The land of the rising sun

About 6 beautiful months after leaving home, we have arrived in the last country of our bike trip through Asia: Japan, the land of the rising sun! With more than 1,5 month to go before we fly back to Kuala Lumpur we surely have some time to explore a good part of this fascinating country. We arrived in Japan by boat. After getting to Busan from Seoul by bus - another super easy trip - we got ourselves a quick late lunch in a 7-Eleven, and then cycled to the International Ferry Terminal - around 15km through the city, but often on bike lanes. Checking in and boarding the ferry was very similar to traveling by plane, security check and so included, and very funny to do all this with the bicycles. Once on board it was all very exciting and funny, leaving a country by boat, going on board with bicycle, sleeping in a dorm. We rewarded ourselves with an ice cold Asahi beer - from the vending machine of course, ate our snacks and had a short night sleep.

Our bedroom on the ferry

Ferry terminal or airport? A lot of surprised looks for sure!

Bye bye Busan, bye bye Korea, it was good fun!

When we woke up in the (early) morning, we were in Japan! As we could only leave the boat at 7.30am, we first enjoyed breakfast buffet, then packed our things, and were the last ones to leave the ship. At the ferry terminal we could not get a SIM card, nor withdraw money from the ATM so we rode into Fukuoka - it was on our way anyway - to arrange this in town before heading out. The shops were yet to open (at 10am), so we sat down at a coffee shop, enjoyed a hot latte (cheaper in Japan than in overpriced Korea), and enjoyed observing morning life (go to work life...) on the street. Once we had our things settled, we left, and as we started to cycle, it started to drizzle. The drizzle got worse and worse, after a little while it was full rain, time to take our raincoats out - we hadn't used these in ages! The rain became heavy rain, and that lasted for the rest of the day; 6 hours cycling in heavy rain without any interruption was our welcome present in Japan...

Arrival in Fukuoka, goooood morning Japan!

Stop at a 7 Eleven - they're everywhere in Japan (except where we were today and yesterday) for a bit of shelter, a warm drink, and a toilet stop

It was obviously not pleasant, but all in all we didn't mind too much. We were thoroughly enjoying cycling through the Japanese villages and landscape, it was so different, it was all we had expected - and more. Japan was even more Japanese than we anticipated, and that makes it a great experience. It starts with the houses, and the way the roads look. Even rice fields, which we have seen so often, in so many places, look different in Japan. People look different, behave different. Japanese are more timid, super polite, very serious at times (especially around rush hour in Fukuoka!) but cheerful at other times. The way they talk and interact, you just have to love them. The landscapes are different, nature is different - in 3 days of Japan cycling we have already enjoyed some very very nice nature riding.

Did I already mention it rained cats and dogs the whole day?

Luckily this device is watertight! Another milestone!...

After 6 hours and 72km of rain riding we arrived in Hita, where we were welcomed by... Jan and Christine!!! They arrived the same day in Fukuoka, from Belgium, for a holiday in Japan and we'll be spending a couple of days together. They also treated us to a stay in a nice hotel, with onsen (hot spring) - something we could enormously appreciate, especially after such a cold wet day! It was extremely nice to have our good friends around, it felt so good to be able to socialise with some of our best friends, after 6 months on the road, and share the experience of this trip with them. And, they brought very delicious chocolate from Belgium too 😁 Our room was a Japanese style room, with tatami (straw mat) floor, and futons (thin mattress) on the floor as bed. We enjoyed the onsen, we enjoyed going to a Japanese pub and have good Japanese pub food, we even enjoyed the drunk Japanese guys in the elevator back to our room. It's all part of this wonderful Japanese experience, and even after the first day here, we're very enthusiastic and look forward a lot to what's to come!

Our traditional Japanese room, futons on the tatami

At the pub with Jan and Christine!

The next morning the skies had cleared, and we cycled 52km towards Kurokawa - a small town with Ryokans (traditional Japanese lodge) and onsen. Also here, Jan and Christine had made a booking in a fantastic Ryokan!!! The ride was fantastic, with wow moments, beautiful scenery, impressive, steep mountains, a lake, magnificent nature, ... It was definitely a top day, one of the highlights of our entire trip. You notice that it depends on the cycling as such, but also on your mood. We were in a magic mood, Japan was incredible, being with our friends so great, it was nice weather again, triple wow... We had also a really nice experience for lunch. We had been riding a long time without seeing a shop or restaurant, were getting hungry and by the time we found a restaurant, it was closed. We decided to buy some bread and chocolate in the small shop at the restaurant (which was obviously open) and sit down for a picnic near a temple next door. When the restaurant lady realised that we were by bicycle, she first came out with a drink for us (something red bull like). A minute later, she came back with a rice cake. And another 2 minutes later, she brought us a box full of savoury Japanese snacks!!! She was so kind, after all she gave us we had almost eaten enough and we hadn't even touched our bread yet.

Riding in nature again

So nice to share our "coffee ritual" with Jan and Christine!

Lunch, most of it given to us by this very friendly woman from the restaurant

We continued riding for another 2 hours, and then arrived in the incredible ryokan in Kurokawa. On our way we had the pleasure to go off-road - I mean, really off-road, MTB worthy - but that was OK, as most of our luggage went with Jan and Christine's car... We saw charming villages and picturesque temples, and again realised we were really in Japan now! The Ryokan we stayed at, is impossible to describe, the pictures might give an impression. I don't have any pictures of the onsen itself, as photographs are not allowed there, but it's fantastic: outdoor hot springs in rock pools, with bamboo gardens, and so on. Wonderful experience!

Very different temple style, natural looking

I love these "ropes" at the entry of the temples

Serious off road stuff

Even rice fields look different in Japan

The happy couple, one of those exceptional photos together (thanks to Jan). No, I did not catch a fish...

From Kurokawa we had a shorter day to Aso, a town in the Mt Aso caldera. We used very small roads where possible, through nice forests. Closer to the volcano - Aso is the biggest active volcano in Japan - we rode for a while over undulating, grassy hills, before getting treated to a fantastic downhill ride into the caldera. And now, as I write this, I'm soaking my feet in a hot spring again, nothing better after all this cycling that this soothing hot water!