He insisted on sharing with me, which basically meant getting a glass with ice filling of shochu and topped up with water. Gosh, this drink is strong. I don’t know how he finished 2 1L bottles as I was sitting next to him eating my dinner. Eventually the owner came out and we talked for another hour using mainly Google translate in hands and feet. another guy from the bar joint in everybody tried to practice their small English and I continued to try my very best in Japanese. When stuff got too complicated. I had to use Google translate. Next door to the bar were the Izakaya style rooms, with floor seating and in one was a group of men having a dinner party. In the room next to it, with regular table was an 80’s party. Not that there was 80s music blasting from speakers, no, it was a meeting of octogenarian who were having a get together and to eat and drink in style. Everyone was well dressed but not overdressed, the way I would probably dress when I’m in my 80s. They seemed to be having a great time. With some we talked about what it took to get to 80. One said that it’s good health, simple lifestyle and good friends. That seems to resonate also with what research says in that social contact is a huge factor for people to age well and live long.
The bar closed around I just left before that, very happy having met so many nice people today from the people at the foot spa to the fresh fish shop family all the way to the Japanese restaurant owners.
Life is good! I headed to my tent, knowing I was going to sleep on just one mattress, with the other one still being broken and no replacement in sight. This wasn’t too bad as it was sandy beach. Regardless, I woke up a couple of times during the night at 2 am 4 am, 6:30 and eventually got up at 7:30. I had a dip in the ocean to wake myself up before packing my stuff and doing some blog dictation and writing. It seems that dictation is having many hearing/ writing issues so I’m still not sure what’s more effective.
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