Greetings from someone who has visited all seven continents.
On the 18th of January, I boarded the M/V Ushuaia, registered out of Panama to an Argentinean company with a mainly Chilean crew for its Classic Antarcica trip. I boarded the ship and was shown to my cabin. I met my roommate, Christian. He is from Switzerland, but worked around the world as a nurse for Doctors Without Borders. For the past five years, he has worked as a paramedic in French Guiana in South America. He told me that most jobs with aid agencies are in logistics and not for specialists.
The first couple of hours of sailing were through the Beagle Channel. Most of us stood on the deck and watched Chile pass by on the right and Argentina on the left. In the evening, we had the introductory talks and safety drill.
Sometime in the middle of the night we left the calm passage and entered the Drake Passage. The Drake Passage is famous for being very rough and unforgiving on the stomach. The boat started to rock. It was not enough to make me sick, but it did wake me occasionally. It was a strange feeling to be pressed down into my bed one second and then feel like I was floating over it the next. Also, everything in the room that was not bolted down ended up on the floor by morning.
On the morning of the 19th, I felt well enough to have breakfast and hang out on the ship. I met some of the other passengers as well. It was nice to be back among what I think of as 뱈y own people? There were well over a dozen countries represented by the 65 passengers, including two people from Japan. I think the average length of trip for the various passengers was about six months. It was nice to be with people who agree with my opinion that my current four month trip is really too short to do much more than get a quick taste of the area and visit a few of the highlights.
The two Japanese people were interesting as well. Etsuko is a 22-year-old woman who somehow has managed to save enough money for a year and a half trip around the world. She spent the first two months of her trip studying in New Zealand, so she speaks decent English. The other Japanese person is 62 years old and can barely communicate in English. As I was one of the only two other people on board who could talk in Japanese, I spent a lot of time talking with him and helping him talk to other people. Mr. Yamamoto was eager to communicate with everyone despite his communication difficulties and quickly became one of the most liked people on the tour.
Mr. Yamamoto has spent much of the past five years riding his bicycle around the world from East to West. He is now at the start of his attempt to ride around the world from South to North to South. Because his hands hurt sometimes, his doctor told him not to ride for more than 50 days at a time. So, Mr. Yamamoto takes three 45-day trips per year. As you can imagine, he has some great tales to tell of life on the road. Everybody felt sorry for him when his request to bring his bicycle to shore for a ceremonial picture was turned down for environmental reasons.
My Japanese is almost as good as it was when I stopped studying in July and my Spanish is the best it has been for a few years. Usually when I travel, I don't hang out with too many other people, but I really enjoyed sharing a table with people from eight different countries. I even invented a new game. We all took turns saying the same word or phrase in our native tongues.
The whole of day two was spent in the relatively calm but certainly not flat Drake Passage. We had a lecture on Antarctic History and another one on Penguins. By the next day, the movement of the ship was getting to me a little bit. I went to the lectures on Antarctic History and to the mandatory pre-landing briefing. Other than that, I slept most of the day and could not even manage breakfast or lunch.
By dinnertime, we had entered the channel between Anvers and Brabant Islands, not too far from the long peninsula on the continent of Antarctica. The seas became flat and I felt much better. After dinner we all went outside or up to the bridge to watch the glacier-covered mountains pass by. I decided to test my clothing. I bundled up and spent about three hours standing in the wind at the front of the ship. Eventually, my hands got cold and I had to come in. But, since I had spent the whole day sleeping and it was still light out, I decided to go up to the bridge and watch the scenery some more. By about two in the morning, I decided that even though it was still pretty light out and I was not tired, I should go to bed, so I did.
On the 21st of January, we started the day with a landing on Wienke Island. We took the small zodiac boats to Damoy Point in Dorian Bay. We had a nice little walk around, but the wind started to pick up and we had to race back to the ship before it got too windy to safely use the small zodiac landing boats. In the afternoon, we visited Torgenson Island and looked at some Adelie Penguins. There were two scientists there to help explain things to us. Eventually, we crossed a small bit of water and visited the US Palmer Station, of the three permanent US Antarctic Research Stations. We were given a tour and learned about the science they do there and the support staff that makes it all possible. After the tour and a teasing glimpse of the hot tub, we went to the small gift shop and I got to use my credit card in Antarctica. The tour ended in the dining area with tea and brownies. I spoke with the Station Manager and learned that the managers of all the US bases have a background in Geography. Something else to think about.
On the morning of the 22nd, we attempted to sail through the Lemaire Channel. We had a beautiful blue day and spent the morning looking at seals relaxing on the icebergs. The scenery was more of the spectacular blue and white glaciers pouring into the sea. Eventually, the ice became too thick and we were unable to pass through the channel as planned. It was here that we reached the most southerly point of our trip ?nearly 65 degrees south of the Equator. We turned around and cruised through some more nice bays on the way to Orne Island. In the afternoon we went ashore and looked at the Chinstrap Penguins. Some of our walk took us over large patches of ice and, after asking permission from the other party, started the first snowball fight of the trip. It was a shorter one, but after everybody was done looking at the penguins we started a much larger snowball fight. I dug a hole in the snow and sat in it. Then I built a protective wall in front of me and launched my projectiles from the safety of my small fort. When I stood up, I discovered that my pants were not exactly waterproof and that my short underwear, long underwear, fleece pants and heavy winter pants were all soaked through. Plus, my butt was wet.
We went back to the ship for some hot chocolate and dinner. The rooms were kept warm and Antarctica is a very dry place, so everything dried before the 10:00 pm landing at Paradise Bay. This was our first landing on the actual continent of Antarctica, not one of the small islands just off the coast. We visited the Argentine station Almirante Brown. This station was occupied until 1984 when the Doctor went a little loopy and burned the place down so that he could be evacuated back to Argentina. We climbed the hill behind the station, broke out the large plastic bags and enjoyed sliding back down the hill. I was able to climb quickly and managed to slide down a record five times. I cannot remember the last time I was properly dressed for the weather and spent hours playing in the snow. Naturally, I had a great time.
We returned to the ship shortly after mid-night. The next morning, we returned to the continent proper at Neko Harbor. We spent a few hours looking at Gentoo Penguins and a seal, as well as the scenery. I climbed up a hill and spent some time watching big chunks of ice calve off of the glaciers and plunge into the sea. When it was time to go, I found the steepest section of the mountain and slid down. In a continent that is 98% covered in snow and ice, it is always easy to find a slide.
Since it was such a nice day, we had a barbecue on the deck of the ship. After lunch, we landed on Danco Island and looked at the Gentoo Penguins. I climbed a hill and spent some time watching the ice falls in the mountains across the water. It was even warm enough to take off all of my jackets and shirts and run around for a couple of minutes. The hillside was full of penguins, so I had to walk down carefully, instead of sliding down dangerously. On the way back to the boat, our zodiac drivers took a detour and we cruised around a bunch of big icebergs. We went slowly by the big hunks of ice and admired all of the intricate shapes that the wind and water have carved.
Monday, the 24th of January was the day I have been looking forward to for several years. We sailed through the Neptune Bellows and entered the circular island known as Deception Island. We landed in Whaler's Bay and looked at the whale bones, airplane hanger, buildings, cemetery and other things left over from its time as a whaling station and a research station. We also hiked up to the Neptune's Window viewpoint. Then it was time for the highlight of the trip. As we walked back to the zodiac, snow was falling from the sky and steam was rising from the geo-thermally heated beach. At the landing site, a large hole was dug and very, very hot water came out of the sand and ran down to the very, very cold ocean.
I joined a seal in the wind shadow of a big piece of metal and stripped down to my shorts. Even though it was only a few degrees above freezing, I managed to calmly stroll down the beach to the water's edge. It always takes me a few minutes to work up to a cold plunge, so I stood knee deep in the Antarctic Ocean until I was ready. I waded out a little further, dunked down into the heat-sucking ocean and immediately popped up freezing and panting. I quickly made my way to the point where the hot water run-off from the beach met the cold water of the ocean. I joined the others in seeking the delicate balance between freezing and burning. We lay down on our stomachs in a couple of inches of water. Our backs were exposed to the wind, our fronts to the too hot water and our legs to the too cold sea. It was hard work making sure that nothing froze or burned, but I managed to hang out there for about an hour.
It may not have been the most relaxing hot spring experience of all time, but it was definitely one of the most memorable.
After lunch, we moved on over to Hannah Point on Livingston Island. This was the highlight of the trip in terms of penguin and seal sightings. We walked among the colonies of penguins and managed to find a few of the rare Macaroni Penguins. They have big yellow eyebrows that sweep back from their heads and were fun to watch. There was also a large colony of Elephant Seals nearby. They occasionally let out some loud moans, but mostly just sat around and stunk.
Our final day of landings was on the 25th of January. In the morning, we landed on one of the Aitcho Islands. We spent a couple of hours watching the penguins and seals. Between watching the seals on land and spending hours every day on the bridge watching them swim in the water I have come a way very impressed. On land they can do their funky waddle for long distances and are pretty good at climbing rocks. In the water, they look like they are rocket-propelled. It is amazing how fast they can move. When they are commuting someplace, they scoot along just under the surface and then shoot out and fly over the water for a second. A bunch of them all out of the water at the same time reminds me of a school of flying fish. At one point I was lucky enough to see a penguin approach the shore inside of a wave. When the wave got to shore and began to recede, the penguin shot out the front of the wave, tilted from horizontal to vertical in mid-air and landed on its feet, ready to walk. They sure look like they are having a lot o fun.
I also learned that when a penguin is standing still and then suddenly leans forward, you better not be standing too close. They squirt a large quantity of smelly white stuff out of their butts. It makes a line on the ground about two feet long. Their individual nests are all surrounded by white streaks heading off in every direction. From above, an empty nest looks like a sun with its rays.
After lunch, we landed on King George Island and visited the Argentine Jubany Station. We took a long walk on the beach. The tide had gone out and deposited hundreds of car-sized chunks of ice on the beach. It felt like walking through a sculpture garden. At the end of the beach, we climbed up onto a glacier for a brief stroll before heading into the dining area of the station for some tea and cookies. Their shop and post office were open, so I sent a few post cards from Antarctica. They promised that they would take at least a month to get to their destinations.
On the 26th of January, we left the shelter of the islands and returned to the Drake Passage. It was a little bit rough, but I felt well enough to attend the various lectures and play games with my fellow passengers.
Yesterday, we got back to the Beagle Channel and parked there for the rest of the day. I went to some of the lectures and wore my same dirty clothes to the Captain's Dinner. He did not seem to mind.
Today, we got to Ushuaia, ate one final breakfast on the ship and then returned to civilization. I remember thinking when I got here the first time that Ushuaia was at the end of the world. Now it seems like the beginning of the world to me.
I will miss spending my days alternating between playing in Antarctica and watching it for hours on end from the bridge was we sailed by. But, I am eager to get back to hiking. I have booked a flight to Mendoza, Argentina and will soon be gazing up at the tallest non-Asian mountain in the world.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
A weekend in Lima and a week in Ushuaia, Argentina
Well, now that I am traveling again, life is much more interesting.
On the 6th of January, I flew to Lima, Peru. I got there at 11:30 in the evening. Customs was very slow and I did not get out of the airport until after one in the morning. In Lima, they schedule all of the international arrivals between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am. The next day in the newspaper, there was an article about how bad the line is at the airport. Of all the flights, they picked mine as the single worst one to arrive in. But, I eventually made it out of the airport and my friends Luis and Karem were waiting for me.
Luis had to work the next morning, so I spent the time arranging his books by subject and author. That makes it easier for me to borrow them. We all met at the ceviche restaurant for lunch and I was reacquainted with my favorite Peruvian food ?raw fish. Also, a few hours of being in Peru was enough to remind me that this is my favorite country to eat in in all of South America. I did not have time for all of it on this visit, but I will return in April for some more food. I will eat more ceviche, as well as lomo saltado, chicha, chicha morada, cuy, and papas huanavelica. For desert, Karem and I went to my favorite ice cream place in the center of the Miraflores district.
During the weekend, we saw some movies, went to the beach, ate some more good food and hung out. I also listened to Luis?new Cd. He is the group Ruido and his album is La Lentitud de la Luz. The chorus of the title song is catchy and I have been singing it ever since.
On Sunday night, they took me to the airport. I got in line a bit after ten and waited. The line was not too bad and I eventually made it to the front. I was using one of these fancy new e-tickets, so that meant that I had no paperwork with me. The woman behind the counter put my name in the computer and told me that I was a day late for my flight and that I should wait until everyone else was helped before she could deal with me. Since I had a magazine and did not really care where I waited, I moved aside.
When they were done helping everyone else, it was my turn again. The man behind the counter looked at my passport, typed into his computer and told me that my name was George Fox and that my flight was on the 26th. Eventually, I convinced him to try again. Finally, he decided that my name is Avram Fox and that I actually had reservations for this flight. He gave me my ticket and told me to run to the airplane.
So, I ran. About 50 feet. Then I got in line to pay my airport departure tax. This line looked to be about 30 minutes long, so I went back and told the man at the counter. He cut to the head of the line, paid my tax and told me to run to the airplane.
So, I ran. About 200 feet. Then I got to the line for customs. This line was incredibly long and slow. Nobody seemed interested in letting me cut to the front, so I waited. Eventually, the man came back and told me to hurry. I hurried as fast as I could, but I still finished one magazine and started the next before I had even moved much. Several people from the airline urged the customs man on, but he did not seem to feel any sense of rush. When it was finally my turn, and he new I was in a rush, he took a moment to stretch and clear his mind before he got down to the big job of putting a stamp in my passport. Security was quick for some reason and I was escorted to the gate. There was a pick-up truck waiting to whisk me to the plane and I was the last one on board. I got on at 12:45 am for the 12:35 flight. Now that I was ready, we were on the way.
The Aerolinias Argentina flight landed in Buenos Aires early the next morning. I took a bus to the other airport and checked in for my next flight. Then, I had a few hours to wait, so I took a bus downtown and wandered around. Buenos Aires does not feel like any other Latin American city I have ever been to. Besides being very clean and having the world's widest avenue, the people were not what I expected. I guess I had read about the origin of the population, but it never really sunk in until I walked their streets. Argentina did an even better job of eliminating their native population than even the United States. Most of the people in Argentina are descended from immigrants from Italy, Germany, Spain and other places in Europe. Just from looking at he people, I could have been led to believe that I was in Omaha or Denver.
The fact that almost everybody is white means that I can't just walk up to a counter in a store and have people assume that I don't speak the language. So now there is always that moment of confusion as I struggle for words and the person I am talking to begins to realize that my Spanish is very limited.
On the subject of my Spanish language ability ?I still have a lot to learn. During my first day in Lima, I tried to have a few conversations in Spanish. I was talking in Spanish with the doorman in Luis's building and doing a fine job of it. I was looking at his face and could see that he was understanding me. Then he started looking confused. I reviewed what I had just said and realized that I had effortlessly switched to Japanese and did not even notice. I quickly apologized, but that came out in Japanese also. I needed a moment of quiet to re-orient myself.
Now, each day, there is less and less Japanese in my Spanish. Also, as I hear people speak, a lot of the vocabulary is coming back to me. I should be back to my old fumbling level in no time.
On the afternoon of the 10th, I boarded my flight for Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The view from the plane reminded me of flying over Kansas. Big rectangles of agriculture divided by narrow dirt roads.
I landed at The bottom of the World at 8:30 and it was still light. I sure do like the ratio of daylight to darkness down here in the middle of summer. Sunset was at 10:07 and twilight ended at 11:00 pm. The next day, twilight started at 2:21am and the sun rose at 3:14 in the morning. I consider myself solar powered, so this all makes me pretty happy.
Ushuaia is one of those end of the road towns where the streets turn to dirt within a few blocks of the main drag. It is also a port town and the big cruise ships make day stops here. I heard a couple of fellow fresh off the boat Americans walk into the tourist information place and ask for directions to the golf course.
They have some great information centers here and I was quickly directed to a place to sleep. Single hotel rooms start at about $35, so I opted for the $7 dorm room. They are cheap, but I never seem to sleep well in them. There is always the couple of Israelis that stay up late talking. At least they politely switch to Hebrew when they realize that some people are trying to sleep. Also, there are always some Germans who have to wake up really early and crinkle all of their plastic bags before heading out for the day. Then there is the random person who snores. All of this means that I could not wait to leave town and start camping. But, there was one thing to accomplish first - booking a trip to Antarctica.
I spent the day of the 11th visiting all of the travel agents and asking about trips. I quickly learned that there are two types of boats ?luxury cruises and converted expedition ships. The big ships hold about 800 people and are super expensive. The expedition ships are former scientific research vessels and take about 100 passengers. They don't have swimming pools or putting areas, but they are much cheaper and better for what I want.
I found one that leaves on the 18th. Unfortunately, the travel agent does not accept credit cards and I did not have $2500 cash on hand. I started taking money out of the ATMs, but soon realized that because of the daily withdrawal limits, I would not be able to take out all of the money in time.
On the 12th, I ran around all day to the banks and did not make any progress. But, I was eager to start camping, so I loaded up my gear and headed for the hills. I took a mini-bus a few miles out of town and hiked to a river for the first night in my new tent. The next morning was spent slowly making my way across some very soggy tundra. During the afternoon rain, I climbed a mountainside and camped under a pass, well above tree line.
The 14th was snowy and I did not feel like getting all wet and cold. I spent the day in my tent and read a book. By the 15th, the weather had cleared and I was ready for some more walking. I climbed up to the nearby pass, Paso Belen, and was rewarded with a nice panorama of the surrounding snow capped mountains and valleys. In the afternoon, I followed a stream down towards the road. The valley floor was a series of beaver made lakes. Beavers are an introduced species here and have no predators. I was amazed by how much change they are capable of causing in the landscape. There were big stands of trees that had been killed by beaver created lakes. Every piece of wood had gnaw marks on it. The dams themselves were very well constructed and I often used them as bridges to help me across the valley.
After getting back to the road, I hitched into town and found another loud and cheap dorm room for the night. On the 16th, I went to Tierra del Fuego National Park and camped in the cold rain. But, I sleep better in my tent than I do anywhere else. And, with my new warm sleeping bag and well-constructed tent, I am happy to spend time camping. In the afternoon, I took some short nature strolls.
I came back to Ushuaia yesterday and went to Western Union to see if my money was waiting for me. Unfortunately, the Internet was down in all of Patagonia and they could not help me. I went to a movie in the evening and decided to see what could be done the next day.
Today, after a few hours of waiting and standing in line in two different places, my money came through and I finished paying for my trip.
I leave in about thirty minutes to begin my 10 day cruise to Antarctica. I hope to see a hot spring and maybe some other things as well.
On the 6th of January, I flew to Lima, Peru. I got there at 11:30 in the evening. Customs was very slow and I did not get out of the airport until after one in the morning. In Lima, they schedule all of the international arrivals between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am. The next day in the newspaper, there was an article about how bad the line is at the airport. Of all the flights, they picked mine as the single worst one to arrive in. But, I eventually made it out of the airport and my friends Luis and Karem were waiting for me.
Luis had to work the next morning, so I spent the time arranging his books by subject and author. That makes it easier for me to borrow them. We all met at the ceviche restaurant for lunch and I was reacquainted with my favorite Peruvian food ?raw fish. Also, a few hours of being in Peru was enough to remind me that this is my favorite country to eat in in all of South America. I did not have time for all of it on this visit, but I will return in April for some more food. I will eat more ceviche, as well as lomo saltado, chicha, chicha morada, cuy, and papas huanavelica. For desert, Karem and I went to my favorite ice cream place in the center of the Miraflores district.
During the weekend, we saw some movies, went to the beach, ate some more good food and hung out. I also listened to Luis?new Cd. He is the group Ruido and his album is La Lentitud de la Luz. The chorus of the title song is catchy and I have been singing it ever since.
On Sunday night, they took me to the airport. I got in line a bit after ten and waited. The line was not too bad and I eventually made it to the front. I was using one of these fancy new e-tickets, so that meant that I had no paperwork with me. The woman behind the counter put my name in the computer and told me that I was a day late for my flight and that I should wait until everyone else was helped before she could deal with me. Since I had a magazine and did not really care where I waited, I moved aside.
When they were done helping everyone else, it was my turn again. The man behind the counter looked at my passport, typed into his computer and told me that my name was George Fox and that my flight was on the 26th. Eventually, I convinced him to try again. Finally, he decided that my name is Avram Fox and that I actually had reservations for this flight. He gave me my ticket and told me to run to the airplane.
So, I ran. About 50 feet. Then I got in line to pay my airport departure tax. This line looked to be about 30 minutes long, so I went back and told the man at the counter. He cut to the head of the line, paid my tax and told me to run to the airplane.
So, I ran. About 200 feet. Then I got to the line for customs. This line was incredibly long and slow. Nobody seemed interested in letting me cut to the front, so I waited. Eventually, the man came back and told me to hurry. I hurried as fast as I could, but I still finished one magazine and started the next before I had even moved much. Several people from the airline urged the customs man on, but he did not seem to feel any sense of rush. When it was finally my turn, and he new I was in a rush, he took a moment to stretch and clear his mind before he got down to the big job of putting a stamp in my passport. Security was quick for some reason and I was escorted to the gate. There was a pick-up truck waiting to whisk me to the plane and I was the last one on board. I got on at 12:45 am for the 12:35 flight. Now that I was ready, we were on the way.
The Aerolinias Argentina flight landed in Buenos Aires early the next morning. I took a bus to the other airport and checked in for my next flight. Then, I had a few hours to wait, so I took a bus downtown and wandered around. Buenos Aires does not feel like any other Latin American city I have ever been to. Besides being very clean and having the world's widest avenue, the people were not what I expected. I guess I had read about the origin of the population, but it never really sunk in until I walked their streets. Argentina did an even better job of eliminating their native population than even the United States. Most of the people in Argentina are descended from immigrants from Italy, Germany, Spain and other places in Europe. Just from looking at he people, I could have been led to believe that I was in Omaha or Denver.
The fact that almost everybody is white means that I can't just walk up to a counter in a store and have people assume that I don't speak the language. So now there is always that moment of confusion as I struggle for words and the person I am talking to begins to realize that my Spanish is very limited.
On the subject of my Spanish language ability ?I still have a lot to learn. During my first day in Lima, I tried to have a few conversations in Spanish. I was talking in Spanish with the doorman in Luis's building and doing a fine job of it. I was looking at his face and could see that he was understanding me. Then he started looking confused. I reviewed what I had just said and realized that I had effortlessly switched to Japanese and did not even notice. I quickly apologized, but that came out in Japanese also. I needed a moment of quiet to re-orient myself.
Now, each day, there is less and less Japanese in my Spanish. Also, as I hear people speak, a lot of the vocabulary is coming back to me. I should be back to my old fumbling level in no time.
On the afternoon of the 10th, I boarded my flight for Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The view from the plane reminded me of flying over Kansas. Big rectangles of agriculture divided by narrow dirt roads.
I landed at The bottom of the World at 8:30 and it was still light. I sure do like the ratio of daylight to darkness down here in the middle of summer. Sunset was at 10:07 and twilight ended at 11:00 pm. The next day, twilight started at 2:21am and the sun rose at 3:14 in the morning. I consider myself solar powered, so this all makes me pretty happy.
Ushuaia is one of those end of the road towns where the streets turn to dirt within a few blocks of the main drag. It is also a port town and the big cruise ships make day stops here. I heard a couple of fellow fresh off the boat Americans walk into the tourist information place and ask for directions to the golf course.
They have some great information centers here and I was quickly directed to a place to sleep. Single hotel rooms start at about $35, so I opted for the $7 dorm room. They are cheap, but I never seem to sleep well in them. There is always the couple of Israelis that stay up late talking. At least they politely switch to Hebrew when they realize that some people are trying to sleep. Also, there are always some Germans who have to wake up really early and crinkle all of their plastic bags before heading out for the day. Then there is the random person who snores. All of this means that I could not wait to leave town and start camping. But, there was one thing to accomplish first - booking a trip to Antarctica.
I spent the day of the 11th visiting all of the travel agents and asking about trips. I quickly learned that there are two types of boats ?luxury cruises and converted expedition ships. The big ships hold about 800 people and are super expensive. The expedition ships are former scientific research vessels and take about 100 passengers. They don't have swimming pools or putting areas, but they are much cheaper and better for what I want.
I found one that leaves on the 18th. Unfortunately, the travel agent does not accept credit cards and I did not have $2500 cash on hand. I started taking money out of the ATMs, but soon realized that because of the daily withdrawal limits, I would not be able to take out all of the money in time.
On the 12th, I ran around all day to the banks and did not make any progress. But, I was eager to start camping, so I loaded up my gear and headed for the hills. I took a mini-bus a few miles out of town and hiked to a river for the first night in my new tent. The next morning was spent slowly making my way across some very soggy tundra. During the afternoon rain, I climbed a mountainside and camped under a pass, well above tree line.
The 14th was snowy and I did not feel like getting all wet and cold. I spent the day in my tent and read a book. By the 15th, the weather had cleared and I was ready for some more walking. I climbed up to the nearby pass, Paso Belen, and was rewarded with a nice panorama of the surrounding snow capped mountains and valleys. In the afternoon, I followed a stream down towards the road. The valley floor was a series of beaver made lakes. Beavers are an introduced species here and have no predators. I was amazed by how much change they are capable of causing in the landscape. There were big stands of trees that had been killed by beaver created lakes. Every piece of wood had gnaw marks on it. The dams themselves were very well constructed and I often used them as bridges to help me across the valley.
After getting back to the road, I hitched into town and found another loud and cheap dorm room for the night. On the 16th, I went to Tierra del Fuego National Park and camped in the cold rain. But, I sleep better in my tent than I do anywhere else. And, with my new warm sleeping bag and well-constructed tent, I am happy to spend time camping. In the afternoon, I took some short nature strolls.
I came back to Ushuaia yesterday and went to Western Union to see if my money was waiting for me. Unfortunately, the Internet was down in all of Patagonia and they could not help me. I went to a movie in the evening and decided to see what could be done the next day.
Today, after a few hours of waiting and standing in line in two different places, my money came through and I finished paying for my trip.
I leave in about thirty minutes to begin my 10 day cruise to Antarctica. I hope to see a hot spring and maybe some other things as well.
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
The last two months in Japan and a few months in the US
Happy New Year and all that. I suppose if I spent a little time updating this web page every month, it would not take so long to write or read. But, anyway, here goes. I will start back in September, when I still thought I could do the whole trip without ever flipping over my handlebars and slicing open my knee.
After my last update from the typhoon battered city of Aomori, I started the ride south. I headed up into the mountains of Hakkoda San. I got there early enough to have a great hike. I climbed a couple of big hills and walked across a swampy area. Even getting stuck behind 200 Junior High School students at one point did not slow me down too much. Besides, it is always fun to say "Hello" to a few hundred people in an hour.
After the hike I went to the "1000 Person Cedar Bath" It was not all that big. I don't think you could fit more than 200 people in there, and they would all have to be pretty good friends. The hot spring was in a big, old cedar building and had milky water.
From my mountain campsite, I headed down towards the Towada-Ko Lake. It was a great long downhill followed by a riverside ride along the beautiful and famous Oirase River gorge. The road around the lake had some big climbs in it and so did the road away from the lake. It was time to head for the coast and start making some good time.
I headed southwest into Akita Prefecture and then followed the coast south. A couple of hard days of riding brought through Yamagata Prefecture to Niigata Prefecture. I found a big hotel with a hot spring on the beach in the town of Murakami. I think I arrived at the hotel a few minutes before some tour buses. There were about a dozen young women in kimonos out front to greet me. They all giggled at me as I rooted around my bike to find my soap and towel and cleaner clothes. Finally, I got my stuff and was ceremoniously bowed into the hotel and guided to the hot spring. I soaked a few days road grime off of my skin and watched the sun set.
That night I found a hilly town park to camp in. A big wind and rain storm came in during the night and the event I knew would happen eventually finally occurred. My tent pole snapped and the whole thing came down on top of me. The tent floor flooded and I retreated fully into my sleeping bag. My sleeping mattress is only about four feet long, so I had to curl up and make sure that nothing hung out into the tent lake. Eventually, I was fully soaked and decided to just pack up and start riding. I got a nice early start that day.
I approached the city of Niigata from the north and noticed many interesting things. Niigata is a major port, especially for trade with Russia. As I rode along the port area, I saw a bunch of used car dealerships. All run by big Russian men in overalls. Also, there were lots of Russian guys riding around the port area on bicycles. I also went by Habib's Halal Restaurant, but it was too early to stop.
I made it into the city early enough to do my usual Internet and book exchange. Then I went down to the river to dry my stuff in the sun and to plan where to go next. Riding into the city took all morning and was not so fun. I did not look forward to spending another few hours fighting traffic just to leave the city. A quick look at the map told me that I could leave in the easiest way possible ?by ferry.
I took the afternoon ferry over to Sado Island. In the distant past this remote island was used for banished intellectuals and Emperors. In the 1600s it was populated with convicts who were forced to dig for gold. In the 1970s North Koreans kidnapped people from here. Last month, Sado Island made the news when the US defector from the Korean War, Mr. Jenkins, settled here with his family.
I got to the island just after sunset and a very helpful woman at the information counter directed me to a sea side park that was suitable for camping. I had ridden hard for about a week and decided to treat my time here as an island vacation. From the port town of Ryotsu, I rode around Kanto Lake, read a book and then followed the coastline north to the top of the island. I found a great campground on a cliff, overlooking the ocean and two small islands named the Turtle Islands. The next morning, I spent a few hours cleaning and tuning up my bike before swimming in the ocean.
By lunchtime, I was out of food and decided to start riding. This coastal rode was long and sparsely populated. There was no place to buy food. By two o'clock I was getting hungry when a woman in a passing car reached out her window and handed me some snack food. I guess must have looked hungry or something.
After a couple more easy riding days and beach nights, I made it to the small town of Ogi on the Southwest coast and took the ferry to Naoetsu. I rode inland along a highway and camped in a rest area. A few mountain passes later, I was in the city of Nagano in time to visit a bike shop and get a new sprocket for the back wheel.
My extensive study of urban camping areas has honed my searching skills. At the end of the day, I headed straight for the river. All the cities put their sports fields next to the rivers, in the flood plains. There is always nice camping down there. In Nagano, I found a small field that was completely surrounded by 10 foot tall trees. After forcing my way through the barrier, I had a whole private camping ground with no obvious access all to myself.
From Nagano, I continued inland to the town of Matsumoto and then headed into the mountains. I followed the Azusa River into the Northern Japan Alps. A day after leaving Nagano, I found myself slowly climbing towards the small town of Kamikochi. A difficult two mile climb up a very steep tunnel that was only open to buses and taxis brought me to the Kappa bridge ?one of the most famous mountain view points in all of Japan.
It was time to park the bike and enjoy some hiking. I followed the river north for the rest of the day and camped near the head of the valley. The next day was a bit rainy and entirely uphill. I made it to the campsite just below Japan's fifth tallest peak - Mt. Yari. As I was setting up my tent in the rain on a wind-blasted ridge, a pole broke. I fixed it and spent a cold, cold night waiting for the tent to fall on me, but it never did. In the morning fog, I climbed the 3,180 meter peak. It was an exciting hour with all of the ladders and chains, but there was no view at the top.
The rest of the day was spent on the famous Daikiretto traverse. A very steep and scary ridge walk with lots more rusty ladders, chains, old ropes and scree fields to traverse. It was tiring, but great. At the end of the traverse, I found myself high above a very crowded campground. It took another hour or two to make my way down and camp in one of the most popular back country campgrounds in Japan. After climbing over another small mountain, I walked back to Kamikochi. I was out of the bitter cold mountains and into the heavy rain.
After a damp night, I awoke to a clear day and rode back down the long tunnel. It was much easier going this way. From there, the road split. Cars could take a tunnel and bikes had to go over the mountain. After an hour of climbing, my chain broke. I had the tools and knowledge to fix it. Under the watchful eyes of a troop of monkeys, I had the bike repaired and my hands cleaned in under 30 minutes. Another bit of climbing took me to a 7,000+ foot pass - the highest point on my bike ride.
I stopped in the town of Hirayu for lunch. While washing my hands I got a great surprise. For the first time in my two years in Japan, I found a public bathroom sink that had hot water. It helped that the rest stop was part of a hot spring. I ended that day just outside of Takayama at a nice riverside campsite.
Now that my last big hike was behind me and time was running out, I decided to ride hard for a few more days. I got a nice early start the next day. It only took me about 30 minutes to realize that I had missed a turn. So, I zoomed back down the valley, found the turn and headed up into the hills on a very small and empty road. After three major hill climbs, I stopped at a roadside rest area with a robotic dinosaur show. There was also a bunch of motorcycle club members there. One club was for people with Harley Davidson motorcycles. The motorcycles were painted like police bikes and the riders all wore official looking uniforms and patches. I guess they were out playing police man for the day.
Towards the end of the day I found myself climbing another big hill. About an hour before sunset I realized that I was already well over 90 miles on the day and that I could hit 100 if I pushed on a little longer. So, I watched my odometer and as soon as it hit 100 miles for the day I stopped. I camped behind a small shrine and slept through the night of rain.
A few hours into the next day I came to an intersection. To the left was the road I had planned on taking, but it was closed. To the right was the suggested alternative. Naturally, I chose to continue on straight, figuring that I would just split the difference. I followed the river as the road got smaller and smaller. Eventually, the pavement ended and I was on a dirt road. In the heavy downpour, I found it rough going and ended up pushing the bike up the rest of the mountain. Coming down the other side was no picnic either with wet brakes and a dirt road.
I returned to the Sea of Japan coast and passed through the towns of Tsuruga, Obama and Maizuru. Maizuru was exciting because that is where I caught one of my ferries up to Hokkaido back in August. I only had about two weeks left and I was still only half way done. But, I still had one exciting experience to survive before even thinking about finishing. Late in the afternoon, I decided to take a break from the narrow and busy road and ride on the empty sidewalk. As I was tooling along, the front left bag on my bike got snagged on a pole. The front wheel turned sharply and went down. So did I. I flipped over the handlebars and skinned my knee in the process. I finished my somersault on the strip of grass next to the sidewalk - or so I thought for a brief moment. As I was rolling over I realized that my feet should have hit the ground already, but were still in mid-air. I looked down and saw that I was rolling off of a four foot ledge into a muddy rice field. I managed to stick my landing perfectly and only got muddy up to my ankles. The blood from my knee never even made it past my shin, so I guess the cut was not all that serious.
I found a city sports park and hid at the top of a hill until the staff all went home before setting up camp. The overnight drizzle turned into a downpour before I got to the town of Ama-no-hashi-date (The Bridge to Heaven). This is one of the three most famous views in Japan. It is a two mile long spit of sand and trees separating a lake and the ocean. There is a viewpoint from which you are supposed to turn your back on the view and bend down and look through your legs. It seems to me that this viewing position had to have been invented by a bored tour guide. But anyway, it was too rainy to see anything anyway.
That afternoon, I met some people and learned that all this rain was due to an approaching typhoon. I figured that rain is not all that bad and since it was not windy yet, I might as well keep on riding. Just before sunset, I came to a small town. As I entered the town, the wind started and I was in for some difficult riding. It was definitely not a camping night. Rather than aimlessly searching for the Youth Hostel, I rode to the main police station. It is much better marked. I went in, asked directions and apologized for leaving such a big puddle on their floor. I headed back out into the wind and they looked at me like I was crazy.
I had to peddle really hard to make any progress. Also, I had to keep the brakes on to keep the sudden strong gusts of wind from knocking me over. A mile later, I stopped in a small police station to check the directions and left a puddle there too. Finally, not too long after dark, I made it to the Youth Hostel and finally got out of my wet clothes.
The next day was nice and sunny as I headed to the City of Tottori. I was excited to be there because that is the sight of the largest sand dunes in Japan. I spent a morning hiking across the dunes down to the sea. The dunes are not very big, but there was one enjoyable one that was steep enough to run down very fast.
Another day or two of following the coast west brought me to the port of Sakai-Minato. I decided to have another island vacation and took the ferry to the island of Nishino in the Oki chain of off-shore islands. I got to the very small town of Beppu in the late afternoon and went off in search of the campground. I crossed to the north side of the narrow island and the road ended in a long, narrow bay. At the head of the bay was an empty campground. I was tired of sleeping in my wet and broken tent, so I spent the night on the floor of the shower room, where it was dry.
Nishino is a pretty small island and I explored most of it the next morning before taking the ten minute ferry to Nakano Island. Nakano is also small and I found another empty seaside campground to relax in. After riding all over Nakano, I took a ferry to the bigger island of Dogo. Crossing Dogo took over an hour and I ended up another empty seaside campground. This one was memorable because they had a lot of chopped up firewood sitting around for me to make a fire with.
After ferrying back to the mainland, I rode west for a few more days to the town of Hamada. Then it was time to head for the hills again. I rode up to the Sandan Gorge and went for an afternoon hike along the river. An hour into my very pleasant walk, I looked across the river and saw a small bear. I had seen on TV that all of the typhoons had been forcing the bears out of the mountains, but I had long since given up hope of seeing one, so I felt pretty lucky.
After two hours of hiking I came to a small hut with a little old lady in it. For a few dollars, she let me sit in her boat while she used overhanging ropes to pull us through the narrowest section of the gorge to look at a big waterfall.
Another wet night and it was time to go to Hiroshima. It was just about all down hill to the center of the city. I parked near the train station and found another great capsule hotel. I wandered around the downtown for a while before returning to the Grand Sauna Hiroshima Capsule Hotel. After a warm soak in the roof top baths, I returned to my capsule and watched on TV as the latest typhoon hit Japan.
I spent a rainy day touring the city and a few hours in the Peace Memorial Hall after walking around the Peace Memorial Park ?site of the world's first use of a nuclear bomb on people. I was most impressed by the wall of telegraphs. Every time any nation detonates a nuclear bomb for testing purposes, the Mayor of Hiroshima sends a telegraph of protest to the president of that country. Unfortunately, over the years, the mayors have sent out many such telegrams.
After another night at the capsule hotel, the typhoon was gone and it was time to move on. I hate riding in and out of big cities, so in Hiroshima, I finally did it right. I came in from the mountain side which is always the fastest and easiest land access to a city. I left by ferry. The ferry passed through the huge Hiroshima Bay. I was amazed by the number and size of ships being built. Outside of the bay, we crossed the Inland Sea. There are over 3,000 little islands there and I longed for a sea kayak so that I could explore them all.
The ferry docked in Matsuyama and I quickly started following the coast of Shikoku Island to the Southwest. I spent the night on a peninsula overlooking the town of Yawatahama. The next day, I took the ferry to the city of Beppu in Kyushu. Beppu is famous for its many hot springs. There are many different kinds of them. Some are for soaking and the other are really hot and are just for looking at. I am a big fan of bubbling mud, so I went to one of the so-called "Hells" I went to one that was called Bozu. Bozu refers to the shaved heads of monks. The big bubbles of mud really looked like a bald guys scalp before they popped.
After looking at the popping mud bubbles, I went for a soak in the Hyotan Onsen. They had some nice soaking pools and a section of big waterfalls. The main road out of the city was very crowded and I felt sorry for all of the people stuck in traffic as I zipped by them on my bike.
From Oita, I headed straight south towards the Prefecture of Miyazaki. This coastline faces the Pacific Ocean and is famous for its interesting rock formations. I was now back on my home turf, re-visiting places I had been to in the previous two years. I continued along the coast down to Shibushi, the place where I caught one of my ferries north in the beginning of the summer.
I kept the ocean on my left all the way down to the very bottom of the country. This day was longer and tougher than I expected. I ended up actually riding just over ten hours, according to my bike computer. My butt was very sore that night. I spent my final night near Cape Sata and rode on up to the Southernmost point in mainland Japan in the morning. Then I followed the Kinko Bay coastline to Tarumizu before taking the 15th and final ferry ride of my ten week bike ride.
I returned to Kagoshima on the 15th of October, after riding 5177 kilometers (about 3200 miles) in ten weeks. Once back in Kagoshima, I quickly picked up where I had left off ?with goodbye-parties. But first, I stayed in and watched TV for two days as the tenth typhoon of the season passed overhead. This one was the most powerful typhoon in many years and I was glad to be out of it. When the weather cleared, I had a good bye hike, hot spring excursion and party with the teachers from Wada Junior High School. I also had second good-bye party from the nice people in my Tai Chi class. Rie and I rode the new Ferris wheel twice and visited the new shopping area near the train station.
I managed to sell my bike and am already looking forward to buying my next one. I also ate in my favorite sushi place another half dozen times before leaving Japan on the 25th of October.
After my sad goodbye with Rie in Kagoshima, I flew to Korea. During the layover I went to the Haesoopia Hot Spring. It was very big. In Korea, they like their hot water salty, so that was a new experience for me. There was a hot cave to crawl into, but that was boring. The best part was a room with hot red lamps overhead and little wooden pillows on the floor. I had a great nap in there along with a dozen other men.
I thought that once I left Japan I would have no use for Japanese. But, in the Korea airport, the English speaking people at the information booth were busy, so I went to the Japanese speaking person instead. It was much faster. Also, at the Korean hot spring, a man tried to start a conversation with me, but he did not speak English and I don't speak Korean. Luckily, he was able to remember his Japanese lessons from when Korea was a colony of Japan and we could have a little conversation.
The over night flight to LA was uneventful. In LA, I had a few hours to wander around before my flight to Fort Lauderdale. In a men's room I saw a homeless man talking to himself. He was speaking in Japanese and I again had an opportunity to say a few words in my latest language. Wow - three times in a day I had a chance to speak Japanese outside of Japan. And I thought that Japanese was only good for reading the instructions on VCRs. I have since realized that many people in America have tattoos of Chinese characters and I can read many of them.
I got back to Florida early on the 26th of October and went straight to the Driver's License office to renew my long expired license. It took me a day or two to get used to driving on the right side of the road again, but I made the transition without doing any damage or scaring anybody.
On the 27th, I went up to help my grandfather celebrate his 80th birthday. I was proud to be the sole representative of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I also saw my father and uncles there.
After a hectic week that included the death of a family friend from cancer, my mother and I hit the road for road trip. I like driving and always miss it on my overseas travels. My mother let me drive all the way to Atlanta. We stopped along the way at cousin Leslie's and then visited friends in Atlanta. I think it was my first visit back there since 1996 or so. I was very excited because they have three REI camping stores. I managed to visit two of them and buy a new tent.
On the way out of the city, we stopped at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center. According to his museum, he was a great man and did a lot of good things. And still does.
We stopped in my old college town of Gainseville and I marveled at all the new buildings.
On the 19th of November, I flew up to New Jersey to visit Unka Jim and all the Dalins. After a fun few days there, I went into New York and saw cousin Nancy, Milo, Uncle Ed and Ruth. I also visited with my friend Matt and discussed his triathlon training.
From New York, I went to visit Uncle Lenny and his family in Connecticut before taking the long bus ride to Boston. Visiting my dad and his family was naturally the highlight of this leg of the journey, but a couple of trips to the REI store were also very enjoyable.
I returned to Florida on the 2nd of December and had a good birthday party that weekend. On my fourth birthday my mother made a chocolate cake that I did not care for. I decided, after 29 years, to try it again and I liked this one even less than the first.
On the tenth of December, Karla flew in from Denver. We spent a day gathering supplies and then drove down to the southwest corner of Florida. We rented a canoe and headed out to the Everglades for five days. During the first afternoon, we were paddling against the tide and it was tough going. We got to Rabbit Key at high tide and camped on the beach on our own private island. We spent the night listening to raccoons run around inside the canoe and in the morning the food lock box was covered in sandy little footprints.
On the morning of the 13th, we packed up and set out. Unfortunately, it was low tide and we spent about 30 minutes pushing the fully loaded canoe through the tidal muck before we could actually get in and start paddling. We went south along the coast and crossed a big bay before stopping on Mormon Key. It was such a nice place that we decided to call it a day and read our books. The rats came out in the late afternoon, but they stopped snooping a little while after sunset.
We spent the third morning of the trip reading books and waiting for the tide to change. After a while, we loaded up and headed up a channel. We saw a dolphin playing in the water near the canoe. Lunch at a campground was quick because of the mosquitoes. We paddled on into the afternoon and came into some difficulty. We had to cross a large open bay. It was very windy and the water was choppy. We were both a little nervous as we fought the waves in our little canoe. Eventually, we made it across and up into a side channel before realizing that it was the wrong channel. After a quick re-crossing of the big waves, we went up the correct channel and camped on a chickee. A chickee is a raised platform over the water. It has a toilet, a flat space for the tent and a roof. Ever since Karla and I learned of their existence many years ago, we have been eager to spend a night on one.
Florida had its one cold week while we were there and we froze. The wind was strong all night and was blowing in the large gap between the tent and the water. The temperature was well below 40 degrees. In the morning, my fingers hurt as I untied the knots on the ropes holding down the tent. Soon after we started I decided that it is time to buy a new and better sleeping bag.
It was a very long and difficult day. We had to cross a couple of large open bays. We tried to stick to the shore and hide behind the trees when possible. Most of the day was spent in shallow water, just in case we over-turned. The canoe scared a lot of large fish and they were always jumping around the boat. Twice I was scared when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large silver object flying at me, only to bounce off the canoe with a solid thump. Those poor fish must have quite a headache now.
Our goal for the day was another chickee. It was hidden behind some small islands. I caught a glimpse of it and steered us straight across the large bay. We fought the strong wind and waves knowing that we were almost there and if we rested we would lose ground. The gap to the chickee was passable, but soon got too shallow and muddy for us. We went back around one of the islands to try a different approach. We got within 30 feet of the chickee but could not get any closer because of the mud. I was willing to wait a few hours for the tide to come in, but in the end we went with Karla's excellent suggestion and moved on to the next campground.
The last night of the canoe trip was spent on a riverbank. The highlight of the evening was seeing a manatee swim bye while we were watching the sunset.
Bright and early on the 16th, we set out and had a pleasant ride back to the start. There were a lot of birds out and even some raccoons. The five days were a lot harder and colder than either of us had anticipated. My back was pretty sore from all that hard work. Karla managed to find us a couple of showers within minutes of landing.
We got in the car and drove off to look at some alligators before arriving in the keys. Karla was done camping and spent the next two nights in the car. I enjoyed the extra room in the tent.
Karla and I went to Key West and were both unimpressed. The big cruise ships were in and the whole place was too crowded. Plus, the beaches were less than spectacular. I can see the attraction of living there, but it is no place for a tourist.
On the 18th, we went to John Pennekamp State Park for a sailboat ride out to the reef. I did not realize that the reef off of Florida is the third largest in the world. Within minutes of jumping in the water, I saw a large sea turtle. During the next hour or so I saw some spotted rays, barracuda, lots of pretty tropical fish and some healthy coral.
The next day we spent a few hours on South Beach in Miami and had a Cuban lunch in Little Havana.
Karla went home on the 20th and I spent some time helping around the house and getting ready for my next trip.
There are a lot of things I miss from Japan, but I am ready for my next adventure. Tomorrow I will fly to Lima, Peru and start four months of hiking and traveling, so stay tuned.
After my last update from the typhoon battered city of Aomori, I started the ride south. I headed up into the mountains of Hakkoda San. I got there early enough to have a great hike. I climbed a couple of big hills and walked across a swampy area. Even getting stuck behind 200 Junior High School students at one point did not slow me down too much. Besides, it is always fun to say "Hello" to a few hundred people in an hour.
After the hike I went to the "1000 Person Cedar Bath" It was not all that big. I don't think you could fit more than 200 people in there, and they would all have to be pretty good friends. The hot spring was in a big, old cedar building and had milky water.
From my mountain campsite, I headed down towards the Towada-Ko Lake. It was a great long downhill followed by a riverside ride along the beautiful and famous Oirase River gorge. The road around the lake had some big climbs in it and so did the road away from the lake. It was time to head for the coast and start making some good time.
I headed southwest into Akita Prefecture and then followed the coast south. A couple of hard days of riding brought through Yamagata Prefecture to Niigata Prefecture. I found a big hotel with a hot spring on the beach in the town of Murakami. I think I arrived at the hotel a few minutes before some tour buses. There were about a dozen young women in kimonos out front to greet me. They all giggled at me as I rooted around my bike to find my soap and towel and cleaner clothes. Finally, I got my stuff and was ceremoniously bowed into the hotel and guided to the hot spring. I soaked a few days road grime off of my skin and watched the sun set.
That night I found a hilly town park to camp in. A big wind and rain storm came in during the night and the event I knew would happen eventually finally occurred. My tent pole snapped and the whole thing came down on top of me. The tent floor flooded and I retreated fully into my sleeping bag. My sleeping mattress is only about four feet long, so I had to curl up and make sure that nothing hung out into the tent lake. Eventually, I was fully soaked and decided to just pack up and start riding. I got a nice early start that day.
I approached the city of Niigata from the north and noticed many interesting things. Niigata is a major port, especially for trade with Russia. As I rode along the port area, I saw a bunch of used car dealerships. All run by big Russian men in overalls. Also, there were lots of Russian guys riding around the port area on bicycles. I also went by Habib's Halal Restaurant, but it was too early to stop.
I made it into the city early enough to do my usual Internet and book exchange. Then I went down to the river to dry my stuff in the sun and to plan where to go next. Riding into the city took all morning and was not so fun. I did not look forward to spending another few hours fighting traffic just to leave the city. A quick look at the map told me that I could leave in the easiest way possible ?by ferry.
I took the afternoon ferry over to Sado Island. In the distant past this remote island was used for banished intellectuals and Emperors. In the 1600s it was populated with convicts who were forced to dig for gold. In the 1970s North Koreans kidnapped people from here. Last month, Sado Island made the news when the US defector from the Korean War, Mr. Jenkins, settled here with his family.
I got to the island just after sunset and a very helpful woman at the information counter directed me to a sea side park that was suitable for camping. I had ridden hard for about a week and decided to treat my time here as an island vacation. From the port town of Ryotsu, I rode around Kanto Lake, read a book and then followed the coastline north to the top of the island. I found a great campground on a cliff, overlooking the ocean and two small islands named the Turtle Islands. The next morning, I spent a few hours cleaning and tuning up my bike before swimming in the ocean.
By lunchtime, I was out of food and decided to start riding. This coastal rode was long and sparsely populated. There was no place to buy food. By two o'clock I was getting hungry when a woman in a passing car reached out her window and handed me some snack food. I guess must have looked hungry or something.
After a couple more easy riding days and beach nights, I made it to the small town of Ogi on the Southwest coast and took the ferry to Naoetsu. I rode inland along a highway and camped in a rest area. A few mountain passes later, I was in the city of Nagano in time to visit a bike shop and get a new sprocket for the back wheel.
My extensive study of urban camping areas has honed my searching skills. At the end of the day, I headed straight for the river. All the cities put their sports fields next to the rivers, in the flood plains. There is always nice camping down there. In Nagano, I found a small field that was completely surrounded by 10 foot tall trees. After forcing my way through the barrier, I had a whole private camping ground with no obvious access all to myself.
From Nagano, I continued inland to the town of Matsumoto and then headed into the mountains. I followed the Azusa River into the Northern Japan Alps. A day after leaving Nagano, I found myself slowly climbing towards the small town of Kamikochi. A difficult two mile climb up a very steep tunnel that was only open to buses and taxis brought me to the Kappa bridge ?one of the most famous mountain view points in all of Japan.
It was time to park the bike and enjoy some hiking. I followed the river north for the rest of the day and camped near the head of the valley. The next day was a bit rainy and entirely uphill. I made it to the campsite just below Japan's fifth tallest peak - Mt. Yari. As I was setting up my tent in the rain on a wind-blasted ridge, a pole broke. I fixed it and spent a cold, cold night waiting for the tent to fall on me, but it never did. In the morning fog, I climbed the 3,180 meter peak. It was an exciting hour with all of the ladders and chains, but there was no view at the top.
The rest of the day was spent on the famous Daikiretto traverse. A very steep and scary ridge walk with lots more rusty ladders, chains, old ropes and scree fields to traverse. It was tiring, but great. At the end of the traverse, I found myself high above a very crowded campground. It took another hour or two to make my way down and camp in one of the most popular back country campgrounds in Japan. After climbing over another small mountain, I walked back to Kamikochi. I was out of the bitter cold mountains and into the heavy rain.
After a damp night, I awoke to a clear day and rode back down the long tunnel. It was much easier going this way. From there, the road split. Cars could take a tunnel and bikes had to go over the mountain. After an hour of climbing, my chain broke. I had the tools and knowledge to fix it. Under the watchful eyes of a troop of monkeys, I had the bike repaired and my hands cleaned in under 30 minutes. Another bit of climbing took me to a 7,000+ foot pass - the highest point on my bike ride.
I stopped in the town of Hirayu for lunch. While washing my hands I got a great surprise. For the first time in my two years in Japan, I found a public bathroom sink that had hot water. It helped that the rest stop was part of a hot spring. I ended that day just outside of Takayama at a nice riverside campsite.
Now that my last big hike was behind me and time was running out, I decided to ride hard for a few more days. I got a nice early start the next day. It only took me about 30 minutes to realize that I had missed a turn. So, I zoomed back down the valley, found the turn and headed up into the hills on a very small and empty road. After three major hill climbs, I stopped at a roadside rest area with a robotic dinosaur show. There was also a bunch of motorcycle club members there. One club was for people with Harley Davidson motorcycles. The motorcycles were painted like police bikes and the riders all wore official looking uniforms and patches. I guess they were out playing police man for the day.
Towards the end of the day I found myself climbing another big hill. About an hour before sunset I realized that I was already well over 90 miles on the day and that I could hit 100 if I pushed on a little longer. So, I watched my odometer and as soon as it hit 100 miles for the day I stopped. I camped behind a small shrine and slept through the night of rain.
A few hours into the next day I came to an intersection. To the left was the road I had planned on taking, but it was closed. To the right was the suggested alternative. Naturally, I chose to continue on straight, figuring that I would just split the difference. I followed the river as the road got smaller and smaller. Eventually, the pavement ended and I was on a dirt road. In the heavy downpour, I found it rough going and ended up pushing the bike up the rest of the mountain. Coming down the other side was no picnic either with wet brakes and a dirt road.
I returned to the Sea of Japan coast and passed through the towns of Tsuruga, Obama and Maizuru. Maizuru was exciting because that is where I caught one of my ferries up to Hokkaido back in August. I only had about two weeks left and I was still only half way done. But, I still had one exciting experience to survive before even thinking about finishing. Late in the afternoon, I decided to take a break from the narrow and busy road and ride on the empty sidewalk. As I was tooling along, the front left bag on my bike got snagged on a pole. The front wheel turned sharply and went down. So did I. I flipped over the handlebars and skinned my knee in the process. I finished my somersault on the strip of grass next to the sidewalk - or so I thought for a brief moment. As I was rolling over I realized that my feet should have hit the ground already, but were still in mid-air. I looked down and saw that I was rolling off of a four foot ledge into a muddy rice field. I managed to stick my landing perfectly and only got muddy up to my ankles. The blood from my knee never even made it past my shin, so I guess the cut was not all that serious.
I found a city sports park and hid at the top of a hill until the staff all went home before setting up camp. The overnight drizzle turned into a downpour before I got to the town of Ama-no-hashi-date (The Bridge to Heaven). This is one of the three most famous views in Japan. It is a two mile long spit of sand and trees separating a lake and the ocean. There is a viewpoint from which you are supposed to turn your back on the view and bend down and look through your legs. It seems to me that this viewing position had to have been invented by a bored tour guide. But anyway, it was too rainy to see anything anyway.
That afternoon, I met some people and learned that all this rain was due to an approaching typhoon. I figured that rain is not all that bad and since it was not windy yet, I might as well keep on riding. Just before sunset, I came to a small town. As I entered the town, the wind started and I was in for some difficult riding. It was definitely not a camping night. Rather than aimlessly searching for the Youth Hostel, I rode to the main police station. It is much better marked. I went in, asked directions and apologized for leaving such a big puddle on their floor. I headed back out into the wind and they looked at me like I was crazy.
I had to peddle really hard to make any progress. Also, I had to keep the brakes on to keep the sudden strong gusts of wind from knocking me over. A mile later, I stopped in a small police station to check the directions and left a puddle there too. Finally, not too long after dark, I made it to the Youth Hostel and finally got out of my wet clothes.
The next day was nice and sunny as I headed to the City of Tottori. I was excited to be there because that is the sight of the largest sand dunes in Japan. I spent a morning hiking across the dunes down to the sea. The dunes are not very big, but there was one enjoyable one that was steep enough to run down very fast.
Another day or two of following the coast west brought me to the port of Sakai-Minato. I decided to have another island vacation and took the ferry to the island of Nishino in the Oki chain of off-shore islands. I got to the very small town of Beppu in the late afternoon and went off in search of the campground. I crossed to the north side of the narrow island and the road ended in a long, narrow bay. At the head of the bay was an empty campground. I was tired of sleeping in my wet and broken tent, so I spent the night on the floor of the shower room, where it was dry.
Nishino is a pretty small island and I explored most of it the next morning before taking the ten minute ferry to Nakano Island. Nakano is also small and I found another empty seaside campground to relax in. After riding all over Nakano, I took a ferry to the bigger island of Dogo. Crossing Dogo took over an hour and I ended up another empty seaside campground. This one was memorable because they had a lot of chopped up firewood sitting around for me to make a fire with.
After ferrying back to the mainland, I rode west for a few more days to the town of Hamada. Then it was time to head for the hills again. I rode up to the Sandan Gorge and went for an afternoon hike along the river. An hour into my very pleasant walk, I looked across the river and saw a small bear. I had seen on TV that all of the typhoons had been forcing the bears out of the mountains, but I had long since given up hope of seeing one, so I felt pretty lucky.
After two hours of hiking I came to a small hut with a little old lady in it. For a few dollars, she let me sit in her boat while she used overhanging ropes to pull us through the narrowest section of the gorge to look at a big waterfall.
Another wet night and it was time to go to Hiroshima. It was just about all down hill to the center of the city. I parked near the train station and found another great capsule hotel. I wandered around the downtown for a while before returning to the Grand Sauna Hiroshima Capsule Hotel. After a warm soak in the roof top baths, I returned to my capsule and watched on TV as the latest typhoon hit Japan.
I spent a rainy day touring the city and a few hours in the Peace Memorial Hall after walking around the Peace Memorial Park ?site of the world's first use of a nuclear bomb on people. I was most impressed by the wall of telegraphs. Every time any nation detonates a nuclear bomb for testing purposes, the Mayor of Hiroshima sends a telegraph of protest to the president of that country. Unfortunately, over the years, the mayors have sent out many such telegrams.
After another night at the capsule hotel, the typhoon was gone and it was time to move on. I hate riding in and out of big cities, so in Hiroshima, I finally did it right. I came in from the mountain side which is always the fastest and easiest land access to a city. I left by ferry. The ferry passed through the huge Hiroshima Bay. I was amazed by the number and size of ships being built. Outside of the bay, we crossed the Inland Sea. There are over 3,000 little islands there and I longed for a sea kayak so that I could explore them all.
The ferry docked in Matsuyama and I quickly started following the coast of Shikoku Island to the Southwest. I spent the night on a peninsula overlooking the town of Yawatahama. The next day, I took the ferry to the city of Beppu in Kyushu. Beppu is famous for its many hot springs. There are many different kinds of them. Some are for soaking and the other are really hot and are just for looking at. I am a big fan of bubbling mud, so I went to one of the so-called "Hells" I went to one that was called Bozu. Bozu refers to the shaved heads of monks. The big bubbles of mud really looked like a bald guys scalp before they popped.
After looking at the popping mud bubbles, I went for a soak in the Hyotan Onsen. They had some nice soaking pools and a section of big waterfalls. The main road out of the city was very crowded and I felt sorry for all of the people stuck in traffic as I zipped by them on my bike.
From Oita, I headed straight south towards the Prefecture of Miyazaki. This coastline faces the Pacific Ocean and is famous for its interesting rock formations. I was now back on my home turf, re-visiting places I had been to in the previous two years. I continued along the coast down to Shibushi, the place where I caught one of my ferries north in the beginning of the summer.
I kept the ocean on my left all the way down to the very bottom of the country. This day was longer and tougher than I expected. I ended up actually riding just over ten hours, according to my bike computer. My butt was very sore that night. I spent my final night near Cape Sata and rode on up to the Southernmost point in mainland Japan in the morning. Then I followed the Kinko Bay coastline to Tarumizu before taking the 15th and final ferry ride of my ten week bike ride.
I returned to Kagoshima on the 15th of October, after riding 5177 kilometers (about 3200 miles) in ten weeks. Once back in Kagoshima, I quickly picked up where I had left off ?with goodbye-parties. But first, I stayed in and watched TV for two days as the tenth typhoon of the season passed overhead. This one was the most powerful typhoon in many years and I was glad to be out of it. When the weather cleared, I had a good bye hike, hot spring excursion and party with the teachers from Wada Junior High School. I also had second good-bye party from the nice people in my Tai Chi class. Rie and I rode the new Ferris wheel twice and visited the new shopping area near the train station.
I managed to sell my bike and am already looking forward to buying my next one. I also ate in my favorite sushi place another half dozen times before leaving Japan on the 25th of October.
After my sad goodbye with Rie in Kagoshima, I flew to Korea. During the layover I went to the Haesoopia Hot Spring. It was very big. In Korea, they like their hot water salty, so that was a new experience for me. There was a hot cave to crawl into, but that was boring. The best part was a room with hot red lamps overhead and little wooden pillows on the floor. I had a great nap in there along with a dozen other men.
I thought that once I left Japan I would have no use for Japanese. But, in the Korea airport, the English speaking people at the information booth were busy, so I went to the Japanese speaking person instead. It was much faster. Also, at the Korean hot spring, a man tried to start a conversation with me, but he did not speak English and I don't speak Korean. Luckily, he was able to remember his Japanese lessons from when Korea was a colony of Japan and we could have a little conversation.
The over night flight to LA was uneventful. In LA, I had a few hours to wander around before my flight to Fort Lauderdale. In a men's room I saw a homeless man talking to himself. He was speaking in Japanese and I again had an opportunity to say a few words in my latest language. Wow - three times in a day I had a chance to speak Japanese outside of Japan. And I thought that Japanese was only good for reading the instructions on VCRs. I have since realized that many people in America have tattoos of Chinese characters and I can read many of them.
I got back to Florida early on the 26th of October and went straight to the Driver's License office to renew my long expired license. It took me a day or two to get used to driving on the right side of the road again, but I made the transition without doing any damage or scaring anybody.
On the 27th, I went up to help my grandfather celebrate his 80th birthday. I was proud to be the sole representative of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I also saw my father and uncles there.
After a hectic week that included the death of a family friend from cancer, my mother and I hit the road for road trip. I like driving and always miss it on my overseas travels. My mother let me drive all the way to Atlanta. We stopped along the way at cousin Leslie's and then visited friends in Atlanta. I think it was my first visit back there since 1996 or so. I was very excited because they have three REI camping stores. I managed to visit two of them and buy a new tent.
On the way out of the city, we stopped at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center. According to his museum, he was a great man and did a lot of good things. And still does.
We stopped in my old college town of Gainseville and I marveled at all the new buildings.
On the 19th of November, I flew up to New Jersey to visit Unka Jim and all the Dalins. After a fun few days there, I went into New York and saw cousin Nancy, Milo, Uncle Ed and Ruth. I also visited with my friend Matt and discussed his triathlon training.
From New York, I went to visit Uncle Lenny and his family in Connecticut before taking the long bus ride to Boston. Visiting my dad and his family was naturally the highlight of this leg of the journey, but a couple of trips to the REI store were also very enjoyable.
I returned to Florida on the 2nd of December and had a good birthday party that weekend. On my fourth birthday my mother made a chocolate cake that I did not care for. I decided, after 29 years, to try it again and I liked this one even less than the first.
On the tenth of December, Karla flew in from Denver. We spent a day gathering supplies and then drove down to the southwest corner of Florida. We rented a canoe and headed out to the Everglades for five days. During the first afternoon, we were paddling against the tide and it was tough going. We got to Rabbit Key at high tide and camped on the beach on our own private island. We spent the night listening to raccoons run around inside the canoe and in the morning the food lock box was covered in sandy little footprints.
On the morning of the 13th, we packed up and set out. Unfortunately, it was low tide and we spent about 30 minutes pushing the fully loaded canoe through the tidal muck before we could actually get in and start paddling. We went south along the coast and crossed a big bay before stopping on Mormon Key. It was such a nice place that we decided to call it a day and read our books. The rats came out in the late afternoon, but they stopped snooping a little while after sunset.
We spent the third morning of the trip reading books and waiting for the tide to change. After a while, we loaded up and headed up a channel. We saw a dolphin playing in the water near the canoe. Lunch at a campground was quick because of the mosquitoes. We paddled on into the afternoon and came into some difficulty. We had to cross a large open bay. It was very windy and the water was choppy. We were both a little nervous as we fought the waves in our little canoe. Eventually, we made it across and up into a side channel before realizing that it was the wrong channel. After a quick re-crossing of the big waves, we went up the correct channel and camped on a chickee. A chickee is a raised platform over the water. It has a toilet, a flat space for the tent and a roof. Ever since Karla and I learned of their existence many years ago, we have been eager to spend a night on one.
Florida had its one cold week while we were there and we froze. The wind was strong all night and was blowing in the large gap between the tent and the water. The temperature was well below 40 degrees. In the morning, my fingers hurt as I untied the knots on the ropes holding down the tent. Soon after we started I decided that it is time to buy a new and better sleeping bag.
It was a very long and difficult day. We had to cross a couple of large open bays. We tried to stick to the shore and hide behind the trees when possible. Most of the day was spent in shallow water, just in case we over-turned. The canoe scared a lot of large fish and they were always jumping around the boat. Twice I was scared when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large silver object flying at me, only to bounce off the canoe with a solid thump. Those poor fish must have quite a headache now.
Our goal for the day was another chickee. It was hidden behind some small islands. I caught a glimpse of it and steered us straight across the large bay. We fought the strong wind and waves knowing that we were almost there and if we rested we would lose ground. The gap to the chickee was passable, but soon got too shallow and muddy for us. We went back around one of the islands to try a different approach. We got within 30 feet of the chickee but could not get any closer because of the mud. I was willing to wait a few hours for the tide to come in, but in the end we went with Karla's excellent suggestion and moved on to the next campground.
The last night of the canoe trip was spent on a riverbank. The highlight of the evening was seeing a manatee swim bye while we were watching the sunset.
Bright and early on the 16th, we set out and had a pleasant ride back to the start. There were a lot of birds out and even some raccoons. The five days were a lot harder and colder than either of us had anticipated. My back was pretty sore from all that hard work. Karla managed to find us a couple of showers within minutes of landing.
We got in the car and drove off to look at some alligators before arriving in the keys. Karla was done camping and spent the next two nights in the car. I enjoyed the extra room in the tent.
Karla and I went to Key West and were both unimpressed. The big cruise ships were in and the whole place was too crowded. Plus, the beaches were less than spectacular. I can see the attraction of living there, but it is no place for a tourist.
On the 18th, we went to John Pennekamp State Park for a sailboat ride out to the reef. I did not realize that the reef off of Florida is the third largest in the world. Within minutes of jumping in the water, I saw a large sea turtle. During the next hour or so I saw some spotted rays, barracuda, lots of pretty tropical fish and some healthy coral.
The next day we spent a few hours on South Beach in Miami and had a Cuban lunch in Little Havana.
Karla went home on the 20th and I spent some time helping around the house and getting ready for my next trip.
There are a lot of things I miss from Japan, but I am ready for my next adventure. Tomorrow I will fly to Lima, Peru and start four months of hiking and traveling, so stay tuned.
Wednesday, September 8, 2004
The second three weeks of my big bike ride in Northern Japan
Before I get started with the latest, I have to make an amendment to the last update. For those who were following along closely, you will realize that I left out one day. That day was August 7th. I rode. All day. North. It was hot. Actually, it was in the 90's and many families took advantage of the record heat to go camping on the beaches.
So, I last wrote from Asahikawa in Hokkaido. I spent so much time on the Internet that day that I was forced to spend a night in the park. I found a nice secluded spot and spent the night. I really like how camping in city parks is acceptable here in Japan.
On the 24th of August, I headed northeast. I wanted to visit the famous gorges of Sounkyo. After riding uphill for several hours I got to the tunnel that bypasses the gorges. The trail that borders the river was closed because of falling rocks. The fence closing the road was too big and the lock was too strong for me to get my bike over or through the gate. I rode through the long tunnel instead and never got a view of area's special attraction.
After another high mountain pass, I rolled into Rubeshibe and camped near a hot spring hotel. That area is famous for its wild foxes. Unfortunately, the only foxes I saw were chained to posts near the highway as a way of enticing passer-bys into the souvenir shops.
On the 25th, I rode through Kitami and Bihoro on the way to Shari. I had heard about a nice Rider House in Shari, but did not have any directions. I looked for some motorcyclists. The first two I met were staying there and led me back to the Rider House. This one was a lot more crowded than the one I visited on Rishiri Island. I did not have the place to myself. Despite all the cigarette smoke, it was a friendly place.
Early on the 26th, I rode to Utoro on the edge of Shiretoko National Park in the far northeast of Japan. I managed to get to the campsite, pack my bag and race to the bus stop in time for the 8:40 am bus. The bus dropped me off at the Iwaobetzu Hot Spring Hotel. The weather was great and I started hiking up the mountain. Long before I got to the top of Mt. Rausu, the wind got strong and the rain started. I camped in a slightly sheltered area and spent the night hoping that the wind would not break my tent. (My tent poles have already snapped three times on this trip).
The next day, I tried to continue along the ridge line, but the wind was too strong, so I went back the way I came. Going down the mountain, the rain drops were blasting me in the face and I had to hold a hand in front of my eyes to protect them. I finished where I started and had a nice soak in the outdoor hot pool by the river. After a short walk to another bus stop, I took a bus to Kamuiwakka Yu-no-taki - a hot spring waterfall. This place was great. It combined two of my favorite things - hiking up a river bed and hot water. The river was warm! It was fantastic. I went up the river for about twenty minutes. There were several nice pools below waterfalls to choose from. I found the best one and jumped in for a soak. The pH was only about 4, so I had to be careful not to let any water splash into my eyes. It burned my eyes like acid when it got in, but did not harm my skin at all.
The 28th of August was a nice day and I finally got to see the mountains I had just tried to climb. I spent the morning riding up to a high mountain pass. In the afternoon, I came down to the town of Rausu. Heading south along the Pacific Coast, I was only ten miles from some off shore islands that Russia currently claims. I spent that night in a nice park in the town of Shibetsu.
On the 29th, I turned inland and visited a crater lake called Mashu. It is a beautiful blue lake at the bottom of a 1000 year old volcanic crater. Next, I visited Io zan mountain. There were lots of steam vents with hissing sulfur. The mouth of the vents was an incredible bright yellow. I spent that night on the shore of Kussharo Lake.
The 30th was a rainy, dreary day and was actually the first time in a month of riding that I had to wear all of my rain gear. I spent several hours on a brutal climb up to Akan Lake Town. As I was rolling into town, a man stopped me and told me that the campground was closed because a typhoon was coming. He directed me to the local Rider House and I went there. Because of the typhoon, the place was packed. Also it only cost 500 Yen ($5) and that included dinner and breakfast. I had a nice time chatting with the other riders.
On the last day of August, the typhoon was still to strong for riding, so I sought out a place to read a book. I knew the campground was closed, but I went there in search of a shelter to sit under and read. I found the best shelter ever. Inside the shelter was a pool with hot water for soaking your feet. In the middle of the rectangular pool was a table to rest the book on. It was great. I spent almost two hours there before the campground guard came and told me that it was too dangerous to be in the campground while the typhoon was still blowing.
The first of September was a nice day, so I rode out to Lake Meakan and climbed a volcano. The climb up was nice and peaceful. Once I got above the tree line, things changed. The wind was incredible. I guess the typhoon was still making some wind, even if there were no clouds. I got to the top of the volcano and followed the trail along the ridge. On one side was a long, long drop down into the sulfur vents. The other side of the trail was a steep mountain side. The wind was coming from the crater side and trying to blow me down the mountain. I crab walked and crawled for about twenty minutes. Every time a particularly strong gust of wind came, I sat down with my back to the wind and covered my eyes with my hands. The wind was picking up marble sized rocks and bashing me in the back of the head with them.
After finishing that very windy hike, I went to another hot spring waterfall for a soak.
On the 2nd of September, I rode all day across the central southern plains of Hokkaido and camped next to a river.
On the 3rd of September, I went to the town of Yamabe. They have a free campground and I dropped my bike off there before hiking up to a mountain hut. The trail was covered in fallen trees from the typhoon and also very muddy. After a good few hours hiking I came to a stone cottage next to a river. It was a great place, and for my first time ever in Japan, I had a whole mountain hut to myself. I even found a nice shirt there, which I am wearing now.
Early the next morning, I continued up the mountain and pushed my way through lots of brush towards the top of Ashibetsu Mountain. I found some bear foot prints on the trail, so I was a little uncomfortable because I could rarely see more than a few yards in front of me. I was worried about surprising a bear, so just to be safe, I sang songs. My singing is guaranteed to scare away anything within hearing distance.
I spent a few hours sitting on the top of the mountain before heading down. I met a nice Canadian man up there and he told me about his job as a tree planter in Canada. It sounds like hard but rewarding work and I may give it a shot someday.
On the 5th of September, I headed south, crossed two easy mountain passes and came back to the Pacific Coast near Tomikawa. I found a closed campground on the beach and spent the night.
On the 6th of September, I got a very early start and rode about 80 miles to Muroran. I got there early enough for some laundry and a trip to the public bathhouse. That night I took a ferry to Aomori and got here early yesterday. On the ferry there were lots of TVs and I watched the news. Another typhoon was headed my way. After watching all of the destruction in southern Japan, I decided that maybe last night was not a camping night after all.
I found a capsule hotel and checked into my big coffin of a room. I really like the capsules and would not mind having one in the next place I live.
The typhoon passed by in the night, but this morning was still very windy. Too windy to ride a big bike with lots of gear hanging off. So, today is another enforced rest day. Luckily, this town has lots of free Internet.
I will get another capsule tonight and then start riding again tomorrow. I am now in the Tohuku section of Honshu Island, the main island of Japan. I have begun to realize that I do not have time to ride the length of the country and to do every hike. Soon I will have to start making some hard choices about what to skip.
I have now ridden over 1400 miles and my legs are still fine.
I mentioned before that the island of Hokkaido is popular with motorcycle tourers. Every time someone passed me on a motorcycle, they gave a nice big wave. This would happen several times an hour, usually. It was really nice to have that moment of contact as I peddled away furiously. It made me feel very accepted.
Lots of people also bring their souped up cars to Hokkaido because there are long straight roads with few cars and they can drive really fast. Hokkaido leads the nation in traffic fatalities.
I have booked my tickets back to the US and will arrive in Fort Lauderdale on the 26th of October.
Time to check out the local camping store and bike shop. I want to buy a new tire before it is absolutely necessary. Afterwards it might be a hassle, depending on where I am.
So, I last wrote from Asahikawa in Hokkaido. I spent so much time on the Internet that day that I was forced to spend a night in the park. I found a nice secluded spot and spent the night. I really like how camping in city parks is acceptable here in Japan.
On the 24th of August, I headed northeast. I wanted to visit the famous gorges of Sounkyo. After riding uphill for several hours I got to the tunnel that bypasses the gorges. The trail that borders the river was closed because of falling rocks. The fence closing the road was too big and the lock was too strong for me to get my bike over or through the gate. I rode through the long tunnel instead and never got a view of area's special attraction.
After another high mountain pass, I rolled into Rubeshibe and camped near a hot spring hotel. That area is famous for its wild foxes. Unfortunately, the only foxes I saw were chained to posts near the highway as a way of enticing passer-bys into the souvenir shops.
On the 25th, I rode through Kitami and Bihoro on the way to Shari. I had heard about a nice Rider House in Shari, but did not have any directions. I looked for some motorcyclists. The first two I met were staying there and led me back to the Rider House. This one was a lot more crowded than the one I visited on Rishiri Island. I did not have the place to myself. Despite all the cigarette smoke, it was a friendly place.
Early on the 26th, I rode to Utoro on the edge of Shiretoko National Park in the far northeast of Japan. I managed to get to the campsite, pack my bag and race to the bus stop in time for the 8:40 am bus. The bus dropped me off at the Iwaobetzu Hot Spring Hotel. The weather was great and I started hiking up the mountain. Long before I got to the top of Mt. Rausu, the wind got strong and the rain started. I camped in a slightly sheltered area and spent the night hoping that the wind would not break my tent. (My tent poles have already snapped three times on this trip).
The next day, I tried to continue along the ridge line, but the wind was too strong, so I went back the way I came. Going down the mountain, the rain drops were blasting me in the face and I had to hold a hand in front of my eyes to protect them. I finished where I started and had a nice soak in the outdoor hot pool by the river. After a short walk to another bus stop, I took a bus to Kamuiwakka Yu-no-taki - a hot spring waterfall. This place was great. It combined two of my favorite things - hiking up a river bed and hot water. The river was warm! It was fantastic. I went up the river for about twenty minutes. There were several nice pools below waterfalls to choose from. I found the best one and jumped in for a soak. The pH was only about 4, so I had to be careful not to let any water splash into my eyes. It burned my eyes like acid when it got in, but did not harm my skin at all.
The 28th of August was a nice day and I finally got to see the mountains I had just tried to climb. I spent the morning riding up to a high mountain pass. In the afternoon, I came down to the town of Rausu. Heading south along the Pacific Coast, I was only ten miles from some off shore islands that Russia currently claims. I spent that night in a nice park in the town of Shibetsu.
On the 29th, I turned inland and visited a crater lake called Mashu. It is a beautiful blue lake at the bottom of a 1000 year old volcanic crater. Next, I visited Io zan mountain. There were lots of steam vents with hissing sulfur. The mouth of the vents was an incredible bright yellow. I spent that night on the shore of Kussharo Lake.
The 30th was a rainy, dreary day and was actually the first time in a month of riding that I had to wear all of my rain gear. I spent several hours on a brutal climb up to Akan Lake Town. As I was rolling into town, a man stopped me and told me that the campground was closed because a typhoon was coming. He directed me to the local Rider House and I went there. Because of the typhoon, the place was packed. Also it only cost 500 Yen ($5) and that included dinner and breakfast. I had a nice time chatting with the other riders.
On the last day of August, the typhoon was still to strong for riding, so I sought out a place to read a book. I knew the campground was closed, but I went there in search of a shelter to sit under and read. I found the best shelter ever. Inside the shelter was a pool with hot water for soaking your feet. In the middle of the rectangular pool was a table to rest the book on. It was great. I spent almost two hours there before the campground guard came and told me that it was too dangerous to be in the campground while the typhoon was still blowing.
The first of September was a nice day, so I rode out to Lake Meakan and climbed a volcano. The climb up was nice and peaceful. Once I got above the tree line, things changed. The wind was incredible. I guess the typhoon was still making some wind, even if there were no clouds. I got to the top of the volcano and followed the trail along the ridge. On one side was a long, long drop down into the sulfur vents. The other side of the trail was a steep mountain side. The wind was coming from the crater side and trying to blow me down the mountain. I crab walked and crawled for about twenty minutes. Every time a particularly strong gust of wind came, I sat down with my back to the wind and covered my eyes with my hands. The wind was picking up marble sized rocks and bashing me in the back of the head with them.
After finishing that very windy hike, I went to another hot spring waterfall for a soak.
On the 2nd of September, I rode all day across the central southern plains of Hokkaido and camped next to a river.
On the 3rd of September, I went to the town of Yamabe. They have a free campground and I dropped my bike off there before hiking up to a mountain hut. The trail was covered in fallen trees from the typhoon and also very muddy. After a good few hours hiking I came to a stone cottage next to a river. It was a great place, and for my first time ever in Japan, I had a whole mountain hut to myself. I even found a nice shirt there, which I am wearing now.
Early the next morning, I continued up the mountain and pushed my way through lots of brush towards the top of Ashibetsu Mountain. I found some bear foot prints on the trail, so I was a little uncomfortable because I could rarely see more than a few yards in front of me. I was worried about surprising a bear, so just to be safe, I sang songs. My singing is guaranteed to scare away anything within hearing distance.
I spent a few hours sitting on the top of the mountain before heading down. I met a nice Canadian man up there and he told me about his job as a tree planter in Canada. It sounds like hard but rewarding work and I may give it a shot someday.
On the 5th of September, I headed south, crossed two easy mountain passes and came back to the Pacific Coast near Tomikawa. I found a closed campground on the beach and spent the night.
On the 6th of September, I got a very early start and rode about 80 miles to Muroran. I got there early enough for some laundry and a trip to the public bathhouse. That night I took a ferry to Aomori and got here early yesterday. On the ferry there were lots of TVs and I watched the news. Another typhoon was headed my way. After watching all of the destruction in southern Japan, I decided that maybe last night was not a camping night after all.
I found a capsule hotel and checked into my big coffin of a room. I really like the capsules and would not mind having one in the next place I live.
The typhoon passed by in the night, but this morning was still very windy. Too windy to ride a big bike with lots of gear hanging off. So, today is another enforced rest day. Luckily, this town has lots of free Internet.
I will get another capsule tonight and then start riding again tomorrow. I am now in the Tohuku section of Honshu Island, the main island of Japan. I have begun to realize that I do not have time to ride the length of the country and to do every hike. Soon I will have to start making some hard choices about what to skip.
I have now ridden over 1400 miles and my legs are still fine.
I mentioned before that the island of Hokkaido is popular with motorcycle tourers. Every time someone passed me on a motorcycle, they gave a nice big wave. This would happen several times an hour, usually. It was really nice to have that moment of contact as I peddled away furiously. It made me feel very accepted.
Lots of people also bring their souped up cars to Hokkaido because there are long straight roads with few cars and they can drive really fast. Hokkaido leads the nation in traffic fatalities.
I have booked my tickets back to the US and will arrive in Fort Lauderdale on the 26th of October.
Time to check out the local camping store and bike shop. I want to buy a new tire before it is absolutely necessary. Afterwards it might be a hassle, depending on where I am.
Monday, August 23, 2004
The first three weeks of my big bike ride in Hokkaido, Japan
Hello from the road! It has been a while since I have been able to say that.
Well, let's get right into it. On the 3rd of August, I went into the office for my final day. I was hoping to get out in under ten minutes, but ended up spending a whole half hour there. We had to wait a while to say goodbye to the big boss. I went back to my apartment, picked up my bike and headed off. I rode across town to the Tarumizu ferry and crossed the Kinko Bay by boat. I stood at the back of the boat and watched the city shrink in the distance.
Once I was across the bay, I continued east by bike to the town of Shibushi, about 30 miles away. I got there early enough to relax a little bit before boarding the ferry for Osaka. It was an overnight ferry on the Pacific side of the country and I slept just fine.
On the 4th, I woke up as we were nearing Osaka. By 8:30 I was off the boat and ready to ride, and some ride it was. I had reservations for the next ferry from Maizuru - nearly 100 miles away on the Japan Sea. I headed north for a few hours through the big city. It was a bit slow going, what with all the traffic lights and detours around bridges that don't allow bicycles.
Around 2:00, I got lost in the Daihatzu car factory in a small town on the outskirts of Osaka. As I was leaving the complex, the guard told me I was lost. I agreed. He gave me some good directions before sending me on my way. From there the morning's flat roads were exchanged for the mountains that seem to be everywhere in this country. I went up and down for a few more slow hours. I managed to get to Maizuru about an hour after the sun set and the rain started.
I had been hoping to have at least one 100 mile day on my three month trip, but not the second day. In the end it was only about 92 miles in nine and a half hours of actual riding. I got to Maizuru and was good and tired. The boat did not leave until after mid-night, so I had to wait awhile to board. I had to wait for the 100 or so motorcycles to ride up the ramp before I could join the 50 or so other cyclists, including one very large group of university students.
Once on board, I (along with many, many other people) went straight for the room with the baths. I got there early enough to find an open seat and had a good scrub before soaking in the big tub of hot water. After that, I was good and tired and went back to my room to sleep. The cheap rooms on Japanese ferries are big open spaces with lots of pillows and blankets on the floor. But, I did have my own little cabinet, and since the cruise was scheduled to take over 20 hours, I unpacked and made myself at home.
The next day, I spent outside reading and talking with the other passengers. The boat went at speedy 30 miles per hour and had a special double propeller system which eliminated all of the big wave that usually follows a boat. At one point, we passed a sister ship headed the other way. It was strange to see watch a huge boat zoom by at 60 miles an hour while not disturbing the sea much at all.
We arrived in Otaru, Hokkaido at around 8:00 pm. I went to the small park nearby, set up my tent and went to sleep. The next day, when it started to get light, I woke up and checked my watch. It was only 4:00 in the morning. I was excited because that meant that I would have no trouble getting early starts this summer.
On the morning of the 6th, I packed up and rode over to the big city of Sapporo. I spent the morning buying maps and looking around the city before heading north along the western coast of Japan. I rode the rest of the day and found a nice campground that night.
On the 7th, I got a good early start and continued north. It was a beautiful coast rode, except for the large number of tunnels. By the end of the day, I was riding through the Rishiri-Rebun-Sarubetsu quasi-national park. It was a beautiful empty area of beach and plant covered sand dunes. I found a nice place to camp that night and set up my tent. On the 3rd night of camping on this trip and the 8th night of actual use, my tent broke. One of the poles snapped and ripped the sleeve that was supposed to contain it. I did a minor repair as I formulated the complaint letter I intend to write to Mountain Hardware.
On the 8th, I stuck to the coast until I got to the town of Wakkanai. Wakkanai is the closest port city to Russia. Lots of Russian fishing boats visit and all of the city street signs are in Russian, as well as Japanese and English. From this very international port, I took a ferry over to Rishiri Island. I had time that evening for a visit to the local hot spring before camping. The next day, after a slow start, I started climbing Rishiri Mountain. I got to the mountain hut about 10 minutes before a big rain and only had to share the hut with one other person.
On the 10th, I finished climbing to the top of the mountain. Along the way, I got lots of nice views of Sakhalin Island in Russia. I can now add Russia to the list of countries which I have seen, but not visited. The list also includes Albania, Egypt, Jordan and China proper. This is different from the countries I barely visited. I never got off the plane in South Africa, same for the train in Sweden. As opposed to South Korea and England, where I briefly left the airport. Unlike Costa Rica and Checkoslovakia, where I actually spent a day looking around.
Anyway, I got to the top of the mountain, looked at Russia, and then started down. The trail was very muddy and slippery. Also, my pack and shoes were not so good. When I packed for this trip, I had to make some concessions to this mode of travel. I did not bring my good backpack and boots. Instead, I am using a smaller backpack that does not have a hip belt, stabilizer straps, padded shoulder straps or metal support rods in the back. And my shoes are just sneakers. So, it was a long and tiring decent back to sea level from the 6,000 foot peak. That night was another trip to the hot spring.
After a good soak, I headed out of town to look for a nice park to camp in. I did not feel like riding back up the mountain to the campsite. About five miles from town, I found a Rider House. Here in Hokkaido, motorcycle and bicycle touring is very popular. There are a large number of places to stay geared towards this sort of people. Rider Houses are usually under $10 per night and vary widely in what they offer. The one I found, had a nice kitchen and sitting room downstairs and a big loft upstairs with some pillows and blankets to use on the floor. This rider house was also free and unoccupied, I never saw another person there. For the night, I had my own house all to myself. What a great country!
On the 11th, I caught the first ferry to Rebun Island, forty minutes to the north. At the port in Rebun, I ate the local specialty - sea urchin. I had a nice bowl of rice covered with sea urchins. Very tasty. I left town on the islands only road north and went up to the top of the island town of Fundonomari. At the campground, I ran into a number of Japanese cyclists and had a nice chat.
On the 12th, I woke up nice and early (like I do everyday) and rode to the northern most point on the island. I intended to hike south for eight hours and then take a bus back to my bike at the end of the day. It only took a few minutes of walking along the coast to realize that there was no way that I was going to do that hike. My legs were sore - very sore. I could not figure out why. I knew it was from the hike up and down Rishiri Mountain, but that was days ago. Maybe the four days of riding before that wore down my reserves, or maybe it was the lack of big day hikes in the past year, or the extreme difficulty of the descent, or the shoes, or the pack. Or, maybe I am just getting old. I don't know the reason, but it was strange.
I ended up doing the four hour short version of the hike. As I was walking back to my bike I saw a tour bus parked on the side of the road. My special Tour Guide senses were alerted by this obvious sign. When I got to the bus, I saw that they were watching some seals play in the water. I sat down to watch and listen to them for a few hours. That evening I went to the public baths in town. In case my cousin Dori reads this, I want to point out that I am averaging one shower or bath every other day. Pretty incredible, huh?
On the 13th, my legs were still sore. I rode back to the ferry terminal and ferried back to Wakkanai. After doing some laundry and chatting with a French hitchhiker, I left the city for Cape Soya, the northern most point in the country. As I stuck to the coast heading southeast after the cape, I was riding with the Okhotsk Sea, a sea that freezes in the winter.
After a long day of riding on the 14th, I camped at Hi No De Misakai (Cape Sunrise). They had a nice hot spring there. The campground was too crowded with Japanese families setting off fireworks until mid-night.
When I woke up on the 15th, it was the first time my legs felt completely recovered from my first big hike. I left the coast and headed over the mountains for Asahikawa City. I got here on the 16th and busied myself preparing for a hike. On the 17th, I rode 30 miles into the mountains to Asahi Dake Hot Spring town. This town is over 3000 feet above sea level and got pretty chilly at night. The campground had a lot of foxes that hang around. They kept sniffing at my tent and around my bike. Every few hours they woke me up and I threw some rocks at them until they went away.
On the 18th, I opted for the easy start to my hike up Asahi Mountain. I took a cable car part way up and then started hiking. I passed a bunch of steam and sulfur vents during my ascent of Hokkaido's highest peak (7100 feet). When I got to the top, I was rewarded with one of my favorite views in the world. When I get to the top of a mountain, nothing thrills me more than looking down the other side and seeing more mountains!
I took a detour to Naka Dake Hot spring for a soak and some lunch. After that, I continued on into the mountains and high plateaus of Taisetsudake National Park. I did not bring a tent or stove or much food or even an extra book to read because I was worried about it being too difficult now that I realized I had to take it easy. But, I was overly cautious. The pain in my legs of the previous week turned out to be a fluke. This day was one of my typical happy days in the mountains. My legs never got tired. I never got hungry. The trails always seemed easy. I was back to my old walking all day with no problem self.
I spent the night in a mountain hut with 25 other people. The next day, a typhoon came and nobody was going anywhere. I had planned to do lots of hiking on this four day trip, so I only had one book - and that was half finished. I stayed in bed and finished my book by 9:30 in the morning. After a late breakfast, I put on all of my rain gear and ran down to the nearby campground. There were two native English speakers camped there. The wind and rain was so strong that I had to put my head right up to their tents when I shouted in to them. They had no books to trade so I went back into the hut and with nothing else to do, started my book again.
On day three of this walk, I left the hut and headed out into the cloudy, but not rainy day. Ten minutes later it started raining. It ended up raining or hailing for about ten minutes out of every hour for the rest of the day. I was well protected in my rain gear, except for my hands and feet. It was a nice walk from peak to peak with very occasional breaks in the clouds to see the valleys on either side. About twenty minutes from the next hut, the sun almost came out and I started to entertain thoughts of spending the afternoon exploring the nearby peaks. About ten minutes from the hut, the worst and most painful hail storm of the day started and cancelled all of my afternoon plans. I read my book some more. From the day before I remember enjoying the middle of the book, but for some reason, today I was finding the whole thing very predictable.
Yesterday, the fourth day of this walk, was the one I was dreading. It was six hours of downhill.
The trail was muddy from the rain. At times, I was actually walking in running water. I started the day by going up the last peak and then heading down. When I got back to the tree line, the going got hard. The brush grew to thigh height and blocked my view of the trail. I could not see the trail unless I bent over and moved the plants. On a nice smooth trail this would have been fine, but this one was rocky and muddy and slippery. The going was slow. But, eventually, the trail opened up and was just wet. I was dreading the last few hours the most because, according to the map, it lost a lot of elevation very rapidly. But, when I got there, the trail was in good condition and there were plenty of switchbacks to help me down. I finished in Ten Nin Gorge at around lunch time. I hung out at the waterfall and finished my book while waiting for the free bus back to the start of the hike.
Last night I had a good night sleep back in my tent.
Today, I rode 30 miles back to Asahikawa Town. The road was all downhill and the wind was at my back so it only took two hours. I have spent the day on the Internet and will ride for a few more hours this evening.
From here I will head back to the northeast coast and then continue southeast to the far eastern edge of Hokkaido. There is a national park there with some more hiking and I want to visit the hot water waterfall.
For those keeping track at home - I am now 20 days and 700 miles by bike into my trip. I reset my bike odometer for this summer. In the last year, on my daily commutes around Kagoshima, I went about 3000 miles. I hope to do more than that during this three month trip.
Time to ride.
Well, let's get right into it. On the 3rd of August, I went into the office for my final day. I was hoping to get out in under ten minutes, but ended up spending a whole half hour there. We had to wait a while to say goodbye to the big boss. I went back to my apartment, picked up my bike and headed off. I rode across town to the Tarumizu ferry and crossed the Kinko Bay by boat. I stood at the back of the boat and watched the city shrink in the distance.
Once I was across the bay, I continued east by bike to the town of Shibushi, about 30 miles away. I got there early enough to relax a little bit before boarding the ferry for Osaka. It was an overnight ferry on the Pacific side of the country and I slept just fine.
On the 4th, I woke up as we were nearing Osaka. By 8:30 I was off the boat and ready to ride, and some ride it was. I had reservations for the next ferry from Maizuru - nearly 100 miles away on the Japan Sea. I headed north for a few hours through the big city. It was a bit slow going, what with all the traffic lights and detours around bridges that don't allow bicycles.
Around 2:00, I got lost in the Daihatzu car factory in a small town on the outskirts of Osaka. As I was leaving the complex, the guard told me I was lost. I agreed. He gave me some good directions before sending me on my way. From there the morning's flat roads were exchanged for the mountains that seem to be everywhere in this country. I went up and down for a few more slow hours. I managed to get to Maizuru about an hour after the sun set and the rain started.
I had been hoping to have at least one 100 mile day on my three month trip, but not the second day. In the end it was only about 92 miles in nine and a half hours of actual riding. I got to Maizuru and was good and tired. The boat did not leave until after mid-night, so I had to wait awhile to board. I had to wait for the 100 or so motorcycles to ride up the ramp before I could join the 50 or so other cyclists, including one very large group of university students.
Once on board, I (along with many, many other people) went straight for the room with the baths. I got there early enough to find an open seat and had a good scrub before soaking in the big tub of hot water. After that, I was good and tired and went back to my room to sleep. The cheap rooms on Japanese ferries are big open spaces with lots of pillows and blankets on the floor. But, I did have my own little cabinet, and since the cruise was scheduled to take over 20 hours, I unpacked and made myself at home.
The next day, I spent outside reading and talking with the other passengers. The boat went at speedy 30 miles per hour and had a special double propeller system which eliminated all of the big wave that usually follows a boat. At one point, we passed a sister ship headed the other way. It was strange to see watch a huge boat zoom by at 60 miles an hour while not disturbing the sea much at all.
We arrived in Otaru, Hokkaido at around 8:00 pm. I went to the small park nearby, set up my tent and went to sleep. The next day, when it started to get light, I woke up and checked my watch. It was only 4:00 in the morning. I was excited because that meant that I would have no trouble getting early starts this summer.
On the morning of the 6th, I packed up and rode over to the big city of Sapporo. I spent the morning buying maps and looking around the city before heading north along the western coast of Japan. I rode the rest of the day and found a nice campground that night.
On the 7th, I got a good early start and continued north. It was a beautiful coast rode, except for the large number of tunnels. By the end of the day, I was riding through the Rishiri-Rebun-Sarubetsu quasi-national park. It was a beautiful empty area of beach and plant covered sand dunes. I found a nice place to camp that night and set up my tent. On the 3rd night of camping on this trip and the 8th night of actual use, my tent broke. One of the poles snapped and ripped the sleeve that was supposed to contain it. I did a minor repair as I formulated the complaint letter I intend to write to Mountain Hardware.
On the 8th, I stuck to the coast until I got to the town of Wakkanai. Wakkanai is the closest port city to Russia. Lots of Russian fishing boats visit and all of the city street signs are in Russian, as well as Japanese and English. From this very international port, I took a ferry over to Rishiri Island. I had time that evening for a visit to the local hot spring before camping. The next day, after a slow start, I started climbing Rishiri Mountain. I got to the mountain hut about 10 minutes before a big rain and only had to share the hut with one other person.
On the 10th, I finished climbing to the top of the mountain. Along the way, I got lots of nice views of Sakhalin Island in Russia. I can now add Russia to the list of countries which I have seen, but not visited. The list also includes Albania, Egypt, Jordan and China proper. This is different from the countries I barely visited. I never got off the plane in South Africa, same for the train in Sweden. As opposed to South Korea and England, where I briefly left the airport. Unlike Costa Rica and Checkoslovakia, where I actually spent a day looking around.
Anyway, I got to the top of the mountain, looked at Russia, and then started down. The trail was very muddy and slippery. Also, my pack and shoes were not so good. When I packed for this trip, I had to make some concessions to this mode of travel. I did not bring my good backpack and boots. Instead, I am using a smaller backpack that does not have a hip belt, stabilizer straps, padded shoulder straps or metal support rods in the back. And my shoes are just sneakers. So, it was a long and tiring decent back to sea level from the 6,000 foot peak. That night was another trip to the hot spring.
After a good soak, I headed out of town to look for a nice park to camp in. I did not feel like riding back up the mountain to the campsite. About five miles from town, I found a Rider House. Here in Hokkaido, motorcycle and bicycle touring is very popular. There are a large number of places to stay geared towards this sort of people. Rider Houses are usually under $10 per night and vary widely in what they offer. The one I found, had a nice kitchen and sitting room downstairs and a big loft upstairs with some pillows and blankets to use on the floor. This rider house was also free and unoccupied, I never saw another person there. For the night, I had my own house all to myself. What a great country!
On the 11th, I caught the first ferry to Rebun Island, forty minutes to the north. At the port in Rebun, I ate the local specialty - sea urchin. I had a nice bowl of rice covered with sea urchins. Very tasty. I left town on the islands only road north and went up to the top of the island town of Fundonomari. At the campground, I ran into a number of Japanese cyclists and had a nice chat.
On the 12th, I woke up nice and early (like I do everyday) and rode to the northern most point on the island. I intended to hike south for eight hours and then take a bus back to my bike at the end of the day. It only took a few minutes of walking along the coast to realize that there was no way that I was going to do that hike. My legs were sore - very sore. I could not figure out why. I knew it was from the hike up and down Rishiri Mountain, but that was days ago. Maybe the four days of riding before that wore down my reserves, or maybe it was the lack of big day hikes in the past year, or the extreme difficulty of the descent, or the shoes, or the pack. Or, maybe I am just getting old. I don't know the reason, but it was strange.
I ended up doing the four hour short version of the hike. As I was walking back to my bike I saw a tour bus parked on the side of the road. My special Tour Guide senses were alerted by this obvious sign. When I got to the bus, I saw that they were watching some seals play in the water. I sat down to watch and listen to them for a few hours. That evening I went to the public baths in town. In case my cousin Dori reads this, I want to point out that I am averaging one shower or bath every other day. Pretty incredible, huh?
On the 13th, my legs were still sore. I rode back to the ferry terminal and ferried back to Wakkanai. After doing some laundry and chatting with a French hitchhiker, I left the city for Cape Soya, the northern most point in the country. As I stuck to the coast heading southeast after the cape, I was riding with the Okhotsk Sea, a sea that freezes in the winter.
After a long day of riding on the 14th, I camped at Hi No De Misakai (Cape Sunrise). They had a nice hot spring there. The campground was too crowded with Japanese families setting off fireworks until mid-night.
When I woke up on the 15th, it was the first time my legs felt completely recovered from my first big hike. I left the coast and headed over the mountains for Asahikawa City. I got here on the 16th and busied myself preparing for a hike. On the 17th, I rode 30 miles into the mountains to Asahi Dake Hot Spring town. This town is over 3000 feet above sea level and got pretty chilly at night. The campground had a lot of foxes that hang around. They kept sniffing at my tent and around my bike. Every few hours they woke me up and I threw some rocks at them until they went away.
On the 18th, I opted for the easy start to my hike up Asahi Mountain. I took a cable car part way up and then started hiking. I passed a bunch of steam and sulfur vents during my ascent of Hokkaido's highest peak (7100 feet). When I got to the top, I was rewarded with one of my favorite views in the world. When I get to the top of a mountain, nothing thrills me more than looking down the other side and seeing more mountains!
I took a detour to Naka Dake Hot spring for a soak and some lunch. After that, I continued on into the mountains and high plateaus of Taisetsudake National Park. I did not bring a tent or stove or much food or even an extra book to read because I was worried about it being too difficult now that I realized I had to take it easy. But, I was overly cautious. The pain in my legs of the previous week turned out to be a fluke. This day was one of my typical happy days in the mountains. My legs never got tired. I never got hungry. The trails always seemed easy. I was back to my old walking all day with no problem self.
I spent the night in a mountain hut with 25 other people. The next day, a typhoon came and nobody was going anywhere. I had planned to do lots of hiking on this four day trip, so I only had one book - and that was half finished. I stayed in bed and finished my book by 9:30 in the morning. After a late breakfast, I put on all of my rain gear and ran down to the nearby campground. There were two native English speakers camped there. The wind and rain was so strong that I had to put my head right up to their tents when I shouted in to them. They had no books to trade so I went back into the hut and with nothing else to do, started my book again.
On day three of this walk, I left the hut and headed out into the cloudy, but not rainy day. Ten minutes later it started raining. It ended up raining or hailing for about ten minutes out of every hour for the rest of the day. I was well protected in my rain gear, except for my hands and feet. It was a nice walk from peak to peak with very occasional breaks in the clouds to see the valleys on either side. About twenty minutes from the next hut, the sun almost came out and I started to entertain thoughts of spending the afternoon exploring the nearby peaks. About ten minutes from the hut, the worst and most painful hail storm of the day started and cancelled all of my afternoon plans. I read my book some more. From the day before I remember enjoying the middle of the book, but for some reason, today I was finding the whole thing very predictable.
Yesterday, the fourth day of this walk, was the one I was dreading. It was six hours of downhill.
The trail was muddy from the rain. At times, I was actually walking in running water. I started the day by going up the last peak and then heading down. When I got back to the tree line, the going got hard. The brush grew to thigh height and blocked my view of the trail. I could not see the trail unless I bent over and moved the plants. On a nice smooth trail this would have been fine, but this one was rocky and muddy and slippery. The going was slow. But, eventually, the trail opened up and was just wet. I was dreading the last few hours the most because, according to the map, it lost a lot of elevation very rapidly. But, when I got there, the trail was in good condition and there were plenty of switchbacks to help me down. I finished in Ten Nin Gorge at around lunch time. I hung out at the waterfall and finished my book while waiting for the free bus back to the start of the hike.
Last night I had a good night sleep back in my tent.
Today, I rode 30 miles back to Asahikawa Town. The road was all downhill and the wind was at my back so it only took two hours. I have spent the day on the Internet and will ride for a few more hours this evening.
From here I will head back to the northeast coast and then continue southeast to the far eastern edge of Hokkaido. There is a national park there with some more hiking and I want to visit the hot water waterfall.
For those keeping track at home - I am now 20 days and 700 miles by bike into my trip. I reset my bike odometer for this summer. In the last year, on my daily commutes around Kagoshima, I went about 3000 miles. I hope to do more than that during this three month trip.
Time to ride.
Monday, August 2, 2004
My last six months as an English teacher in Japan
Well, as they say in Japan, "Hisashi buri desu ne," It has been a long time. I have had a busy and exciting half year.
My last update was written the day after my marathon race on the 11th of January. A few days later, I was ready to run again and back up to an easy half-marathon jog the next weekend. I continued training, but at lesser distances. My new goal was to do well at some six mile races.
On the 8th of February, I went up to the town of Izumi for their 10km (6.2 mile) race. My goal was to finish in under 50 minutes. It was a beautiful cool day and I amazed myself with a time of 45:34.
On the 31st of January, I went up to the far northern city of Okuchi. It was as far north as you could go in the southern most prefecture of mainland Japan. They had an ice carving festival and created some very nice sculptures. But, my favorite part was the 50 meter ice slide.
During the month of February, a Japanese professional baseball team (the Chiba Lotte Marines) takes over the city gym. I joined a private gym for two months. It was a lot of fun. They had their own swimming pool, indoor running track, weight room, lots of hot baths, a sauna and squash courts. I had never played squash before, but started playing a few times per week with my friends. I really enjoyed it. I tried to make the most of my monthly membership fee, so I spent a lot of time at the gym. On a couple of occasions, I managed to play squash, lift some weights in the gym, swim in the pool, run a few miles outside and ride my normal 20 mile round trip commute to school. It did not take too many of these five sport days for me to realize that that was a bit excessive and needed some scaling back.
On the 21st of February, Rie and I visited the rich neighborhood of Kagoshima City. In Japan, they say that it is impossible to bury the wires for electricity and telephones because they have very special dirt here and buried cables won’t work. As a result, the cities and neighborhoods are very crowded with overhead wires going off in all directions. But, it turns out that in this one small area of Japan, where the local residents are willing and able to pay extra to have the cables buried, it is possible. So, I wanted to go see a neighborhood with lots of big houses with lawns and garages and no ugly wires. It felt like any nice suburb in America, but was worlds away from typical Japan.
On the 7th of March, I took the ferry from near my house to the nearby volcano of Sakurajima. They had their annual 10km race and I joined in. I paced myself well and managed to finish in 44:51, nine seconds faster than my goal of 45 minutes.
The next weekend, I went to Kaseda City for their duathlon. They had a 1km run, 14km bike ride and another 1km run. It was a good day and I even won a bottle of alcohol in the post-race raffle.
On the 25th of March, my father came to visit me. A few days later, his friend Albe came as well. I had a great time visiting all of the special places around the city with them. I also managed a weekend getaway with my father and Rie. We toured the beautiful Pacific coast of Miyazaki Prefecture and dad got lots of nice pictures of birds, sea life, horses and monkeys.
On the 17th of April, I went to the local stadium to see a professional J-league soccer game. The turquoise kitted Fukuoka Avispa won handily over the Purple Sanga from Kyoto.
Even though my running training was severely lacking, I decided to participate in the Fukiage Beach race. Seven kilometers, half of them on the beach. It was another fun run, even if they did not give out a t-shirt this year.
On the 1st of May, Rie and I went to Yakushima Island. Yakushima is one of my favorite places in Japan. I went there once before in September of 2002. They have lots of my favorite kinds of nature - beaches, mountains, rivers, waterfalls and hot springs.
On the 2nd, we started hiking up the mountain in the rain. It only took a few hours to find some leeches on hour legs. They sure can be painful, considering their small size. We hiked up the highest mountain in Southern Japan and then spent a night on the beach near my favorite seaside hot spring. After that, we went to the north side of the island and stayed in a campground with a special bath. The bath is shaped like a big pot and you light a fire underneath it. Eventually, the water gets nice and hot. I felt like I was being turned into soup.
Rie went back to Kagoshima, and I set out for another hike. I found a nice trail with almost no people and hiked up into the mountains all day. I got lucky with the weather and had an enjoyable two day hike up and down the island. After visiting a few waterfalls and the hot spring again, I returned to the ferry port.
Two years ago when I did some hitchhiking on Yakushima, my Japanese was almost non-existent. I could only exchange a few words with the people who picked me up. My last ride on the island was the best indication yet of how far my Japanese language ability has progressed. While I am by no means fluent, I was able to carry on a full thirty minute conversation with the woman who picked me up. That was very encouraging.
When I got back to Kagoshima, I started my serious swim training. At that point, it meant 25 meters swimming and one minute resting. Nothing special, but challenging at the time. I quickly discovered that breathing was the hardest part of swimming for me. I kept getting out of breath. Also, the water kept pouring off of my mustache and into my mouth every time I tried to breath. Shaving helped cure this. I have kept at it for a few months and my normal swim now is for about 80 minutes or two miles. In mid-June, the outdoor pool opened and I have since learned the danger of swimming outdoors in a Japanese pool. You are required to wear a swim cap in the pool. That means that I have a really funny tan line going straight across my forehead.
On the fourth of June there was a city wide speech contest in English for the Junior High Schools. Last year my students won both the 8th and 9th grade competitions and I was hoping to do as well this year. Two of my students had an excellent skit and won the 8th grade prize. In the 9th grade contest, two of my students had great pronunciation, but their speeches lacked originality.
I felt bad for them because they did well but came away empty handed. Another one of my students spoke about riding his bike in the mountains. He finished up by asking people not to throw so much trash in the woods. His original and funny speech earned one of the second place awards. First prize for my three students last year and my two students this year was a two week trip to Miami.
In Japan, the firework season is in August, so I was not able to celebrate the 4th of July in a traditional American way, but I did come close. My friend was in a skeet shooting competition and I went to watch a bunch of people shoot shotguns all morning. My friend, Tatsuya, came in one point behind first and I did not go deaf from all the noise, so all in all it was a pretty good day.
On the 9th of July, I went to the office of the Mayor of Kagoshima City. Every year he gives out some special prizes to the deserving foreigners who promoted internationalization while they were here. This year, there were no especially deserving recipients of the annual "Friend of Kagoshima" award, so all of the departing second year ALTs were chosen as winners instead. At the ceremony, I got a nice plaque, a video about the city and some pottery. I am now authorized by the City Government to tell people all over the world about the wonders of Kagoshima City. I also got my picture in the paper.
The 11th of July was the official start of my goodbye party season. My section of the Board of Education had a goodbye party for the five leaving ALTs. I made a nice speech in Japanese. I said that when I came here, I could not speak at all and now, after two years, I can speak as well as a two year old. I got some nice parting gifts and my boss did not fall over drunk at this party, so it was a good night.
Last year, I had dinner with about twenty people at a nice hotel restaurant in honor of the visiting students from Miami. This year, on the 12th, the dinner was expanded to include the 40 or so visiting students from Australia as well. There were about 80 people and the dinner was in a hotel ballroom, with bad hotel ballroom food. A definite step down from last year.
After Tai-Chi class on the 15th, a bunch of us went out for dinner together. On the 16th, I had a goodbye party with the teachers from Tani Yama Kita (Valley Mountain North) Junior High School.
The week of parties interrupted my training, but that did not stop me from entering a duathlon in Kanyoa city. This race in the mid-summer heat was a 1.25 mile swim in the ocean followed by an 8 mile run. I was looking forward to the challenge of the swim. I was not used swimming fast, in a crowd, with no lines on the bottom to guide me, while worrying about jellyfish. But, on the plus side, the salt water is a lot more buoyant than the pool I am used to. We had to swim around the course three times, but the side near the beach was to shallow, so we all waded. It made the over all swim pretty easy and I finished in 30 minutes. The run was long and hot. I dumped ice water on my head every half mile or so. I finished 12th out of 20 and was happy overall.
The final day of my week of sad goodbyes at the schools was on the 20th. I went to another party on the 24th and on the 26th, I went for a day trip with some teachers. We drove north to the Mount Aso area. We had lunch near a river and visited the viewpoint overlooking the giant caldera. We drove to the top of the central volcano, but it was too active, so we were not allowed up the final little bit to look down at the lava. Later, we visited a half mile long tunnel. It was supposed to be for trains, but they struck water instead. So, we got to walk along the tunnel, next to a river. It was nice and cool down there.
On the 29th, I went to my final Tai Chi class. The teacher gave me a nice t-shirt and key chain. At the end of class, I had to give a small speech. Everybody clapped for me and then stood in a line and shook my hand.
I got a nice pile of goodbye messages from the students at Kamoike JHS. My favorite note said "Thank you for your wonderful crass."
On the 30th of July, I went to a friend's house for a goodbye party. The next day, I went to a teacher’s house for another party. Finally, on the 1st of August, I had my last goodbye party with the English teachers from Wada JHS.
My last morning in the office will be the 3rd of August. My plans for the next year call for a lot of traveling. I will take the ferry to Hokkaido in the north of Japan tomorrow night. I will ride my bike around Japan for three months before returning to the US at the end of October. In January, I plan to return to South America and take a cruise to Antarctica. After the cruise, I will travel around South America and do a lot of hiking. I hope to start studying for a Masters in Geography somewhere in the US southwest in the Fall of 2005.
And now for the random observations.
Teachers work hard here. Part of their job is to go to city festivals and keep an eye on the students.
One day at school, I smelled something really good. Along with fifty or so students, I followed my nose to the Homemaking class. They were cooking hamburgers and asparagus. After the bell rang and all the students went back to class, I joined the Homemaking class. They all had bandannas tied around their heads as hair nets. I happened to have a shaved head then, so I thought it made more sense to tie my bandanna around my big beard, bandit style. At that school, the lunch is cooked someplace else and brought to the school an hour or two before lunch time - not always very appetizing. But on this day, I had a great pre-lunch after managing to get myself invited to share the food.
Career day is much better here than it was in my junior high school. All I remember from my career day was sitting in the gym and listening to a tall skinny woman from the Barbizon beauty school give a talk. That is where I learned that horizontal stripes make me look heavier and vertical stripes make me look taller and skinnier. Here, the students decide which job they want to check out, contact the company and then spend a few days there as an apprentice. They worked in all sorts of places such as the zoo, a pet hospital, a 7-11, supermarkets, restaurants, government offices, hospitals, and even an animal hot spring.
Sometimes, in the morning, before I open my eyes, I try to remember what my surroundings look like and which direction my head is facing. When I am doing a lot of traveling, this can be a challenging game, but after two years in the same room, this morning game is pretty boring these days. That should all change soon.
Car seats for kids are not very popular here. I have observed a different set of customs when it comes to kids in cars. Babies are naturally safest when being held snugly in their mother's arms. By two years of age, the kids are about ready to stand on the seat and look out the window. A year or two later, they are big enough to run around the back seat. By six or so, they are big enough to stick their head out the sun roof.
Suzuyama, the little school in the mountains that I visited, had heaters in all of the classrooms. But, in the winter the price of heating oil goes up, so it is too expensive to use them.
Students do all sorts of passing notes, talking and goofing off when they think that the teacher can't see them. They think they are really sneaky, but I now realize that the teacher can pretty much always see everything. The funny thing is, that when I go to my Japanese class, I sometimes goof off and expect that the teacher doesn't notice.
I found a fun sentence in one of the student's books - I think that that that that that girl used is wrong.
I noticed some interesting brands of condoms in the convenience stores. You can buy Bennetton, Popteen and doggie brand condoms.
At Wada JHS, the students have an assembly on Wednesday morning. If they are late for school, the class rooms are locked and they have to leave their bags in the hallway and then go to the assembly. There is a teacher in charge of going through the bags to look for contraband. One day, Mrs. Fukinaga found a box of cigarettes in a girl's bag. She spent an hour yelling at her. After being reduced to tears, the girl wrote down all the times she smoked, where and with whom. Then, the teachers had an hour long discussion. At the end, they decided to search every student's bag. As you would expect, they came up with all kinds of forbidden items such as sunscreen, hand cream, the wrong buttons on their uniform and candy. For me, the worst part of all this yelling and activity in the teacher's room was the noise. I was trying to watch a DVD on a computer. I was using earphones, but I still found all that hustle and bustle distracting.
In the summer, the classrooms are very hot. Everyone sits around dripping sweat and mopping it up with little towels. Especially after PE class, the room can really smell bad. The students are not allowed to wear deodorant because all of those conflicting perfume smells can be noxious.
And on that note, I am homeless and back on the road - just the way I like to be.
My last update was written the day after my marathon race on the 11th of January. A few days later, I was ready to run again and back up to an easy half-marathon jog the next weekend. I continued training, but at lesser distances. My new goal was to do well at some six mile races.
On the 8th of February, I went up to the town of Izumi for their 10km (6.2 mile) race. My goal was to finish in under 50 minutes. It was a beautiful cool day and I amazed myself with a time of 45:34.
On the 31st of January, I went up to the far northern city of Okuchi. It was as far north as you could go in the southern most prefecture of mainland Japan. They had an ice carving festival and created some very nice sculptures. But, my favorite part was the 50 meter ice slide.
During the month of February, a Japanese professional baseball team (the Chiba Lotte Marines) takes over the city gym. I joined a private gym for two months. It was a lot of fun. They had their own swimming pool, indoor running track, weight room, lots of hot baths, a sauna and squash courts. I had never played squash before, but started playing a few times per week with my friends. I really enjoyed it. I tried to make the most of my monthly membership fee, so I spent a lot of time at the gym. On a couple of occasions, I managed to play squash, lift some weights in the gym, swim in the pool, run a few miles outside and ride my normal 20 mile round trip commute to school. It did not take too many of these five sport days for me to realize that that was a bit excessive and needed some scaling back.
On the 21st of February, Rie and I visited the rich neighborhood of Kagoshima City. In Japan, they say that it is impossible to bury the wires for electricity and telephones because they have very special dirt here and buried cables won’t work. As a result, the cities and neighborhoods are very crowded with overhead wires going off in all directions. But, it turns out that in this one small area of Japan, where the local residents are willing and able to pay extra to have the cables buried, it is possible. So, I wanted to go see a neighborhood with lots of big houses with lawns and garages and no ugly wires. It felt like any nice suburb in America, but was worlds away from typical Japan.
On the 7th of March, I took the ferry from near my house to the nearby volcano of Sakurajima. They had their annual 10km race and I joined in. I paced myself well and managed to finish in 44:51, nine seconds faster than my goal of 45 minutes.
The next weekend, I went to Kaseda City for their duathlon. They had a 1km run, 14km bike ride and another 1km run. It was a good day and I even won a bottle of alcohol in the post-race raffle.
On the 25th of March, my father came to visit me. A few days later, his friend Albe came as well. I had a great time visiting all of the special places around the city with them. I also managed a weekend getaway with my father and Rie. We toured the beautiful Pacific coast of Miyazaki Prefecture and dad got lots of nice pictures of birds, sea life, horses and monkeys.
On the 17th of April, I went to the local stadium to see a professional J-league soccer game. The turquoise kitted Fukuoka Avispa won handily over the Purple Sanga from Kyoto.
Even though my running training was severely lacking, I decided to participate in the Fukiage Beach race. Seven kilometers, half of them on the beach. It was another fun run, even if they did not give out a t-shirt this year.
On the 1st of May, Rie and I went to Yakushima Island. Yakushima is one of my favorite places in Japan. I went there once before in September of 2002. They have lots of my favorite kinds of nature - beaches, mountains, rivers, waterfalls and hot springs.
On the 2nd, we started hiking up the mountain in the rain. It only took a few hours to find some leeches on hour legs. They sure can be painful, considering their small size. We hiked up the highest mountain in Southern Japan and then spent a night on the beach near my favorite seaside hot spring. After that, we went to the north side of the island and stayed in a campground with a special bath. The bath is shaped like a big pot and you light a fire underneath it. Eventually, the water gets nice and hot. I felt like I was being turned into soup.
Rie went back to Kagoshima, and I set out for another hike. I found a nice trail with almost no people and hiked up into the mountains all day. I got lucky with the weather and had an enjoyable two day hike up and down the island. After visiting a few waterfalls and the hot spring again, I returned to the ferry port.
Two years ago when I did some hitchhiking on Yakushima, my Japanese was almost non-existent. I could only exchange a few words with the people who picked me up. My last ride on the island was the best indication yet of how far my Japanese language ability has progressed. While I am by no means fluent, I was able to carry on a full thirty minute conversation with the woman who picked me up. That was very encouraging.
When I got back to Kagoshima, I started my serious swim training. At that point, it meant 25 meters swimming and one minute resting. Nothing special, but challenging at the time. I quickly discovered that breathing was the hardest part of swimming for me. I kept getting out of breath. Also, the water kept pouring off of my mustache and into my mouth every time I tried to breath. Shaving helped cure this. I have kept at it for a few months and my normal swim now is for about 80 minutes or two miles. In mid-June, the outdoor pool opened and I have since learned the danger of swimming outdoors in a Japanese pool. You are required to wear a swim cap in the pool. That means that I have a really funny tan line going straight across my forehead.
On the fourth of June there was a city wide speech contest in English for the Junior High Schools. Last year my students won both the 8th and 9th grade competitions and I was hoping to do as well this year. Two of my students had an excellent skit and won the 8th grade prize. In the 9th grade contest, two of my students had great pronunciation, but their speeches lacked originality.
I felt bad for them because they did well but came away empty handed. Another one of my students spoke about riding his bike in the mountains. He finished up by asking people not to throw so much trash in the woods. His original and funny speech earned one of the second place awards. First prize for my three students last year and my two students this year was a two week trip to Miami.
In Japan, the firework season is in August, so I was not able to celebrate the 4th of July in a traditional American way, but I did come close. My friend was in a skeet shooting competition and I went to watch a bunch of people shoot shotguns all morning. My friend, Tatsuya, came in one point behind first and I did not go deaf from all the noise, so all in all it was a pretty good day.
On the 9th of July, I went to the office of the Mayor of Kagoshima City. Every year he gives out some special prizes to the deserving foreigners who promoted internationalization while they were here. This year, there were no especially deserving recipients of the annual "Friend of Kagoshima" award, so all of the departing second year ALTs were chosen as winners instead. At the ceremony, I got a nice plaque, a video about the city and some pottery. I am now authorized by the City Government to tell people all over the world about the wonders of Kagoshima City. I also got my picture in the paper.
The 11th of July was the official start of my goodbye party season. My section of the Board of Education had a goodbye party for the five leaving ALTs. I made a nice speech in Japanese. I said that when I came here, I could not speak at all and now, after two years, I can speak as well as a two year old. I got some nice parting gifts and my boss did not fall over drunk at this party, so it was a good night.
Last year, I had dinner with about twenty people at a nice hotel restaurant in honor of the visiting students from Miami. This year, on the 12th, the dinner was expanded to include the 40 or so visiting students from Australia as well. There were about 80 people and the dinner was in a hotel ballroom, with bad hotel ballroom food. A definite step down from last year.
After Tai-Chi class on the 15th, a bunch of us went out for dinner together. On the 16th, I had a goodbye party with the teachers from Tani Yama Kita (Valley Mountain North) Junior High School.
The week of parties interrupted my training, but that did not stop me from entering a duathlon in Kanyoa city. This race in the mid-summer heat was a 1.25 mile swim in the ocean followed by an 8 mile run. I was looking forward to the challenge of the swim. I was not used swimming fast, in a crowd, with no lines on the bottom to guide me, while worrying about jellyfish. But, on the plus side, the salt water is a lot more buoyant than the pool I am used to. We had to swim around the course three times, but the side near the beach was to shallow, so we all waded. It made the over all swim pretty easy and I finished in 30 minutes. The run was long and hot. I dumped ice water on my head every half mile or so. I finished 12th out of 20 and was happy overall.
The final day of my week of sad goodbyes at the schools was on the 20th. I went to another party on the 24th and on the 26th, I went for a day trip with some teachers. We drove north to the Mount Aso area. We had lunch near a river and visited the viewpoint overlooking the giant caldera. We drove to the top of the central volcano, but it was too active, so we were not allowed up the final little bit to look down at the lava. Later, we visited a half mile long tunnel. It was supposed to be for trains, but they struck water instead. So, we got to walk along the tunnel, next to a river. It was nice and cool down there.
On the 29th, I went to my final Tai Chi class. The teacher gave me a nice t-shirt and key chain. At the end of class, I had to give a small speech. Everybody clapped for me and then stood in a line and shook my hand.
I got a nice pile of goodbye messages from the students at Kamoike JHS. My favorite note said "Thank you for your wonderful crass."
On the 30th of July, I went to a friend's house for a goodbye party. The next day, I went to a teacher’s house for another party. Finally, on the 1st of August, I had my last goodbye party with the English teachers from Wada JHS.
My last morning in the office will be the 3rd of August. My plans for the next year call for a lot of traveling. I will take the ferry to Hokkaido in the north of Japan tomorrow night. I will ride my bike around Japan for three months before returning to the US at the end of October. In January, I plan to return to South America and take a cruise to Antarctica. After the cruise, I will travel around South America and do a lot of hiking. I hope to start studying for a Masters in Geography somewhere in the US southwest in the Fall of 2005.
And now for the random observations.
Teachers work hard here. Part of their job is to go to city festivals and keep an eye on the students.
One day at school, I smelled something really good. Along with fifty or so students, I followed my nose to the Homemaking class. They were cooking hamburgers and asparagus. After the bell rang and all the students went back to class, I joined the Homemaking class. They all had bandannas tied around their heads as hair nets. I happened to have a shaved head then, so I thought it made more sense to tie my bandanna around my big beard, bandit style. At that school, the lunch is cooked someplace else and brought to the school an hour or two before lunch time - not always very appetizing. But on this day, I had a great pre-lunch after managing to get myself invited to share the food.
Career day is much better here than it was in my junior high school. All I remember from my career day was sitting in the gym and listening to a tall skinny woman from the Barbizon beauty school give a talk. That is where I learned that horizontal stripes make me look heavier and vertical stripes make me look taller and skinnier. Here, the students decide which job they want to check out, contact the company and then spend a few days there as an apprentice. They worked in all sorts of places such as the zoo, a pet hospital, a 7-11, supermarkets, restaurants, government offices, hospitals, and even an animal hot spring.
Sometimes, in the morning, before I open my eyes, I try to remember what my surroundings look like and which direction my head is facing. When I am doing a lot of traveling, this can be a challenging game, but after two years in the same room, this morning game is pretty boring these days. That should all change soon.
Car seats for kids are not very popular here. I have observed a different set of customs when it comes to kids in cars. Babies are naturally safest when being held snugly in their mother's arms. By two years of age, the kids are about ready to stand on the seat and look out the window. A year or two later, they are big enough to run around the back seat. By six or so, they are big enough to stick their head out the sun roof.
Suzuyama, the little school in the mountains that I visited, had heaters in all of the classrooms. But, in the winter the price of heating oil goes up, so it is too expensive to use them.
Students do all sorts of passing notes, talking and goofing off when they think that the teacher can't see them. They think they are really sneaky, but I now realize that the teacher can pretty much always see everything. The funny thing is, that when I go to my Japanese class, I sometimes goof off and expect that the teacher doesn't notice.
I found a fun sentence in one of the student's books - I think that that that that that girl used is wrong.
I noticed some interesting brands of condoms in the convenience stores. You can buy Bennetton, Popteen and doggie brand condoms.
At Wada JHS, the students have an assembly on Wednesday morning. If they are late for school, the class rooms are locked and they have to leave their bags in the hallway and then go to the assembly. There is a teacher in charge of going through the bags to look for contraband. One day, Mrs. Fukinaga found a box of cigarettes in a girl's bag. She spent an hour yelling at her. After being reduced to tears, the girl wrote down all the times she smoked, where and with whom. Then, the teachers had an hour long discussion. At the end, they decided to search every student's bag. As you would expect, they came up with all kinds of forbidden items such as sunscreen, hand cream, the wrong buttons on their uniform and candy. For me, the worst part of all this yelling and activity in the teacher's room was the noise. I was trying to watch a DVD on a computer. I was using earphones, but I still found all that hustle and bustle distracting.
In the summer, the classrooms are very hot. Everyone sits around dripping sweat and mopping it up with little towels. Especially after PE class, the room can really smell bad. The students are not allowed to wear deodorant because all of those conflicting perfume smells can be noxious.
And on that note, I am homeless and back on the road - just the way I like to be.
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