Not such a great night’s sleep in this Apartment 11 Hotel. To get into the lobby you must press a code that the management send you after booking. Then they send you a code to get into the lock box to get the key.
Every time you want to enter the lobby area you have to put in the code that is allocated to the room. After you have entered the code the main door opens, and you can get to the elevators. At this hotel, for some unknown reason it also calls the room. Last night some eejit at 11:45, 11:50, and 12:45 decided to press our room number and called our room. Eventually, Ralf was able to translate and told the guy he was calling the wrong number. Not a good night’s sleep after that, but at least today was a rest day.
Of course, our rest days are not always resting. After breakfast, we headed out to explore our part of Osaka.
Although Osaka has a castle it is not one of the twelve originals. The original castle was built in 1583 and was destroyed in 1665. It was not until 1931 that the present ferro-concrete reconstruction of the castle tower was built. During the war it miraculously survived the city-wide air raids. Major repair works gave the castle new glamor in 1997. The castle tower is now entirely modern on the inside and even features an elevator for easier accessibility. We decided not to see a replica castle and would have a wandering day.
We wandered towards the Tsutenkaku Tower. The route took us through the Kuromon Market which has multiple food stalls and fish stalls. Locals and tourists alike enjoyed the area. The locals buy a lot of their fish here and the prices were very reasonable.
The tourists love the atmosphere and the multitude of food stalls. The Kuromon Market which celebrated 200 years anniversary in 2025, and the Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street.
We enjoy towers and there is a small(ish) tower, the Tsutenkaku, The Tower is only 108 metres tall, there are three observation levels, one at 84 metres, one at 87.5 metres and the highest is at 94.5 metres. The original tower was built in 1912 with the arches at the bottom resembling the Arch de Triomphe and the upper half to resemble the Eiffel Tower. In 1943 the structure caught fire. This structure was rebuilt in 1956.
The tower has a jump, similar to the one that we did on the Treetop Trek in August. It also has a slide that goes around the bottom two levels. We could hear people screaming as they were pushed down the slide. We decided to head right up to the observation decks. The views were amazing. We paid an extra $6.00 to go to the open observation deck. That was fun, there was an area that you could stand out and stand on a clear floor.
Osaka’s population is approximately 2.79 million for Osaka City The city is the third-most populous in Japan after Tokyo and Yokohama.
After our visit to the tower, we wandered back to the hotel, stopping at one of the food stalls in Kuromon for a shared lunch, Okonomiyaki (savory pancake). It was huge and plenty of food for the two of us. Ralf had a baby octopus. Poor baby octopus.
A relaxing evening and ready to head out tomorrow.
We are not made of sugar, we do not melt in the rain. After breakfast and rebuilding the bikes we headed out towards Osaka.
The forecast was for 30-40% rain showers, but we were heading for some hills and figured we were going to get wet. Wet we got.
Ralf saying foodbye to the hotel mascot.
Although it wasn’t really a pretty ride, it was very good. We were alongside two or three highways, although we heard the cars we couldn’t see them as they had huge sound barriers along the route. Ride with GPS took us along the Kitakawichi bike path for about 30 kms.
Although I mentioned my weak bladder yesterday, I am going to mention it again today. There is nowhere in Japan you can take a wild wee. There are people everywhere, even in the short time we were in a rural area, the highway was to one side and the houses were to the other.
Fortunately, there was a Lawsons’ that had a restroom. There are three main convenience stores, 7/11, Family Mart and Lawson Station. They basically have the same food available and outside of Kyoto they have clean washrooms. In Taiwan, the 7/11 and Family Mart also had seating areas, in Japan they have taken them away.
The route to our hotel through Osaka was easy to follow. We are staying at another Apartment Hotel 11. They have friendly staff, kitchenettes, and a washing machine. We threw all our wet cycle gear into the machine and it is currently drying in the bathroom that has a dry fan, it ventilates, dries the laundry and has a cool breeze after showering!. I haven’t cleaned the bikes yet, but I will try to clean them before we leave. The bicycles are on the balcony.
We ate in the room and were looking forward to going to the Shimano Bicycle Museum tomorrow, but it is closed on Mondays. It may be a castle day.
We woke up to heavy clouds and rain. Checked the forecast, yep rain all day. This was going to be an interesting visit to Kyoto.
After breakfast we donned our Taiwan Ponchos and headed to the train station. When we were in Juifen, Taiwan last year it poured with rain and we bought these colourful ponchos. When I was packing for this trip I asked Ralf if we should take them, they were light and if we happened to get caught in the rain during a rest day they may come in handy. They came in very handy today.
Photo of us in Ponchos
We took the train from Otsu to Kyoto and stopped at the Tourist Information office in the train station for a map and I asked where the old town was. The lady showed me on the map and told me the Geisha Walk is at 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. I asked if they would be out as it was pouring with rain. Yes, they always do, but sometimes walk a shorter route.
We left the train station and meandered around the back streets trying to find the older part of the city. We found a few temples along the way.
Then we decided to take the Subway to the Gion area and we had a wonderful few hours walking around the old part of Kyoto with its small narrow streets and interesting restaurants. We found a few more temples and ended the day taking the Subway back to Kyoto station and the train back to Otsu.
After a while of walking in the rain, I needed to find a washroom. We spotted a Family Mart Convenience store and I popped in – this is the first Family Mart with no facilities. We carried on walking, we spotted a small temple with a Johnny on the Spot. I asked at the small office if I could use the toilet. The older gentleman came out – Japanese toilet. That’s o.k I said, I was desperate. The gentleman went back into his office to get the key or screwdriver. In the meantime another older gentleman appeared from nowhere and starting shouting at the first gentleman. They started shouting at each other and the second gentleman looked as if he was going to hit the first gentleman with his umbrella. Oh no, I have caused an international incident by asking to use a toilet. I think that the second gentleman didn’t think the first gentleman was moving fast enough and he should accommodate this little English woman faster. It was a squat toilet, but clean and I thanked both of the gentleman for their assistance.
Kyoto is one of the ‘must sees’ in Japan. It was worth visiting even in the rain. Kyoto was once the capital of Japan. It is famous for its numerous classical Buddhist temples, as well as gardens, Shinto shrines and traditional wooden houses. Tokyo officially became the capital in 1869. In 1868 the Tokugawa Shogunate was removed from power and Imperial rule was reestablished.
As it happened we saw the Emperor today. As we crossed over the rail crossing, Ralf was waiting to take a photo of the Shinkansen Train. A police officer approached us, introduced himself as a police officer and asked us to leave the bridge as the Emperor was due in Kyoto and they had to keep the area clear. He was very polite. We carried on walking towards the old City where the police were blocking off road crossings. After about 5 minutes the first batch of police cars and police motor cycles came through, then about 5 minutes later the Emperor came through. Nobody knew he was coming through, but there was a lot of waving and cheering when the locals realized what was happening. I said to Ralf I think he is only a young fella. He looked young as he waved to the crowds as the car sped past. Turns out he is 65, so not so young after all.
You can rent a kimono for the day.
Kyoto is also known for Geisha (Gaiko), female entertainers often found in the Gion district. The Geisha tradition goes back centuries. These are not prostitutes but young women who are trained in the Art of entertainment, singing, and dancing. Traditionally the evenings entertainment included a Geiko and a Maiko (trainee), food, drinks, entertainment (dancing and singing). The bill would be tallied up and sent to the customers account/bank. The customer would be a trusted client. It is was very rare for tourists to be able to take part in these evenings. However, there is now a show available so that tourists can see what the ceremony/entertainment is all about.
I think we saw more temples today than we have seen since we got here.
When arriving at Otsu, we put our return ticket into the gate and it would not let us through. We had to go to the Fair Adjustment window, fortunately there was a fella in the office. He checked our tickets, we had paid the correct amount. However, because we had bought the ticket on the Subway and transferred to the Otsu line without validating the return ticket, the ticket was rejected. Sometimes you need a person not a machine.
A relaxing start to the day. We had to wait until the Tourism Office opened at 9:00 a.m. We had breakfast, took our bags down to the bikes and left them near the bikes. We had a lovely breakfast and headed through the train station to the Tourist Information office. In the train station there is a temporary Tourist Office manned by half a dozen volunteers, who are giving advice and gift bags to all the athletes coming into Omihachiman. I asked if this was the tourist office and that we wanted information on the Biwachi (cycling Lake Biwa). Two or three people were looking for maps and information for me, one gentleman lead us out of the temporary tourist office to the permanent tourist office outside. A very helpful lady gave us the complete map of the Biwachi. I asked her if there was a ferry we could take to the other side from Hikone or Nagahama. She said there was a cruise to the Island, but no bicycles were allowed. She asked where we were from, she was so excited that we were from Canada. She had studied English at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay Ontario, many years ago, and wanted to come back to Canada to see the Northern Lights again.
Route we wanted to take
No problem we will head south towards Kyoto today, but first we need to find a hotel for tonight. Therein lay the problem, we could not find a hotel (in our price range) in Kyoto for two nights. We looked north of Kyoto, South of Kyoto and they were all ridiculously expensive. We found one in Omihachiman which was reasonable but only got us 33 kms down the road. We booked it as time was getting on. We would worry about Kyoto later.
We left the hotel at 10:30 and found the Lake Biwa Bike path. Finally, a bike path that is off the main road and along the lake for the most part.
As we arrived in Omihachiman early we checked to see if there was anything worth seeing in this small town. Ralf found a ruined castle and a shrine that we checked out.
The shrine and small temple were found in a quiet clearing of the woods. Very peaceful and to commemorate the Nashimura family that owned the castle and later descendants who grew the family business to include banking, fishing and other corporate enterprises.
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As we walked up the slightly overgrown path, I was being eaten by mosquitos. I turned around and looked after the bikes, whilst Ralf continued up the the hill. As it turned out the Nishimura family (that the castle belonged to) sold mosquito nets and cotton.
After we visited the ruins we headed into Town to see the Zenjuji Temple. It was a small temple and garden.
Zenjuji Temple
We were still early for the hotel mandatory check-in of 3:00 p.m. Across the road from the hotel was a McDonald’s. We decided to wait inside and have a coffee.
There was a very old couple looking at us and giggling. They would say something to each other, look over at us and giggle. I had a good day, so I smiled at them while drinking my coffee. As they were leaving they came over to chat. Neither of us spoke the others language, but we laughed. Ralf used google translate on the phone to talk to the old couple. They would read the text and then talk. Ralf would change the phone to translate Japanese to English and indicate for the old fella to talk into the phone, he stared at the phone. Then Ralf told him he could speak Japanese into the phone, and it would translate for him. He was away, spoke way to fast, but what they wanted to ask is; where we were from, how old we were and if the bikes had motors. The old fella was really interested in the bikes, the gears and what we were carrying. This is what I have missed on this trip, interacting with people even if you don’t understand a word the other person is saying.
We told them I was 67 and Ralf was 66 and the only motors the bikes had were our leg muscles. The old lady patted my thighs, and the old man was shocked and told her not to do that. The two of us laughed. The old fella was 88 and the lady was 85. We gave them a deep bow; they gave us a half bow and were giggling as they left us walking down the street hand in hand. I wish I had asked how long they had been together.
We checked into the AB Hotel and Ralf asked where we could keep the bikes, in our room, just wheel them in. I went up to the room first opened the door and thought to myself she must be joking. Ralf arrived and wondered why I hadn’t gone into the room already. He looked into the room this had to be the smallest hotel room we have stayed in. We can manage says Ralf and we did, two bikes in the tiniest hotel room.
Another short day today due to shortage and expense of hotels in Kyoto. We are staying in Otsu and tomorrow we will take the train into Kyoto tomorrow for a day of being tourists.
As I waited for Ralf to check-out from the hotel a road cyclist passed. He noticed our bikes and turned around for a chat. I noticed that he had a bandage on his leg and arm and asked if he was o.k. Yes, he had hit something on the road and the bike wobbled and he went over the handlebars. Fortunately he was wearing a helmet, a lot of Japanese cyclists do not wear helmets. He said his bike was slightly damaged, a scrape on the gear shifters. We compared bikes, his was carbon fibre and ours are aluminum. What a difference in weight. He lifted his bike and then handed it to me, so light. he didn’t want to lift mine, especially as it was already loaded with panniers. I admired his DuraAce gear set and he liked our Brooks saddles. We wished each other safe journey and he was away on his skinny, tyred light bike.
Another nice day on the Biwaichi. We left our hotel and Garmin took us on a very nice bike path back to the Biwaichi. We kept trying to get a photo of cranes or grey herons.
This area has a lot of rice fields and other vegetables, cabbage, onions etc. I was surprised to see that they still burn the stubble after harvesting the rice.
Stubble burning
We stopped at a small harbour and took some great photos of the lake. When we came back up the little road, the gate had been locked. What the …. I managed to lift the chain and get my bike underneath it. Ralf found a path on the other side and wheeled his bike on the grassy path. Clever bugger.
The first 25 kilometres were really nice cycling along the Lake. The road was busy at times, but not too noisy. We saw a lot of road cyclists today and wondered if they were doing the route in one day – 200 kms. You could take the fast route, which had you cycling on the road with a painted blue line and paonted blue arrows for protection. Or take the cycle path, with a raised curb between you and traffic.
We stopped at Moriyama. This is the official start/end of the Biwaichi cycle route.
Not even close Ralf – I almost made it, I have to do more Yoga.
As we made the turn to head towards the bridge to cross to the other side we saw the ugliest building. I am sure it was very nice when it was first built.
We had decided to cross to the other side of the lake as on the map there appeared to be more to see. Oops error, we were no longer on our nice bike path we were on the road with all the traffic. Crossing the bridge was interesting, a narrow raised bike path.
This is also a major fishing area. We had to see a giant crab.
Of course we got to our hotel early. I went to check-in at 1:00 and asked if it was possible to check-in early, fingers crossed. Of course not, check-in is at 3:00. I asked if we could sit in the lobby and wait. I knew I could type up the blog and get the photos ready.
Ralf could check out hotels and the route. We had half decided to go to Nara after Kyoto, although it wasn’t on the original plan there was a nice walk that I thought would be interesting. Ralf found a reasonably priced hotel and booked it for two nights. The confirmation indicated that although we were staying two nights, we would have to vacate the room between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. as it may be used by other guests. Oh No, we had booked a Japanese Love Motel. We were able to cancel straight away.
At 2:30 we were able to get into our room. From the smallest to the largest room. It is expensive and a little tired, but the train station is just outside our window. We will get an early train into Kyoto, spend the day seeing as much as we can and then back to the hotel.
We have booked a hotel in Osaka for two nights on Monday & Tuesday. It is the same chain of hotels that we stayed at in Nagoya, an apartment.
I have said it before and no doubt I will say it again, what a difference a day makes. We had a good breakfast in the apartment/hotel and headed out to the train station. We are catching another train because RidewithGPS and google maps could not find cycling directions to Hikone. We could have followed the walking directions but, we may have ended up on forest tracks.
As we cycled down to the train station Ralf got side-swiped by a passing vehicle, who was in such a hurry he had to get in front of two cyclists. Of course, the next light was on red and we easily caught up to him. Ralf mouthed some bad words to him. The car driver was indicating to turn but we were ahead of him on the cycle lane and I put my arm out to make sure that he didn’t cut me off in the turn.
We got to the train station and had to find the Tokkaido Line. We eventually found it and went to buy tickets. The man told us the bikes had to be in bags. Yes we know, but we want to get closer to the platform before we put them in the bags. Wheeling a bike is a lot easier than carrying a 29lb bike in a bag. The station staff said no difference either way (5 minute walk), they need to be in a bag. Easy for you to say try carrying a 29 lb bag and a 30 lb bag of panniers. I said to Ralf let’s wait until we get to the right platform. Ralf insisted that we pack the bikes into the bags, well wouldn’t you know it we were nowhere near the platform and had to haul those suckers almost 500 metres to the right platform. We were both so pissed. Fortunately, after we got to the right end of the station and bought the tickets a very kind couple, from South Korea, offered to carry my bike to the platform. O.k. the woman offered her husband’s help! He carried my bike to the elevator and we thanked him profusely.
I thought we would be on the 10:00 train, with all the faffing about it was closer to 11:00 before we got on the train. As we barrelled down the tracks the heavens opened. Our already dark moods got darker, to cap it all would we have to cycle in the rain today. Fortunately, at that time we were on the train and not getting soaked.
We had to change at Osaki up one elevator and down another and onto the next train to Maibara. We could have taken another connector to Hikone, but I had decided it was going to be easier to ride the 7kms to our hotel in Hikone from Maibara. We stopped for lunch and stopped at a bike shop to put some air in the tires.
The ride to Hikone was along the Biwa Cycle Route. We had plenty of time before check-in at the hotel to visit the castle and gardens.
We cycle up to the gate to the castle – the lady in the booth shouted “No Bicycles – parking down there – No bicycles”. Bloody hell I have never known a country with a more “jobsworth” mentality than Japan. I thought England was bad, but the Japanese has them beat. Definition of “Jobsworth” it is more than my job is worth to allow you to …… park your bike here, to sit on a bench, to allow you to lean your bikes on a wall, to allow you to wear shoes in a hotel foyer!!
We cycled back to the parking area and locked our bikes to a stand. We took our front handlebar bags and left everything else. At that point we didn’t care if everything was stolen. We had passports, phones, credit cards, we would get on the next flight home.
We walked back to the ticket window and she had a big smile on her face Arigato (thank-you) castle and gardens Y1000 per person, closes at 4:30 I have English information for you. What can you do, she is only doing her job. Arigato – thank you we said through gritted teeth.
I like castles. The path to get to the main castle area was quite the climb on a rough path. This castle is one of the 12 original castles, it has withstood earthquakes and wars. It was built in approximately 1600 and completed in 1607. This is a military fortress. In 1952 it was designated as a National Treasure, along with five other castles – Inuyama (yesterday). I am hoping to get to see the remaining three, although the way today started we are ready to get on a plane and go home. Ralf and I do not argue very often, this trip has seen us being very petty to each other, sniping about silly little things. It is not as enjoyable as other trips we have taken.
We were amazed to see that Hikone has a multitude of sports facilities. While we were there, the Japan High School Games was being held there and an exhibition Sumo Wrestling competition. I noticed a Mum and 3 boys – the boys were wearing Sumo T.shirts. I asked the Mum if they were at a training camp, she smiled and said Sumo. The middle boy told Ralf through google translate that they had watched Sumo wrestling that day. Had I insulted the Mum, saying that her chubby kids could be future Sumo wrestlers or was she pleased that her chubby kids could be future Sumo wrestlers? I will never know.
The castle did improve our moods again there were steep steps up to each floor. This castle had a few view points, the other windows had chicken wire on them to stop the birds getting in.
There were some lovely views of Lake Biwa and surrounding areas from the top.
I took a photo of this not so straight beam. Then later Ralf took a photo of the Lord of the castle with his helmet on. Perhaps this beam was designed to allow the Lord and his hat to go underneath the beam.
These two turrets and gate were installed here after the castle was built. They represent a balance to the fortress like a scale.
Sound scapes: The Environment Agency selected “A hundred soundscapes of Japan on June 5 1996 in order to preserve landscapes which have such sounds as insects, mountain streams, bells and festivals, which are loved by everyone. The time-keeping bell and the chirping of insects in Hikone Castle were among these. The ringing of the bell every three hours from the castle area, the continuous songs of cicada on summer evening and the chorus of crickets in Genkyu-en garden are soundscapes which should be preserved for the future.
The castle from the gardens looks as though it is smiling
We wandered through the gardens which were lovely. Ralf offered to take a photo for a couple, we got chatting to them. They were visiting her family. They were from Kamloops, B.C.!!
When we arrived at our hotel our hearts sank again, reception was on the 2nd floor of the building. Ralf went up to register. Low and behold the staff were awesome and they had a bike parking area on the 2nd floor!! This was a “Cycle-Friendly” hotel catering to cyclists that were cycling the Biwachi (Lake Biwa).
We were hoping to cycle the lake but I knew that the north-end was very hilly, with tunnels, had little accommodation and poor roads. I had read that there was a ferry we could take a short-cut. However, we will have to wait until tomorrow to see where we can take the ferry to and from. There is a Tourist Information Office that opens at 9:00. Hopefully they will have some information as to the ferries etc.
Things were looking up. We asked at reception about restaurants. The wonderful young person indicated that we needed to go through the train station and that there were an assortment of restaurants to choose from. She was right, there must have been over a dozen different restaurants: Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc. ranging in price from $10.00 per plate to $50.00. We found a Japanese restaurant that had a set menu for $15.00 and it was really good. Miso soup, rice, salad and a protein (I had fish, Ralf had chicken) and some kind of garnish, it was really good.
A great day visiting Inuyama Castle. We walked to the Nagoya train station (about 3.5 kms).
Odd things you see on the way to the train station
This tower is called the Mode Gakuen Spiral Tower is 170 metres tall it is a 36 storey educational facility housing three vocational schools. The photo to the right shows the outside emergency exit!
We needed to buy tickets for the local train to Inuyama. We thought it would be easier to buy the tickets from the Tourist/JR Rail Office than try and work out the ticket machine.
The woman at the desk offered us a tourist package. Return train tickets, entrance to the castle, a discount to a Japanese Garden and other discounts at stores in Inuyama. The total cost was Y3260 – $30.66. We saved about $5.00, not including getting Y200 discount on a rather expensive beer.
The Inuyama castle is an original castle, it was built in 1537. We entered the castle through the Shrine and the main gate.
Inuyama Castle is the oldest standing castle in Japan. The castle was a fortress and had some very simple rooms. The first floor was divided into four areas with a raised platform. This was for the lord of the castle. Behind this area was the Mushagakushi (warriors hiding place). This was where the warriors would hide and protect the lord. I am not sure how good they were at protecting him, if they were hiding! In the corners of this floor an attached turret which had small windows this was the Ishi-Otoshi-no-Ma – or stone-throwing chamber. This area was used to throw stones at possible attackers climbing the walls.
The second storey was used for the armory and had wooden shelves along every wall
Look at the size of this support beam.
The third storey had a Chinese gable installed 77 years after the original construction.
The fourth storey had an open walkway, which gave 360 degree views of the surrounding area.
To get to each floor we had to climb some very steep stairs. These would not meet the Building Code in Canada.
Although the castle was small it was amazing. On the very top floor we came out on a small wooden walkway with a low railing. There were warning signs not to lean against the railing. It was funny to see people’s faces as they stepped out onto the very narrow wooden walkway.
I love the roof-lines on these castles. I feel as if I could just slide right down them.
As we were leaving the main castle a woman asked if we would like us to take a photo of the two of us. Naomi indicated that she was a volunteer and acted as an English speaking guide. We chatted to her for quite a while, her son had been to Calgary on a student exchange program. She gave us two small origami samurai hats as a gift. She forgot to take our photo, but Ralf took one of Naomi and me.
After the castle we wandered down the street. The street was part of the original property, to the castle.
We spotted a strange building with very large doors. Google translate, indicated that they held the “floats” for the Inuyama Festival. The entrance fee was Y100 (0.95c) and we decided to check it out. The photos do not do this justice. The floats are about three stories high, 30 feet. Each float weighs five tonnes and takes between 20 and 30 men to move them. The top section has puppets and the middle section has children playing musical instruments and singing. There are a few changes of direction on the route and the men shout Don Den. The Inuyama festival is held on the first Saturday and Sunday in April of each year. We watched a video and it must be an amazing site to see.
We headed back to the train station and then managed to find the Subway and get closer to our hotel. The subway system has a huge underground shopping centre.
The forecast was for showers this morning but clearing by 9:30 a.m. At 9:00 it was pouring with rain. I half jokingly suggested we take the train to Nagoya. The train station was directly across the road from the hotel. Ralf suggested that might not be a bad idea.
Our bikes were already packed, so we headed over to the station and bought two tickets to Nagoya. We knew we were going to be too early to check-in to the apartment. We headed for Nagoya Castle and spent about 2-3 hours wandering the grounds and visiting the exhibits.
Views of the Nagoya Castle
The castle was destroyed by the bombing in 1945 and fires. It was rebuilt using traditional materials and methods. The Castle Keep is no longer accessible to the public due to earthquake concerns. However, the grounds were lovely and the Hommaru Palace was a very special place.
Storeroom, corner store, moat, Hammaru Palace
They had actors wandering the grounds to sit and chat with people. This one had a very deep laugh.
The Exhibition rooms were beautifully restored, the walls and partitions were covered in gold leaf and painted. We really enjoyed the visit.
Restored screens
We found our hotel which is an apartment. It has a small kitchenette, with a fridge, and a two-burner stove, microwave, there is a sofa and a bed in the living area. The bikes are in the room with lots of room.
We went out for dinner and tried once again to eat at an Italian restaurant. the chef came out and said it was closed, although it was supposed to stay open until 9:00 p.m. It would appear as if Japanese/Italian restaurants do not want to serve foreigners. The restaurant had one other person inside. Maybe just a coincidence.
On our way back from dinner, we spotted a lady selling fruit and bought a Japanese white peach that was as big as Ralf’s hand. It was really tasty. We also bought mandarins and it was lovely to have some fresh fruit.
This is a two-night stay in Nagoya, tomorrow we are heading to Inuyama, another castle which is one of the original 12 castles remaining in Japan.
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 33rd. 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%.
Today was a rest day and we actually took a rest day. I updated the blog and then Ralf and I worked out the logistics for the route to Kyoto and Osaka, incorporating a train trip and still seeing the castles that I had planned to see.
After updating the blog we went for a little walk around the neighbourhood, just to get some fresh air. We are near the train station and there are several large malls. To get to the malls there are a series of underground paths with various artwork and sculptures.
Waterfall
The Rising Sun, which represents Japan. Platanus (the image of immortal vitality).
Ralf was giving me hints for a Christmas present. He was told by security that he couldn’t take photos in the mall.
The Act Tower is the tallest building in Hamamatsu, standing at 213 metres with 45 floors. It was built in 1994. The top floor has an observation deck.
When we came back to the hotel for Happy hour we noticed two touring bikes locked up outside. We joined a lovely couple from Rotorua, New Zealand. They have been cycling in Europe, after Japan they are going to Taiwan to visit their daughter. It was nice to share stories.
