From Kyoto we headed for the hills north of the city. Leaving Kyoto was nice, as we could ride on a cycling lane besides the river for about 10km - so not the usual hassle when leaving a city. From then, we were back in more rural and natural country, slowly making our way to the coast on the other side of the Honshu island. We first made a stop at Sanzen-in temple, a really beautiful temple complex about 20km north of Kyoto. It was nice to stop and visit there, the only downside being that there are 4 temples, with quite high entrance fees for each of them. We only visited the main temple, walked around a little and then continued our journey. From the temples it was a gradual climb, to then enjoy a nice downhill towards Lake Biwa. Meanwhile we had found out that our mobile data schedule had terminated, so we had to find a way to get this solved as we depend on it for our navigation (and some communication of course). This proved harder than we thought, and we only got that solved a day later, in Tsuruga itself.
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At the Sanzen-in temple grounds
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| Buddhist statue |
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| Cute figurine in the mossy garden |
Once we were at the lake, we had lunch (at a convenience store this time...), cycled a little more along the lake, and then stopped at a campground; for a coffee, perhaps also to stay for the night. From Kyoto to Tsuruga, where we would take the ferry, was only a bit over 100km and we had decided to do this over 2 days, so this meant 2 easy, short days. We arrived at the site, it certainly looked nice, but somehow it was a very windy place. We did have our coffee and then decided to continue for another 10km to another campground, possibly less windy. In any case, it was nice riding along the lake, with some bicycle lanes in places. When we got to the campground it was nice indeed, and so we stayed. We had done our groceries for our dinner - wraps with all kinds of things for filling - and even took a short bath in the lake, cool but not too cold. Due to the cooler day and the wind, the evening was quite cold, and we got into our tent before 8pm.
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| 1000's of little Buddha statues at the Sanzen-in temple |
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| Nice cycling along Lake Biwa |
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| Lake Biwa has its own version of a great torii in the water |
From our campsite towards Tsuruga was only about 40km, so in the morning we were not in a hurry at all. We left by 10.30am, and first headed to a large electronics store where they might have prepaid SIM cards; but no. It was a nice ride from there to Tsuruga, with a long but very gradual climb through beautiful mountainous scenery. We did see a few signboards indicating there were bears in this area, this is the first time we see it... I guess we'll see more of that in Hokkaido! Once we were at the top of the climb, where there was even a ski area (this is at around 400m asl!) we were treated to a 9km gradual downhill, and then some more easy cycling to arrive in Tsuruga. Our ferry wasn't leaving until midnight, and we still had a few things to do - find a SIM card, buy some groceries, withdraw money, get fresh coffee - so we took our time to check the list of things to do, with a coffee and dessert stop in between.
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| Bathing in Lake Biwa |
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| What a nice campsite at the lakeshore |
After a fantastic (and a bit more expensive) izakaya dinner, where we were treated to sake by another guest, we happily rode to the ferry terminal to wait there a few more hours before boarding the ferry. Tsuruga had unexpectedly been a very pleasant stop, the town itself is not that impressive but we met so many very nice people in little time - it seems people here are more happy and friendly than elsewhere! The girl in the coffee shop who helped us in English, the happy ladies at the supermarket counter, the funny grandpa at the bakery, the coffee expert who gave us some extra coffee bags, the passionate chef at the izakaya restaurant and the guest who treated us to sake... They were all so genuinely friendly and helpful, what a pleasure that was!
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| Continuing our way towards Tsuruga |
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| A very inviting (?!) signboard for the ski area |
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| Preparing to board the ferry with our bicycles |
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| View from the ferry, this is a huge boat (almost 200m long)! |
And now we're sitting in the ferry. We chose to travel by ferry, as flying with bicycles is always a hassle (and has a big carbon footprint!), and train would have been a good option but is also a big hassle in Japan - maybe even worse than flying. Ferry seemed to be an easy and very nice option. We had a good night after a dip in the onsen on board, and have in total 20 hours to go. No problem, it's nice to have some chill time, and with some eating, writing, reading, and just hanging around, time will go fast enough. Once we arrive in Tomakomai in Hokkaido this evening, we'll still have to find out where to sleep and possibly find a place for 2 nights even, as the weather forecast for our first day in Hokkaido looks terrible. We'll see, no worries. And then, another 3 weeks and a bit of cycling, in what's supposed to be very beautiful and natural Hokkaido! Looking forward to that!