Sunday September 28, 2025

We had decided to get on the road early today as the temperature was supposed to hit 34 degrees again. We were having breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Can you imagine getting up so early on a Sunday!! We were packed and ready to go at 8:00 a.m. Our friends from last night were loading their bikes we set off a few minutes earlier than they did. Unfortunately, garmin got a bit confused as to which way to go and when it eventually decided to head west Adele and Paul were ahead of us. They were heading to the peninsula and taking a ferry to Osaka. We were heading north-west and slightly inland.

Once garmin knew where we were going we were on a nice route inland. We crossed several bridges and streams and were making good time. However, due to the strict following of rules by Japanese hotel staff we knew we would not be allowed to check-in early at our hotel in Gamagori.

We cycled through a traditional village, and I noticed a figure dressed in traditional dress.

I shouted to Ralf, and we realized that it was a museum, and we had plenty of time to visit. We went to the ticket window, and I asked the lady if she had anything in English. Yes we have a pamphlet. That will do, the house looked self explanatory. She came out and showed us where we could put our bikes and asked where we were from.

She seemed genuinely pleased to see us. It cost us about $7.50 for the two of us for the entrance fee.

The house had a series of rooms and various artifacts.

There was another group of elderly people following us around the house. One lady said Hello to me and asked where we were from. She then explained the significance of this building/museum.  This was a Honjin., a rest post for nobility travelling from the Kyoto-Osaka area to Tokyo. During the Edo period Tokaido was the most important route and we had happened upon it by accident. Of the 53 rest stations along the route Futagawa Shuku was the 33^rd. There are only two original rest stations remaining.

The lady spoke good English and explained that the Landlords (Daiymo’s) with their entourages would walk with great processions along this route several times a year to go to Tokyo to pay respects to the Shogun.  The processions would show off the wealth of the landlord and the more people they had in their entourage the more wealth they had. They spent a lot of money on these trips.

Yes, Ralf was allowed to try on the wig and I could have worn any of the kimono’s on display.

After we visited all the rooms in the house/ Honjin we went into the museum which was even more interesting and along with the Japanese text had all the information in English.

This is the route that was taken. The book is a 1799 travel guide, it describes the route, has maps and costs of places to stay (Lonely Planet).

We spent an hour and a half there taking in all the exhibits and chatting to this very kind lady who told me that every month a group of seniors get together and visit historic places and places of cultural significance. They were from the Shizouka area. She asked me how we came to be at this museum, and I told her purely by accident, the Garmin map takes us away from Highways and I had spotted the figures as we cycled by. She was very pleased that we had stopped and was interested in the history. 

There were five toilets in the Honjin,one was reserved for the daimyo (lFeudal Landlord). There were three bath tubs, the water was boiled and then added to the tub. Although there were bath tubs provided some of the daimyo would bring their own luxurious bath tubs.

This was the daimyo’s bedroom.

I was a little concerned about stopping as we were supposed to get rain in the afternoon and high humidity. It was hot but we had a good breeze, which kept us cool. Until I tried to kill my husband by pushing him in the path of an oncoming train.

A train had just gone through the area and the lights and barriers were up. Ralf had just started to negotiate the tracks when the lights started to flash, and the barriers were coming down. I thought he was going to go through, but he didn’t, and I rammed him hard. He went flying of his bike and I got hit on the head by the barrier coming down. We both managed to get the bikes away from the track before the train came barrelling through. A fella from the car got out to help us, but I had managed to get from underneath the barrier and Ralf had landed on this side of the barrier.  It was very scary.

After the train had passed we walked the bikes to the other side, and I cleaned Ralf’s arm and slathered some antiseptic cream on his forearm.  It was only later in the room that I saw the extent of the damage done to his old body.

We had about 20 kms to go but Ralf pedalled on like the brave soldier he is.

We managed to find the hotel after a couple of wrong turns and arrived 15 minutes early. We could not check in until 3:00!!  Again, the bikes are in their bags and in the rooms. The hotels do not have any provisions to store the bikes inside in a safe place.

After we had settled into the room, I went for a lovely soak in the Onsen (Ralf couldn’t use the Onsen because of his injuries).

He is going to be very sore tomorrow.

We went out for dinner, to a Ramen place that was close to the hotel. We really dislike the automated ordering systems, as there are usually more questions to answer. This one you had to tell it what you wanted, what size, how many garlic cloves, how hard/soft the noodles should be, whether you could name your first grandchild after the Ramen noodle you were going to order. Ralf was using his phone to translate, but other people were waiting. Fortunately, we were helped by two young men, and we had a lovely meal.

A few short sharp hills. The only one I couldn’t manage was at 14%.