Day 3: closing the loop around Lake Biwa and approaching Kyoto

A hand knocks on the fusuma, waking us up.

When we reach the living room, an old man wishes us a good morning, while busy in the kitchen preparing our breakfast. Still numb from the sleep, seeing him moving back and forth rapidly and precisely is like getting an injection of adrenaline.

Thin sliced salad with sesame dressing and tomatoes, scrambled eggs with sausages, Hōjicha:this is our breakfast today. While we consume it we discuss about our route for the day: we have read that the South-West side of lake Biwa is not that pleasant to bike, therefore we have decided to follow the coast for a while and then, via route 23, reach route 367 which goes in the valley between two mountain ranges. 

Though it is a highway we have seen that there are often side roads which should allow us escaping the traffic if we would feel the need. And then we will have the rain, so we want to ride us much as possible before it starts pouring.

Therefore we prepare our bikes, bid farewell to the landlord and hit the road. From the guest house to the lake side the distance is short, but when we reach it we have to stop to enjoy the scenery: a long row of trees, behind which the mist covered lake surface, flat like a mirror, unveils in the distance mountain ranges and cities.

We stop on the sand to take some pictures, and then move on. The magnificent landscape we have just seen has boosted our energy, and we move in the waking up villages with a good vibe.

When kids start to crowd the roads going to school, attracting their attention is unavoidable. Two of them, more daring, ride next to us on their white bikes. The bravest of the two holds his courage and greets us with a "Herro!". When we answer with a smile and with an "Hello!" he goes a step further, asking us "Do you rike sushi?", to which we answer "Yes, also miso ramen!". This makes them laugh, and they wave their hands when they proceed to their school, where we are sure this small adventure they have lived will be the topic of the day.

Outside the villages the road is pretty much deserted: the only people we meet are workers busy repairing the shoulder here and there. When we reach Adogawa and take route 23, the landscape quickly changes. 

Though the road is not extremely steep, the landscape quickly turn mountainous, with tall conifers, continuous zig-zag and a drop of the temperature. When we reach Takara Bokujo I stop at a gas station to inflate the tires of my bike. I gesture toward the clerk that the tire is deflated, and he asks me to give him the pump of the bike. Quite puzzled I hand it to him, and when he tries to use it, I ask him if he as a compressor. He then takes a tank of compressed air and inflates the tire. Talk about spirit of service!

For a good part of the 367 the traffic is never too heavy, and we can enjoy the surrounding. We take a break at a combini, where we are greeted by a couple of bikers who are also taking a break. Then a curious old man comes close, asking us where do we come from and where we are going. Considering that ahead we are not sure to find other shops, we also buy our lunch.

Shortly after we are back on the saddle it starts raining: first in a gentle and seamless manner, then heavily. Because of the rain we don't stop at any of the temples along the itinerary: they are not visible along the road, and we don't want to get lost in the woods under the rain.

At a certain point we find the side road departing from the highway, and we take it. When it goes under the highway we stop under the bridge and decide to have lunch there: there is no traffic, the Keishoji temple is somewhere in the forest but not easy to reach and we want some rest.

While hearing the pouring of the rain from the sky and the roaring of the river below, we study the road ahead. Soon after the pass we should be able to go around the highway by riding through the village grown around it. 

Finished our onigiri we get back on the bikes, but after a short while we have to stop: the road is flooded by the river with trees and rocks blocking it. Probably a souvenir of the typhoon, low in the priority list of the recovery intervention. 

Back on the highway, then we reach the pass and descend the 4 hairpins: the view is fantastic, but the road is really wet and we don't want to fly below, therefore we have to pay the utmost attention to where we put our wheels and cannot really enjoy it.

Once in the village we have to climb a steep road before getting back on the highway, then we finally manage to enter the road which, after a few kilometers, will take us to our lodging. It proceeds on the mountain side, through houses which are mostly abandoned.

When we finally reach Ryoso Chatani it is still raining, and after having parked our bikes in the garage, we ask the staff some old newspaper to wipe dry our bags and clothes before entering our room. Then we soak in the ofuro, before heading out to buy our dinner. 

The rain is gone, and the countryside where we walk in the dark is filled by the noise of the frogs. Out in the distance after the mountains the lights of Kyoto shine on the clouds. Tomorrow we will be there.

Day 2: The metasequoia avenue in Machino

The sun is starting to rise when we wake up and get downstairs for breakfast. We have some minutes to take a walk around the place and admire the magnificent look of the building, which was hidden by the darkness yesterday evening.

We get on the bikes and start our ride, together with many students getting on their way to school. As soon as possible we leave the main road and take the cycle route taking us along the small Sainoko lake, where several old people are fishing. They look quite surprised to see us when we greet them.

Our first goal is Azuchi castle, but before we reach it we notice a small problem on one of the bike: the rear tire is twisted, and we get in touch with Globalwheels to ask for advice. They suggest us a couple of shops which can fix the tire for us, and we head for the closest one, even though it means we have to go in the opposite direction.

On the way we stop to visit Kōmyōji Temple, which is still empty due to the early hour, then when we search our way in the village we have the chance of practicing our Japanese asking for directions to two elderly men. We have happen to surprise a small kid on his way to school with his mother, who apparently has never seen two foreigners on bike. From the smile on his face he must have been pleased by the surprise.

When we finally reach the bike shop, we wait until they fix the problem and use the break to plan our route ahead. After Azuchi castle we will also stop at Hikone castle, and, considering the time we are losing with this unexpected break, we will then take the train to cover part of the road until our destination in Machino.

Once the bike is fixed we get back on the road, and in short time we reach the ruins of Azuchi castle.  It takes some time for use to realize which are the remains among the vegetation, but then we understand the size of the castle.

After getting lost among the rice fields, we manage to reach the lake coast, and from there proceed in the direction of Hikone. The villages we cross along the road seems to be empty, and several houses are clearly abandoned. It all gives the impression of a place which is lively during summer months, when the lake is a touristic destination, but then deserted for the rest of the year.

When we finally reach Hikone, at a crossing we ask for direction to an old lady. She tell us to follow her, and start running in the direction of the castle. For being an old lady she runs pretty fast, and we have to keep a steady pace to not lose her, even though we are on our bikes. She stops next to the bridge crossing the castle moat, and tell us to proceed further. We thank her for the guidance, and we venture into the castle park. I am sure that if we would have been in the opposite situation, with her running behind us, the police would have been glad to ask us some questions.

There are quite some people visiting it, and we find a salary man, having his lunch break there, who can speak a good English. He tells us that it's not possible to climb on the castle with the bikes and that the visit takes at least 1 and half hour. We decide to skip it, and we sit in the park to have our lunch.

After lunch we proceed to Nagahama, where we want to take the train. Our first surprise there is to see a lot of boards and signals in Portuguese. Apparently there is a large Brazilian community, which explain it. When we finally reach the station we have about 20 minutes before our train departs. We have the rinko bags, supplied with the bikes, but we have never attempted using them. Gareth explained us, but apparently we didn't listen well, because after ten minutes, during which I am pretty sure we look like a couple of Donald Ducks fighting (and losing) with a plastic bag, we still haven't managed to wrap the bikes.There is always some part of the bike sticking out of the bag!

One of the two guys at the ticket counter is probably moved to mercy and, after having found in on the internet, prints the instructions and help us packing the bikes. We are really grateful for his help, and we finally manage to reach the platform few minutes before the train arrives. We take it and during the trip have some chat in a broken mix of English and Japanese with a Japanese man, who asks us about our trip. He works in something related to organic chemistry, I assume, since he lists the first hydrocarbons, and he is also an amateur radio operator, from what we see on the business card he hands us.

He gets down with us at Makino, and from there we greet each other. We mount back our bikes and head to the metasequoia avenue, a famous road, few kilometers long, with about 500 dawn redwoods planted along it. We reach it when the sun is about to set, and there are plenty of tourists taking pictures, even right in the middle of the road.

We also take some pictures, and then move toward the minshuku where we are spending the night, Shanshui House. We are the only guests for the night, the landlord shows us around and offers to take us to some restaurant nearby, but we prefer to buy some food from a combini. After the shower we get back on our bike and reach the nearest combini.

It's few kilometers away and the road is pretty dark, but not particularly complicated. On the way back we first hit a swarm of mosquitoes (luckily our mouths where shut, else we would have had our daily dose of proteins), then we see a night train running through the night: the row of lights traveling fast on the dark countryside, reminds us of the train in Spirited Away.

We have our dinner in the living room of the pretty big minshuku, then we watch some TV: tomorrow the forecasts tell rain, so we have to deal with it. But for now we a roof under which we can sleep, and the crickets are singing outside the window. All is fine.

Day 1: from Osaka to Omihachiman

Finally today we start cycling.

After the usual good breakfast we take our luggage with us, drop the key of the house and walk to the pick up place, where Gareth from Globalwheels has prepared our bikes.

It's at walking distance from the guest house, and in few minutes we are there. Gareth has the bike ready for us, and we need just few adjustments to fit them: saddle height, panniers, installation of the handlebar bag and deposit of the baggage, gently agreed by Globalwheels.

Gareth guides us to the bridge on the O river, from where we start our trip. The sun is shining in the sky, and the river banks are full of people doing any type of sport: baseball, running, football, badminton and of course also cycling. We find out that today is something like the national sport day, and of course the Japanese are celebrating it.

The cycling path following the O and then the Yodo river is nice, away from the traffic of the city which is just in the background after the river banks. The only annoyance comes from the way too frequent barriers installed to prevent devices other than bicycles to access the path. They are made in such a way that we have to get down and lift our bikes to pass them, since our panniers prevent us from bunny hopping them.

When we reach the panoramic terrace on the Uji river we leave the cycle path and move into the city to reach lake Biwa. We stop for lunch in a small park, where we eat our onigiri with the only company of several mosquitoes and a little boy on a small bike who try to catch something in the grass while not giving away his curiosity toward us.

We get back on the bike and move on. Until now the road has been pleasant, but as soon as we leave the river we have to find our way among cars, trucks, roads not allowed to bikes and quite unpleasant landscapes. There are not so many path we can take, therefore we cannot be picky.

We somehow manage to reach route 1 to Otsu, but there we have no choice than share the road with the traffic. There is an accident ahead, and the vehicles are almost still. Since we have to go uphill for us it is almost a blessing, not having to worry about cars and trucks speeding few cm from our elbows. On the other hand we get to breathe the exhaust from the queue.

When we finally descend to Otsu we are glad we can fill our lungs with fresh air. We have got a first impression of Lake Biwa by watching the NHK episode of Cycling around Japan, but being there in person is another story.

For a while we proceed along the coast, where there are a lot of people either fishing or barbecuing, then we head inland when the sun is starting to set. Since we had told the hostel that we would have arrived around 6 p.m. we try to find someone who can call them for us.

We stop at a combini and I try to nail the few words of Japanese I know to ask if they can call the place and tell we are late. If only I had reached the part of the Japanese class where they taught that the Japanese word for telling 6 p.m. is not the same 6 as in the number, I would have been quicker. But at the end the guy at the counter manages to understand me, and calls the place.

The landlord tells us it is ok, and just wants to be sure we know the way. It's still 15 km to reach there, and we will arrive with darkness. We reassure him and get back on the saddle.

The road now goes mostly straight through an infinite theory of fields, with here and there some large buildings. The last few kilometers are again on the coast, the dark lake on one side, the countryside on the other with just few cars driving by. When we finally reach the place, the hostel is on the side of the hill, enveloped into complete darkness and with only crickets and frogs filling the night.

We park our bikes and get a shower just in time for dinner: the dishes are freshly prepared with local ingredients and everything is really tasty, and together with us there are three other guests.

The building of Hachiman Youth Hostel is more than one century old, and the wooden frame seems to be breathing memories of a distant past. After dinner we take a walk to the combini close by, where we buy an ice cream, a beer and the necessary for tomorrow breakfast. Then, while the chilled beer relaxes our legs, we sit on the patio, enjoying the fresh air of the night with our eyes wandering in the darkness, broken here and there by some distant light.

We then head upstairs and sink into the futons, getting some rest for tomorrow. The crickets outside quickly fade away into our sleep.