Our first ride in Asia!

After a few days in Tokyo, here comes our first stage in Asia. Along the 600 km that separates us from Osaka, we ride through a lot of ups and down with sometimes nice encounters! It is a great pleasure for me to guide my two fellow companions through the country where I spent many summers...

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Once Martin's gear (that was lost by the airline company) is reconstituted, we exit Tokyo in one day. The traffic is dense but drivers do care about us.

Exiting Tokyo

By the end of the day, we arrive at a campground near Eno-shima. Luckily, the camp season hasn't started yet and we can pitch our tent for free.

On the second day, as we are looking for a place to wild camp, we are approached by a man. Mr. Watanabe is an architect and a travel enthusiast (his blog). As we describe our trip to him, he offers us to pitch our tents in his orange field. After following his small truck on a steep slope, we finally get to his field. Once our tents are ready for the night, he drives us down for our first rotemburo, a traditional Japanese open-air bath, overlooking the ocean.

Mr. Watanabe and his grandson

In the orange field

We have a good night's sleep in the nice scent of orange trees. Mr. Watanabe stops by when we are packing our tents to invite us for breakfast. Fresh and fit for the day, we get back on the road. Thank you very much for your kindness!

We decided to shorten our route on Izu peninsula and will head directly to its Western coast. We did well to tank up calories because two small passes awaits us today.

Steep ascent to Yamabushi pass

The first one is cleared short before noon and it's a nice descent to Izu city, in the middle of rice fields.

At this time of the year, farmers have just finished planting rice

While looking for a place to eat, we spot a restaurant. In fact, the owner Mr. Nishina tells us that the place isn't a restaurant but a small udon (Japanese noodle) factory. However, when he hears about our journey, he invites us for a tasting.

Mr Nishina udon factory

After the second pass and a long downhill ride, we arrive at Toi's campground. It starts raining hard and the small cabin looks more appealing than pitching our tents in the mud. Unfortunately, camping in Japan are a luxury and the owner asks us a whooping 7'000¥. After telling our story and insisting on the fact that we are coming from Peru where housing was cheap, we get a nice surprise: the price has sunk to 4'500¥!

On the next morning, we take the ferry back to Honshu before heading to the Atsumi Peninsula.

The Fuji ferry

Our bikes are secured 

 At some point in the afternoon, we reach a part of the road closed to bicycles because of a tunnel. We make our way through the sidewalk, hoping that it will also continue inside. Among the loud noise of the traffic, I can hear a voice coming out from a speaker. Funny thing, I can even spot some words in a bad English. This is definitely for us! We stop and look for the source of this mysterious voice coming out from the depths of the tunnel.

BX6000, the tunnel that speaks a lousy English 

After some time, we find the speaker and a surveillance camera. We finally get the important information by communicating with the tunnel employees sitting behind the camera using our hands. The sidewalk is a dead-end and we should use the coastal road. A few hours later, we are in Yaizu with our tents pitched by a river.

Riding by the ocean between Yaizu and Hamamatsu

Two days later, we arrive at Cape Irago on the Atsumi Peninsula. After the traditional check of the surroundings for a place to camp, we find a nice spot. When we come back at night, the place is full of spiders! Once again, our tents prove useful...

An other ferry later, the three lasts days are a direct route to Osaka and the traffic becomes dense.

Welcome aboard the Cape Irago-Ise ferry!

Luckily, there isn't much traffic in this 2 km tunnel

After one last hill, Osaka here we come!

When we finally arrive, I feel so happy to see my father again after 1 year! Since his apartment is a little bit small, we are hosted at Mrs. Hayashi's place, an acquaintance of my father's colleague. She doesn't speak a word of English but treats us like her own sons. Somehow, she keeps talking in Japanese to Martin and Séb, probably hoping that they would understand some words.

Osaka's busy shopping street

While our bikes are out for maintenance, we organize a small trip to Matsuyama, my father's hometown and to Hiroshima.

The Dogo onsen (hot springs), Matsuyma

A-Bomb dome, Hiroshima

Japanese pupils visiting Hiroshima

The Bicicorsa Avel team

Once we are back to Osaka, we still have some days to visit Kyoto and Nara, two important cultural cities.

Golden Pavilion, Kyoto 

In the bamboo forest, Kyoto

Kyoto train station

Then, on June 5, Martin flies back to France. It is a hard time for all of us, as we spent 7 months with him, 24/7. It feels like when your roommate is leaving and for the couple of next days, I sometimes find myself looking back when getting off train, wondering if he's following. Dear Martin, we lived some unforgettable moments in this adventure! A huge and warm thanks from the bottom of our hearts! Abrazos compañero!

A week later after saying farewell to friends and family, it's our turn to set off for a long ferry trip to China. 40 hours of boat awaits us...

One last dinner with Mrs. Hayashi and her family

My grandma

Leaving my father's place for the ferry terminal