Day 11 - I love Nagasaki! (0 km cycled but 18k steps walked)

The day day started, as usual…6.30am despite only getting to bed after midnight. I don’t know why my body doesn’t want to sleep any longer?!  Could have also been the alcohol from yesterday? I laid in bed for another hour, contemplating life and travels and how good it is to be outside my comfort zone for an extended period. I also looked ahead for Monday and where I would go next after Nagasaki and I was sure now that doing some island hopping was for the best to skip past urban areas and also use some Kyushu ferries.

I got up around 8.30, shower and ready to descend onto the nearest Starbucks for some coffee and blog writing. I strolled up into town to get to the mall where I’d surely find a Starbucks. Before that I had Japanese breakfast in a nearby Izakaya-style restaurant which did some amazingly good and affordable food. For ¥1,200 I had a huge piece of fish, miso soup dumplings rice. That was just the  est and filled my up for the next 8h! Then I went to the get coffee and I don’t know what it is but I order the same thing and the prices fluctuate between  ¥540 and ¥585, even though Starbucks doesn’t have different prices across Japan, I think. After some blog writing I was excited to check out Nagasaki Museum of History & Culture, a must see if you’re ever going to Nagasaki. 

As I strolled to the museum, I spotted a small barber shop and and decided to get a haircut. I’ve never had a haircut in Japan and it was a great experience. The barber asked for ¥3,000, pretty much the same as I’d pay in London. We went through some pictures on the internet as he needed to know what I wanted. We agreed on short sides and a trim on the top. I was wrapped into multiple layers of towels and covers so no hair would fall down into my shirt, a hot towel wrap for my head to get things started and a shave to finish off. That felt really good and I was set to continue my hike up Nagasaki’s hilly side streets. 

The museum was nothing short of spectacular, if you’re into museums... The exhibits covered lots from around the time of Nagasakis encounter with the West (the Portuguese got here in 1543, by accident blown off course on their way to China), to covering the period that ensued, in particular Nagasakis role in being the portal to the West and also to China. It’s culture, advancements in medicine, technology, science, construction and so much more flourished through these exchanges. At the same time, these influences also brought with it different religions, both from China and from Europe. In both cases, Japan’s rulers were aiming to control the movement of religious ideas and people, often confining them to specific quarters like the Chinese quarter in Nagasaki and also controlling where these new religions could be taught. The first Christian missionaries arrived in 1549, leading to the first warlords being converted to Christianity. Eventually, this led to various power struggles in regional domains as the converted elite would then convert or even burn down Shinto or Buddhist Shrines in favour of their new-found religion. But eventually, Christianity was repressed under Hideyoshi and the succeeding Tokugawa Shogunate, leading to the well-documented torture and crucifixion of the “26 Martyrs” in 1597 to discourage Christianity. After that in 1638, an estimated 37,000 were killed in the Christian-led Shimabara rebellion. In the 50 years that followed, the shoguns pretty much eradicated Christianity from Japan. It took until the 1840s and 50s, the opening of Japan to the West, when Christian ideology would return to the country, along with huge Western influences again across various domains, from science to food to technologies. The museum had exhibits on a great variety of relics from the past and Nagasaki’s role as the only Japanese port open to trade with the West.

Communication technology came to Japan 

The highlight however was a role play enacted by local volunteers, dressed in old style clothing and hairstyles, re-enacting a quarrel between a few locals during the kite flying session, which led to a number of people being brought before the local magistrate to arbitrate the case. This was a 10 minute play in Japanese that had the museum visitors in stitches as it was brilliantly enacted and so funny. 

After the museum I hiked some more uphill to see Suwa Shrine and local parry and viewing platform, whilst having a call with one of my best friends (Hey Anne!!!). Gosh, Nagasaki is really hilly!!! 

This was then followed by a visit to a pharmacy to buy some big plasters to cover the sore areas of my bum tomorrow so they wouldn’t get worse or ideally heal, and dinner: Ramen time!!! I had an extra helping and extra egg as I was starving after not eating for 8h.

From the ramen place I went back to the hotel, had a short rest and then went out to explore some local bars. This time I started in a craft beer bar where I met a fellow traveller, an American guy who’s in the Army. We chatted for a good 2 hours, joined in by the staff and other travellers. This was fun, I do enjoy human contact and speaking English when I’m otherwise just left to my own thoughts. As the bar was very pricey, we decided to go to another bar for a ‘last drink’. We found a cool little jazz bar where we did indeed have …one more last drink, or two…or 4? I can’t remember but eventually we parted ways after midnight as I headed back to the hotel, very tipsy and also very happy.

Overall, Nagasaki is a really friendly, welcoming place with a historic international community and a good number of things to do and see. Very highly recommended!

My tear soaked sleeves

are like rocks in the offing.

Even at low tide

you never notice them,

nor can they ever dry.

Day 10 - Steady on, then emotional: Huis Ten Bosch (Little Amsterdam) to Nagasaki (60km/361km)

The days started annoyingly early again at around 6.30. I could have totally slept some more but I just woke up and couldn’t get back to bed. I tried sleeping again and rested for another hour or so before I got up, same as usual, some water +Magnesium and because I was in a hotel, some nice English breakfast tea. As the cusps were so small, I shuffled my tea bag between 2 cups of hot water (wouldnt want to waste this precious good). After tea I checked out the route for today, pretty straight forward with around 60km to Nagasaki. I was excited to see this town after I heard so many things about it. The most obvious one that large parts were destroyed by the atomic bomb that the US dropped on the city in 1945. I just couldn’t imagine what a city looks like that had to endure such a catastrophe, from the loss of life, cultural capital and infrastructure. I also heard it was a very friendly port town with many influences coming together. I booked another 2 nights in a cheap hotel ¥6,000 (£38) to give my body some more rest and a break from cycling. 

The day before I dropped some laundry with the hotel and knew that I could get it back at 11am, but I went down to ask if it could be ready any earlier. The friendly staff at reception said that they will try but also that it was with an outside company nearby. This meant I would most likely stay here until then. A good time to completely unpack ALL my stuff, evaluate how to re-pack, throw some stuff I no longer needed, there wasn’t much, just a small cardboard box and the contents were distributed elsewhere. I’m still contemplating whether to leave my “The Buddha and the Badass” book somewhere as this is probably something like 400g and any weight I can save is weight I don’t have to carry around with me. I decided to keep it. I then repacked my bags, ready to go. 

I checked todays route to Nagasaki and it didn’t seem too bad with 60km, of which I carefully chose only the coastal routes, needing to navigate using mainly Google maps for pedestrians, but staying on main roads vs any shortcuts it’s gonna suggest. Next up was breakfast. I knew the hotel did all you can eat buffet style breakfast but I balked at the ¥3,300 price tag (£20). I tried looking for a cheaper place nearby but nothing was open and I still had another 2h till eleven, which made me just go “what the hell, you only live once”!  Breakfast was AMAZING, just like dinner, there was so much choice. I went for grilled fish, veggies, miso soup, rice and then lots of fruit. I definitely felt like I got a good deal by the end of it :) and I didn’t need to stop anywhere and can just focus on cycling.

I left the restaurant at 10.30 and strolled to reception. Luckily my laundry was already there and I could go ahead and grab my things and check out. This was by far the most expensive stay so far ¥24,800 (£155) with room, dinner, breakfast and laundry and I knew that this was a one off. Totally over my budget. But given the circumstances, the best decision regardless.

A friendly staff member showed me to my bike, which had its own parking spot in front of the hotel. As I couldn’t leave from here, I had to take the bike through the main lobby and leave from the back entrance and back onto public roads as everywhere else was theme park and no public access. No problem, as I left and turned around I could still see the staff member waving. What a goodbye. 

I felt great and got onto my bike and off to Nagasaki. After a few kilometres I could feel that I could no longer sit comfortable. Bad images of cycle sores came to my mind as it could only be this. It’s something that afflicts my cyclists on longer distance rides but I’ve never had it before. I blame the less than optimal trousers I had to buy before the trip as my proper cycle gear got “tidied up somewhere”. I didn’t think it was poor hygiene, even though in hindsight I knew that my shorts needed cleaning and I also didn’t have any antibacterial creme (chamois creme) that would have been the thing to remember. Oh well. 

The Kilometers flew by, stopping occasionally for water, the usual helping of strawberries, cucumbers and a tuna riceball and mocha (rice cake stuffed with red bean paste). Eventually the roads got busier and sadly also narrower with lorries blasting last me. I stopped to turn on my regular rear light and re-attached an additional rear y outer bag, all flashing in alarming red hoping that cars would take more distance. It seemed to work.

After about 3h I got to Nagasaki, which gave me an average cycling speed of 20km/h and much better than I thought considering the many hills that often bring me to close to standstill but with the downhills making up for it where I must be doing around to 50km/h. I had lost about 3-4kg already at least judging from yesterdays weighing in at the Onsen. This feels pretty realistic as I think my daily calorie intake is below my calorie spend, leading to an active daily calorie deficit, alongside the sustained daily exercise. I wonder how much I would lose by the end of the trip. Again, every kilogram I can lose is one I don’t have to carry. My body feels pretty good overall, getting much more toned all round. 

The coast was dipped in heavy clouds all day, so beautiful!

My first stop was the Nagasaki peace park, established to promote world peace and to warn of the dangers of atomic bombs, especially now when threats of nuclear war between Russia and The West were already making head,Ines in English tabloids. I arrived at the top entrance of the park and left my bike and all my luggage in a hidden corner. I came in from the north and immediately came upon the main statue. A man pointing up to the atomic bomb that was dropped and sideways, towards peace (according to the sculptor), the sign explains it better. I could see some Japanese standing in front of it and folding their hands to prayer. I was overcome by a strong emotion about what happened here nearly 80 years ago and a few tears rolled down my cheeks. 73,884 people lost their lives, 74,909 people were injured and 120,820 people were left homeless, out of a population of 240,000 people, on that fateful day of 9th August, 1945 when the US American B29 bomber „Bockscar“ dropped its deadly cargo over the city with the bomb exploding 500m above ground, razing structures to the ground and a blast zone of 4 Kilometers, levelling buildings across a radius of 7 square Kilometers or 1300 football fields.. 

Emotional and thoughtful I continued through the park towards the fountain, past many donated sculptures from around the world, even one from the East German Democratic Republic (GDR). It looked like a sculpture that was easily recognisable amongst the many socialist sculptures I had seen growing up in East Germany, esp. in larger cities like Dresden or Berlin.

What’s left of the old prison walls, razed to the ground by the blast.

After the park I continued to my hotel, which was in downtown Nagasaki, close to the food and entertainment districts Doza-machi and Shianbashi. 

The hotel staff were great and locked my bike in the office as I wouldn’t be using it till Monday. I was looking for an Onsen but at ¥1,800 I decided to just use the hotel bath. After that I went out to get some food and explore the area. I eventually settled on Ramen, something I hadn’t eaten since getting to Japan (on the night). As someone who doesn’t eat meat, Ramen is a bit controversial but …when in Japan, we‘ll go with the flow a little bit and Nagasaki Ramen is famous so I had to try. I was super delicious and I had an extra helping of 2 fermented eggs and extra noodles. The person next to me suspiciously slurped his ramen quietly, leading me to believe that he’s a foreigner. I said hello and my suspicion was confirmed, he was from Malaysia and visiting Kyushu for 1 week, speed trip across the whole island only stopping in mayor cities. We had a good chat and it felt nice to talk to someone again. I then walked around the district a bit, enjoying the bustling atmosphere of locals and foreigners. There were soooo many bars, restaurants and shops. I wonder what this place must have been like back in the 1800s. I decided to by a „one cup sake“ glass, literally a small glass of sake for ¥160 or £1 and enjoying it whilst talking to one of my best friends from back home. I then stumbled upon a foreigner bar almost opposite the ramen shop. Immediately upon entry a friendly Japanese local started chatting to me and welcoming me to the bar. The bar was owned by a Kiwi and super friendly with all drinks costing around ¥500 or £3, whether beer or cocktail. I decided to stay and had a few Gin Tonics and chat to the many people that came in. Gosh, this was a bit overwhelming as I hadn’t talked so much in a week. I talked to people from Kazakstan, Fiji, India, Japan, Norway and Italy, all having a good time here in Nagasaki, whether they were studying, working or just passing through, like me. 

One memorable chat was with a Doctor in Marine biology from Fiji who’s been a Japan resident for many years. We talked about life goals and that he wanted to retire in his 50s and that you don’t need much for that if you’ve got a house somewhere we’re you can grow your own food, like he can in Fiji or here in Japan. He told me about this trend here with people buying up derelict or old houses for next to nothing (£10K) and doing them up. With Japans aging population, more and more old houses are coming available in all regions of Japan. Gosh, I’d love to have a house here somewhere in the countryside with access to a city and come here once every year… 

I left the bar around midnight, just as it got really busy. I was well beyond my bedtime, keeping barely awake. Before I left, the friendly guy from Fiji helped me with my onward travels, as I didn’t want to go through 2 days of cities but stay in nature. This will mean using 2 ferries to keep going south. This was perfect as I didn’t know where I was going to go next, after Nagasaki. 

This was a great day and I slept like a baby. Tomorrow, exploring Nagasaki and giving my bum a rest to heal plus doing some more laundry, eating and exploring.

As evening draws near

in the field before the gate

the autumn wind visits,

rustling through the ears of rice,

then the eves of my reed hut.

Day 9 - Little Amsterdam & a rainy cycle: Shikamachi Beach to Huis Ten Bosch-Machi (48km)

The weather forecast for today was mainly rain. After packing my tent away and picking the route, mainly along the coast so to avoid mountain roads and steep climbs as my lower back wasn’t getting any better. I’ve picked the pedestrian Google map for that. It let me onto some gravel roads which made for interesting cycling before heading back onto asphalt roads. My first stop was about 10 km away, a small fishing town. There were many Catholic Churches and references. Probably when the Portuguese landed here, they spread Christianity. 

In the nearby town, I found a local supermarket that are just received its daily packages of pre-packed meals. The food was still warm and I picked fried fish with rice some veggies and salad for breakfast. This was the second breakfast as I had my emergency rice ball in the morning, alongside my daily dose of magnesium. I had already packed all my rain gear into my backpack, and my main luggage was already sealed in case it rained. It was another 36 km to go after breakfast. Rain started immediately first a little then more. To counter the weather a little bit I put my good mood sunglasses on put my hood over my head and my helmet on top. I put my other shoes on my rain jacket and my rain trousers. They lasted for about one hour before my trousers in my jacket were soaked. 

The biggest city I had to go through was Saseba, a port town with a US Army base, but there were also many Japanese warships in the harbour, including an aircraft carrier. I had never seen one up close. Cycling in the rain is not a lot of fun the moment you stop you get cold. I had to stop frequently eaten to check the map is Google what is really going bonkers today and I had to navigate between pedestrian and car version as I didn’t want to go on main interstate or highways, but wanted to stay on smaller roads, but not so small that they’re not illegal to cycle on. Navigate me into oncoming traffic to walk on sideways which obviously I couldn’t so I had to do in a couple of extra kilometres back-and-forth to find the right way. I stopped at a local supermarket to pick up a big bag of mixed nuts and a crate of strawberries I eat them straight away. I only had another 15 or 18 km to go to get to my final destination. I wasn’t going to go much further today. I was cold, I was soaked and I was not feeling too good. I had picked Onsen with many baths and I also decided to quickly go onto booking.com to pick a room for the night. No camping for me today. I needed to dry my clothes and get at least one good night of rest. Another hour to the hotel, phew! 

I cycled on, still raining and by the time I got to the hotel, which was around 2.30, I was really cold and wet. It took some time for me to check in as I had booked only about an hour or two earlier and I wasn’t yet registered on the paper booking sheet. Luckily there was a western gentleman who spoke English. It felt good to speak English again. I told him that I only just booked and by the way he looked at me, he wasn’t really sure whether I should be staying in this fancy hotel or not. But I was! The next hurdle was figuring out whether I can get the COVID Tourism room discount considering I am not for a foreigner that lives in Japan nor am I Japanese. Other hotels were giving the discount, but this one didn’t so I had to pay an extra ¥3000, but I couldn’t care - all I wanted was a shower or a bath and lay down. The porter brought my luggage upstairs as it too much to carry in one go, but no problem with a trolley. He told me that the local Onsen would open in about 30min, and that the fee is included with my room. That was great news and there was also a bus bus that goes between Onsen and hotel every 10 minutes. Yeh!

The moment I drop my bag took my wet clothes off, filled the bathtub and soaked my cold bones. This was the best decision not to come tonight as it was gonna rain this evening tonight and tomorrow morning. With some fresh clothes. I left the hotel and explored the area. Somehow they have created Amsterdam in this area all the houses, even the waterways it, all looks like Amsterdam. Do you want to ¥7000 to see this pod but I wasn’t interested. All I wanted is to go to the Onsen and soak myself. I took the bus to the local a Onsen. It was pretty big with 6 to 7 baths, two saunas and an outdoor area with another three baths. The water was amazing and it was mainly Japanese people who visited. As usual, men and women were separate and you had to wash yourself before you could enter the sauna or baths. I spent about an hour and a half or two hours there. I felt fully restored and relaxed from that I had a back to the hotel with the bus exploring the area around the hotel, which looked a little like Amsterdam. 

To celebrate the occasion, I bought a small one cup sake before exploring the local area. There were a few more tourists who had the same idea but it was still pre-season and not busy at all. Eventually I wanted to have dinner and most restaurants were either expensive or the quantity of food wasn’t sufficient and I was hungry because I only really had breakfast and some strawberries, which had all been absorbed into the cycling machine (my body). The hotel did an all you can eat buffet for ¥5000, on the pricey side for sure but little did they know that I hadn’t eaten all day…It took me about an hour to have dinner. I took my time and there was so many good things to eat. From salads to grilled fish, seafood, all looking like Michelin star mini meals. The desserts were to die for - I had lots of fresh mango and pineapple but the cakes were something else! After dinner, I took another stroll exploring the area which just made me feel confused as I wasn’t sure anymore whether I was in Europe or in Asia, they did a really good job with rebuilding Amsterdam. Back in the room and managed to write the two blocks from yesterday and today. Thanks again to dictation which makes blog writing so much easier, only having to correct some words here and there.

Dinner Part 1 (of 4)

Tomorrow I will go to Nagasaki, some 60km from here. I hope it doesn’t rain all day…so far, I’ve done around 300km and it feels like I haven’t gone that far around Kyushu. I’ve done some calculations and I think it’s all possible but if I don’t manage my time and distance properly, the last bit back to Fukuoka (where i already have a room booked), will be across some steep mountains. Let’s see! First I need to go south, having so far only explores the western, mostly populated parts of Kyushu.

Night night!!!

On this summer night,

when twilight has so quickly

become the dawn,

where is the moon at rest

among the clouds?

Day 8 - Hidden Pottery Village & being scared: Imarin Beach to Shikamachi Beach (64km)

Moderate day cycling with some alpine climbs and full blast sunshine and eventual sunburn on my legs and arms. Cycling from:

Imarin beach to Imari (Arita Hidden Pottery Village) 16km

Arita to Matsuura 28km

Matsuura to Shikamachi Beach 20km

The day started on one beach and ended on another beach. I only had one thing to do, which was to see the pottery village, some 16km away. In the nearest city, I stopped by a cycling shop as I was looking for new gloves and pump up my tyres. That made a huge difference! Two extra bars of pressure, made the bike go faster, but harder but critically the load seemed lighter. The cycling shop did not have any gloves, but they gladly allowed me to use the pump. From the city, I headed into the mountains for a bit. I alternated between Google Maps for cars and Google Maps for pedestrians. It made a huge difference as Google for cars picked a more direct route using main streets where is Google for pedestrians would use sidestreets and often shorter roads ignoring terrain or usability. And of course, sometimes neither would work and the Google maps voice went bananas: turn left, turn right, at the next junction make a turn, head south…

I got to the hidden pottery village really quickly, even though it was uphill. It was such a small, beautiful village. The street signs were made from pottery and everything was very picturesque. Apparently the Japanese captured some Koreans back in the days who would teach them pottery eventually learning it themselves. I left my bike at the main car park and explore the village. It was a really sunny and hot day so I drank at least 2 L in an hour. After some exploration. I had it to the only restaurant that was open with most other restaurants, either closed or only having sweets available, the rest of that was open only serve to meet, so I had to go for some cake and tea, no problem. 

From the pottery village I headed over to Matsuura back the way I came from. It was nice and sunny and I changed long cycle short to my 2009 cycle T-shirt and. This was a mistake. I didn’t really notice at the time,  but the Sun was roasting me, blasting at around 22° with clear blue skies. I stopped at the nearby convenience store to pick up some more rice balls and water, eating it behind the shop in the shade. After the short break, I had to decide whether to follow the road along the ocean a detour of maybe 6 to 8 km or cut across the hills I went for the hills. Oh my God. This has to be the deepest incline I have cycled since 2009, when I went into the Japanese Alps. I was on the first year, and yet it was not enough I had to slalom and sneak up along the mountain road. All I wanted was to go across the mountain, find a nearby hot, bath, spa or local case to /public bath. As I got up the hill, I discovered a small road leading back down and used road that was replaced by a more modern highway that I didn’t want to use. This was such a treat. I was on the road by myself and able to go full speed. I had some good music in my ears quickly stopped at what looked to be a derelict house, and it was only to then continue. My journey downhill so many houses in rural Japan, with owners having either moved or died. And yet there are still more houses being built and more nature and trees being destroyed for new houses.

As I got to the main city, where I was looking forward to my own thing, and long rope was hanging across the entrance way, indicating it was closed. Oh well time for some dinner it was already kind of late about 6 o’clock, but I thought I had until 730 before the Sun went down. What was I thinking? Do you want a restaurant nearby was a tiny place with about 10 chairs. The owner spoke English and seemed excited that he had a guest. He showed me to some items of the menu some fresh fish some fried fish and I asked for some vegetables the prices seemed a little bit high but I had no choice, it was the only restaurant near Ate ate some sushi in some grilled fish. The only seemed a little bit dodgy. I had to ask how much do grilled fish was. He pointed me towards the most expensive fish which was 25 cm long, but the one eight was no more than 15cm. I notified the owner that the fish I ate was tiny, but he was convinced it was a big one. I ordered another one just to be sure I got my measuring tape out on my phone. It was barely 20 cm oh well. I didn’t want to make a fuss. At least let me use his electricity to charge my phone and my Wi-Fi router, both of them were nearly empty. I headed out at 6:30 by the time I looked into the sky and I realised I was out by one hour. The Sun had already gone down and I was late. I raced to the nearest campsite, which still some 10 km away.

To get to the campsite, I used Google Maps for pedestrians to take me along the coastal path and not the main road over hills again. Of course, the campsite was also closed with a small chain dangling across the entrance. I lifted my bike over it and cycled down towards the beach campsite. I was the only one of course but at least there were some lights and there was a vending machine that had water. I cycled to the furthest place on the campsite to pitch my tent as quickly as I could, in under four minutes. I think I figured out how to do it now. The Sun was long gone and it was already getting dark. My arms, my legs, my face were on fire from sunburn, despite having put sunscreen…maybe too little and too late. I decided to take a quick dip into the ocean to cool down, that felt good. There was something strange with this campsite. I didn’t know what, but in the distance across on the other side of the Cove there were some loud animal screams as if an animal was either injured or killed by …something. It might have also just been badgers fighting, but it just sounded really weird and actual shivers ran down my spine. Something was off with that campsite. I just had a weird feeling and it wouldn’t go away. I looked around. There was nobody and nobody would hear me in any case. I took a big stick into the tent, dismounted my strong bike lamp and horn and put them into the tent. Not that it was going to be of any use, but it made me feel a little bit safer. I really hoped my mattress was going to last this night after having fixed it earlier, but I could already see the sticky tape was coming off. I fully inflated it and laid on it and eventually after some tossing and turning for another hour or so, I fell asleep. I had very light sleep and woke up around 1 o’clock from some strange animal sounds, this time much closer.  O longer across the cove on the other side, no, on my side and much closer. There were also sounds coming from the ocean. I was thinking, maybe just fish splashing or the waves running ashore. Again shivers were running down my spine and my heart was beating faster. Maybe it’s one of the mythical Kappa, that decided to visit. I only know the friendly versions from anime (Summer days with Coo), but if you look on Wikipedia, they don’t look so friendly. 

Kappa, a mythological creature that always needs to keep its head plate moist.

Mars was shining brightly

Morning campsite, survived the night

I braved the night and took my big torch, opened the tent and went outside and shone the light onto the water and there was just waves splashing against the beach. Reassured. I went back to bed now. I noticed that my air mattress had completely deflated again, so annoying and so uncomfortable, eventually I fell asleep until 6 am when I got up. My arms and legs were still burning so I decided to go for another quick dip into the ocean. I’m not sure of salt. Water is good or bad but somehow it wasn’t that cold even though it was only 8° outside.after my morning bath, I quickly dressed warm and went to the wooden benches to have my breakfast - an emergency rice ball. I resisted taking an ibuprofen, even though my lower back was killing me. The cold water seemed to numb the pain so I just ignored it. I tried doing the blog, but my hands and fingers were so cold. I couldn’t even type so I set out for the day. The weather forecast said it was gonna be raining all day, not something I was looking forward to. But more of this in the next blog.

First, one more thing:

Blown by the fierce winds,

I am the waves that crash

upon your impervious rock

Though my heart shatters,

my love rages on.

Day 7 - Beautiful Karatsu Castle & a loooong cycle: Dainyū to Imarin Beach (81km)

Todays route was a series of “lets just check this out”, starting from

Dainyū (10am) to Karatsu Castle 19 km

Karatsu to Tategami rock 12 km

Tategami to Hamanoura 14 km

Hamanoura to Takakushi 13 km

Takakusi to Irohajima camping ground 5km

Irohajima to Tsubaki camping ground 13km 

Tsubaki to Imarin beach 5km (arrival at 6.30pm, just before sunset)

A total of 81km where I wasn’t sure how I did them by the time I got to Imarin beach, after 2 false starts on other camping grounds that were either unappealing or closed and gated.

The day started in the guest house at the Shunshine camp. I saw some vases dotted around with rosemary and mint so I went to the garden to pluck some for tea. This was breakfast pretty much as I didn’t have anything else with me. I had a good litre of tea whilst writing blog in the comfort of a bed and pillows and everything. Then I packed up and left to go and see Karatsu castle. The journey was easy with a bit of headwind. Once I got to Castle Castle, I parked my bike and headed to the castle entrance. The castle reminded me of Matsumoto castle where I visited in 2009, as it was also all in white, just a mini-version of it. The entrance was ¥450, and it was a small castle, but an amazing display of samurai weaponry such as swords shields. The views from the castle were amazing. You could see the whole town. After visiting the castle, I spotted a small Ramen shop. The reviews were great so I checked it out. This was breakfast. The owner of the shop was an elderly lady who was really friendly. I told her that I don’t eat meat. She said she has Ramen with fish and vegetables that sounded great to me. I ate the Udon Ramen whilst the lady brought over some more veggies on the side just felt so good. 

After the Ramen I want to see a stone formation near the coast. They look like monolithic stones cramped and forged together. There was also a small cave, which I explored. A few kilometres further, I stopped to buy some strawberries and some cucumber. As I left the shop to sit down and eat my strawberries, I got to observe a small kerfuffle between a local youth and the police, the police officer was trying to stop the youth from going away or even running away and it was quite amusing to see how both remained very friendly throughout the incidence with no shouting, no pushing just gently placing of hands and evading them. Eventually, another few young people appeared also accompanied by a police officer. I wonder what happened but just sat there eating my strawberry and packing the cucumber for later.

Here little fish, come into my soup!

After lunch, I got to the stones pretty quickly parked my bike and walked around. It was a nice short break from here I had to decide. Where am I going to go next there was the road along the coast and the road over the hills I decided to go over the hills considering that I’ve seen coast now for a few days after a few kilometres, I wasn’t so sure anymore but this was the best idea the road was steep and I had to go all the way to 1st gear but even 1st gear didn’t do it, so I had to snake up the road zigzagging to the top. This was exhausting, and I felt like I burnt so much energy in just the 1st km of going uphill, and a 3km “shortcut” compared to the coastal route. I eventually got used to the climbing, the ups and downs along the mountainside, which was rewarded by amazing views. Kyushu is soooo beautiful! I saw many hanging or stacked rice fields along the way. Unlike on the coast, here, the rice fields were still empty yet to be planted. This is not so exciting so I decided not to stop at the “hanging rice fields” point of interest but continued down hill as the ricefields could have been another small detour and I was dying to race downhill for a bit. Somehow the beginning of Wagners “Entry of the gods into Valhalla” was playing in my mind. Then, pretty excited i set off downhill as the bike got up to speed like a little road train. I had to lean into the corners and my two disk brakes had to work extra hard at times.

At some point I stopped and ate the two cucumbers which gave some energy. From here it was on to the Hotspring. This was a proper hot spring with sulphuric infused water coming from deep underground.

I like the pictures on Google Maps, the Hotspring was very small. The restaurant was not open and probably wasn’t open for sometime but the ladies at reception very friendly and elderly. Couple smiled as I came in. They looked really friendly. I headed to the bath. Thankfully, I have purchased a small towel from reception in the bath, I only saw two other men which was quite typical for the time of the day around 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock. The bath was really hot probably over 40° and there was only one pool, very hot; no Cold water pool or anything. The water was so smooth and silky it felt really good to just sit there and let my body rest. 

From the Onsen I had to decide how far I was going to go and put some oranges and some rice crackers for the road and then left to my next stop which was a campsite as I got nearer to the campsite. The views were absolutely breathtaking. the coastline, the green, the different shades of green bamboo trees, and all kinds of other flora, Kyushu is so much more interesting in terms of cycling as it’s not as isolated as Hokkaido was and there are many more things to see on the road. I stopped at a supermarket and bought another water before heading off to the campsite. As I got there it was really isolated and boring and I still had energy so I continued cycling. Next campsite was around 12 km away. And look pretty appealing from the pictures. My energy was running low, but I was in high spirits. At some point, I stopped and ate one of the three oranges I had, and then continued the next campsite, I got two was locked up and gated. This was really frustrating as I was now pretty much at the end of my energy level and had very little fuel. I knew I only had one more bottle of water in my backpack, two oranges and some rice cakes.

I decided to leave and go to in Imarin Beach which was my intended destination the day before, but it looked too far to do in one day, never mind, here I was. It was a beautiful beach, currently closed so there were no other travellers or visitors or tourists. Just a lonely beach. I pitched my tent, which took like 5min and was so much faster than my Vango Tornado. This Vango Hydra is a bit smaller and lighter and they figured out a better routing for the poles which caused me huge anguish with the other tent, especially when you have to pitch when it’s raining as it took like 10min. I had the other two oranges and some rice crackers. That was dinner….I had to be careful with the water as I only had one bottle, so I drank half of it and left the rest for tomorrow morning.

Around 8.30- 9pm, I finally went to bed - thankfully I had two mattresses which felt really comfortable and an inflatable pillow. I slept all the way till 4 am when I woke up for a quick bathroom break and back to bed. It was now that I realised that one of the air mattresses, the new one, had completely deflated. Thankfully my trustworthy Hokkaido mattress remained faithful. My lower back already started to hurt a little bit but I blame the cycling, why did I have to do 80km?! Oh well after some tossing and turning I finally fell asleep again until 6 am when the “good morning music” sounded across the beach from speakers in the nearby village. This is very typical for rural Japan, at 6 am, 7 am and maybe even 8 am there is music to get people to work or give them a sense of time. 

I got up at 7 am, went for a short walk, took all my stuff out of the tent and placed it onto a large wooden structure. I rubbed my tent with a towel so that it could could dry up from the morning dew. I took out the air mattress and decided to go for a swim with it. Brrrrr…. After dipping the air mattress and myself into the ocean, I found a small hole with the air bubbles rising up from it. I had two patches to fix it so I went on to repair the mattress. Hoping it would stay tight this evening and then set down for a bit had some more water and my daily ration of magnesium, wrote the blog and then planned today. It’s gonna be a nice, sunny day with max 22C.

This is the first blog that was 90% composed through dictation. Only some corrections here and there…

No corrections needed here, poem for the day:

Because my feeling

are too great to put into words,

my heart blazes like the mix a

of Mount Inuktitut,

with a love you cannot know.