Bicycling Japan: D8-D9

Day 8: Kyoto - Ako (train)

The letter "red" is the first letter for the city of Ako (赤穂).

We were on a bit of a schedule this time because we wanted to get to my uncle's island home by April 6th. So we cheated again, and took the train from Kyoto to Ako (train station Banshu-Ako) to expedite our traveling. I'm not sure about my feelings about travelling on trains with folding bike+lots of gear. Given it was golden week, it was pretty crowded in the train so we had to stand the entire time and occasionally almost sit on our stuff. Even if it wasn't GW, it would have probably been just as much of a hassle (as we repeated this once more).

Bum camping #4: under a bridge.

We camped under a bridge this time. It was really cold in the morning so we had jackets on and were peeling them off to start our bike ride when an old man ran up to us and began chatting and asking us what we were up to. When we told him, he gave a big sigh of relief and said "ah! I thought you were about to commit suicide! So I got worried and ran over here to make sure everything was okay."

ummm....thanks?

Bike fixing a broken spoke on my back wheel.

Day 9: Ako - Aosahana (need to confirm location and mileage, but around 40 miles)

From Ako, we traveled along the coast. At one point, we couldn't figure out how to get on a bike-friendly road and the only option we had was the high way, which is closed to bicycles. Since we sort of didn't have a choice, we jumped the fence and rode on the highway. It was not too bad and we got a great shot of a seaweed farm.

We had lunch at a really pleasant park next to a river and camped out at a beach for the night.

Bum camping #4: the beach somewhere between Ako and Okayama.