journal 1 - 6/04/2002 Peace Pedalers Japanese Adventures Well, we successfully navigated or way through our first country. One down. How many to go? Our plan is to go to at least one hundred, but that's a long ways away, so we'll just talk about Japan for now. Our tour through Japan blew us away by exceeding our expectations many times over. As such, it ended up being longer than we had originally planned for several reasons: rather than heading directly south out of Narita, we headed north; due to the weight of our load, we weren't able to cover as many kilometers as we thought; we continued to make changes in our route even after we arrived; all of the wonderful people we met along the way, Japanese and foreign, made us want to stay longer; and just plain all of the fun we had. We know everyone is busy so we'll share some highlights first for those in a hurry and keep reading for more detail if you want. Pictures are worth a thousand words so to go to our online photo album for Japan, which we are trying to work out a sure fire plan with Ofoto, try going to this link: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=47872504403&n=371380624 If that does not work go to www.ofoto.com, sign in as a member with email: jamie@peacepedalers.com and password 1234 and go to the Peace Pedalers in Japan Album. Don't mess with the albums though, please. Highlights: *Getting off the plane and having Jamie waiting there on the other side of the customs desk to meet Garryck. His plane from San Jose arrived not long before mine from Los Angeles. *Rolling out of the Narita Holiday Inn after filling up on a huge buffet breakfast, compliments of Jamie's parents, on a clear sunny day with smiles spread completely across our faces. *Our first campsite. After a great first day, we pulled into a small fishing port on east coast, got some noodles, veggies and eggs to make a delicious soup, and found a terrific out of the way spot amongst the scrub bushes just a short walk away from the breakwater - we began our life on the road. *Feeling ourselves getting stronger as the days passed. *Catching smiles on the faces of the faces of the people passing by in cars as we ignored the "Tandems are Illegal" law and toured with our ghost passengers. *The quiet, beautiful mountain town of Nikko. We arrived there after a couple of long days of touring, and a needed stop in a public bath to clean off the grime and soak our tired muscles in the hot pool. There, we met Kevin and Miyomi, a great couple who we had dinner with and took riding on our tandems the morning after we arrived - our first international passengers, rode up to and a had a great bento box picnic below a scenic mountain waterfall, laid out on a huge rock next to a fast flowing shimmering river and listened to the water gurgle and swish about, visited some of Japan's most historic temples, camped in a small pavilion in a park full of cherry trees right next to a river, and heard about what came to be our most memorable experience in Japan, the Earth Celebration. *Enduring our first day of heavy rain, and finding out that our sponsors really hooked us up with superb rain gear. *Riding through the Japan Alps where we saw totally pristine rivers and lakes, tiny mountain towns tucked into little valleys, countless hawks circling above, towns that Jamie said resembled some of the towns he visited in Switzerland, and dense lush green forested mountains. *The truck driver who bought a can of hot coffee for for Jamie and a can of hot tea for me when we pulled into a rest stop out of the rain. *Arriving in Tajima, high up in the Japan Alps to find out at a local gas station that the road we were planning to take was still buried in snow. Then, driven to the local middle school by one of the gas station attendants to meet with the English teacher there to help us determine train schedules, and tickets for the Earth Celebration. After which, being driven back and told that we could camp on the steps of the city temple. That night we had egg salad sandwiches that gave both of us food poisoning. *A hellish day on the train dealing with four transfers while in a totally weakened state from the food poisoning - We add this as a highlight in the sense that now that it's over we can look back at it and laugh. *Steve, Jamie's step-dad, getting a huge platter of sushi to bring on the ferry to Sado Island - our first meal the day after our bout with food poisoning. R*iding across Sado with Jamie's mom on the back of his tandem, and Steve on the back of mine, and then camping out with them. *The Earth Celebration where we listened to and danced to the melodious sounds of Kodo, Japans most famous drum group, and the Brazilian band "Voices of Percussion", met scores of terrific people, Japanese and foreign, and camped on a beautiful beach for four days - two of the days were after the celebration when everyone had left and we were the only two there. Jamie fell in love with drumming and now lugs his drum on the bike. *Touring down the scenic west coast of Japan where we enjoyed our own bike paths complete with their own tunnels, more nights camped at city temples, spectacular views of small fishing towns, and clean, fresh salty air. *Our stay at the Horaisan Winery. On a day that we were continually pounded by heavy rain, and then a steep climb, we saw the sign for the winery and pulled in for a bottle of wine and ended up being invited in for lunch and wine tasting, followed by an invitation to spend the night. We were treated to showers, taken to a super deluxe public bath, cooked a phenomenal dinner with more wine, a jam session with Jamie on the drum, me on the guitar, Mr. Yamafugi on the flute and his two year old grandson on the harmonica, a green tea nightcap with Mr. Yamafugi's mom, and then breakfast in the morning before we pushed off back into the rain. *Three days of hard long rain soaked touring to be once again ushered into the lap of luxury by Ryoko, Mrs. Yamafugi's cousin. After our showers, Ryoko and her husband invited over one of her friends and her husband for a magnificent dinner and drinks, and an absolutely hilarious and entertaining conversation. Then, when it was time for bed, we were shown to a room where the most luxurious cloudlike mattresses and blankets were laid out - total lap of luxury. The next day we went with Ryoko and her friend to their English lesson and then were treated to sushi for lunch before we hit the road again bound for Kyoto. *Camping in a park next to lake Bwako, Japan's largest lake, and watching the sun rise in the morning over it's glassy surface. *Magic in Kyoto. Kyoto was the first major city that we visited as most of our tour was through the countryside. We met some wonderful people that we hung out with the two days that we were there. Matt Ward, in particular, was able to give us some deeper insight into Japan and Japanese culture - he'd already spent a 4 months in Japan. His language ability helped to line up a couple of fun filled late nights on the town. Hooking up with a Japanese guy, Ganchan and his buddies for some riverside jam session with local muscians. We also did a killer mountain bike ride that we got great footage of with our Sportzshot helmet cam. *A ride on the bullet train to Hiroshima after we got lost in Osaka trying to go to a Special Olympics party. We missed it (Sorry Special Olympics!!) *A day and a half spent entirely in World Peace Park in Hiroshima, including the two nights we camped out there just meters away from A-bomb dome, the building that was left as a reminder of the tragedy that occured there. We spent our time there visiting the World Piece Museum, relaxing by the river, playing our instruments with many locals, and reflecting on our time spent in Japan. *Our last lunch of Sushi in Shimoneski before we got on the ferry to Korea. *Being treated like heroes when we boarded the newly commissioned ferry to Korea. *Before we went to bed, we celebrated the completion of our first country over the bottle of wine that Mr. and Mrs. Yamafugi gave us when we left their winery. *Waking up in the port city of Pusan, fresh and ready to tackle our second country. *Being indebted to our sponsors for providing us with awesome clothing and gear. We couldn't be happier! More detail about our adventure The people: We encountered nothing but super nice, kind hearted, interesting, generous, and exceptionally welcoming people of all ages throughout our entire trip. We were continually greeted with huge smiles wherever we went. Store and restaurant owners, and the ticket sellers at the train stations and the ferries were kind and honest, and always helped us through our sometimes clumsiness in dealing with the Japanese currency and language. By the end of the trip, we had shopping and traveling dialed. The weather: It could have been better, but thanks to our sponsors, especially Assos and Sierra Designs, we had the not only the proper gear, but the best gear to keep us warm and dry. During our first two days, we had perfect weather, clear skies with scattered clouds, and a mild temperature; it was perfect touring weather, and a great way to start the international part of our adventure. As the days progressed, the clouds began to thicken and get darker. Luckily, the rain held off long enough for us to enjoy the spectacularly beautiful mountain town of Nikko, but on the day we left, we encountered our first bout with rain. It started slow, but picked up as the day went, and then, about mid-day, we were getting pelted by our fist full fledged rain storm. For the next almost two and a half weeks, we were continually plagued by rain of all degrees. The general pattern was that we'd wake up to cloudy overcast skies, cycle for a couple of hours, the sun would peak out for a bit, Jamie would put on sunscreen, and then about an hour later we begin to feel our first drops. As I mentioned above, we had the gear to keep us dry, but the weather never could make up it's mind if it wanted to rain or not, so we often found ourselves having to put on and take off our rain jackets and pants several times each day, which was emotionally tiring, and a bit aggregating. However, even with all of the rain, it did little to dampen our spirits, and throughout most of the rain we still had smiles or our faces. Actually, the biggest smiles came when the rain pounded us the hardest - we had to laugh at what we must have looked like to passing motorists, all bundled up, hunkered over, and hammering down the road on tandems with ghost passengers. The rain did finally subside during our last week, which was really nice and allowed us to enjoy our time in the only two big cities, Kyoto and Hiroshima, that we spent time in exploring. In a full circle, we came on a sunny day, and left on an equally sunny day. Cycling in Japan: We definitely chose the right country to ease our way into a life on the road. Most of Japan's roads had either a special designated bicycle path away from traffic, good sidewalks, or a wide shoulder. There were really very few times that we felt nervous or scared because of traffic passing too close. On top of that, the drivers were exceedingly courteous, and in the areas where the shoulder was narrow or absent, they would either swing wide to give us plenty of room, or if there was oncoming traffic where the road was narrow, they would slow down and wait for a break in the traffic before going around us. Throughout most of the country, the road conditions were great. It was clear that Japan's transit crews did a great job at keeping up and cleaning the roads. For the few places where the road wasn't so smooth, our Manitou Black forks made for a smooth ride for us, and the Tamer suspension seatpost kept our passengers, when we had them, from complaining. Navigating, too, was for the most part, was straight forward and easy, which was evident in the ease that we were able to get from one city to the next given that we were only, for most of the country, only using a large scale country map. All and all, we had no difficulties going from small town to small town; however, whenever we entered a larger city with a lot of intersecting and crisscrossing roads and highways, we usually had to stop at a gas station or two to ask directions. We took two ferries - three, if you count the one to Korea - which were a breeze; we were able to just roll our bikes on and off with the cars. The ferries themselves were very clean and quiet - one even had an escalator up to the main deck that looked like the entrance way to a fancy cruise ship. You could either bring your own food aboard, order from the galley, or they had vending machines for everything from snacks to soft drinks and juice, to beer, cigarettes, and even noodles. Unlike ferries in the U.S., the main passenger areas were large carpeted areas with pillows and blankets rather than rows of benches. Due to time constraints, we ended up having to take a few trains. The only hard part in dealing with the trains was getting all of our stuff on and off, and transferring from one train to another. The two difficulties were that our numerous bags required us to have to carry two loads, and the sure weight of everything made each load a strenuous, seat inducing experience. But, with a little grunting and groaning, we managed well. The S&S couplers on our bikes were our saving grace. We were able to transform the tandem into a singe, which was then broken in half and strapped together, and the parts for the tandem were put in our large backpacks that were usually kept empty when touring. This allowed us to bring the bikes on the train without having to pay extra, and without being a huge obstacle for the other passengers to have to get around. The trains, like the ferries, were very clean. Once, we did shell out the extra cash to take the bullet train, which was a great experience. It's not everyday that you get to go some 300 kilometers per hour on land. The food: Being on a budget, we didn't get to eat in very many restaurants. Mostly we cooked our own food. However, whenever we did eat at a restaurant, or the two times that we stayed the night with a Japanese family, we savored every mouthful. Both of us would agree that our favorite Japanese cuisine is sushi. We also found it to be the best value, in comparison to what we pay for a comparable meal in the U.S. . By doing some hunting, we found sushi restaurants that had a rotating conveyor belt of plates with either two or three pieces of sushi on them for an average price of ninety cents. We were able to eat our fill of incredibly delicious sushi for about $12.00 for the both of us. It would have cost us likely three times as much in the U.S., and wouldn't have been as fresh. All in all, Japan exceeeded our expectaitons many times over. I highly recommend a visit there and especially suggest bike touring there as you'll find no finer bike touring in all of Asia from what I hear...but we'll see. We send maximum love! Garryck and Jamie :)