Day 5 - Ups and Downs

30/8

From Sapporo to Hakodate was the plan, but this year's 10th typhoon was not compliant and decided to come by and say hello. I'm safe and sound in Oshamanbe station though and tomorrow should be okay to continue although a bit windy.

The rain started this morning. My bike was wet, but the bags had done their job and everything is still dry despite 100 km in the rain. At first it was okay and I thought little of it, but my shoes were drenched and I doubt they will be dry enough tomorrow. I'm using my sandals instead.

It was very hilly today and this is just Hokkaido. I hope it will be sunny next time I have to climb mountains again. Another unfortunate thing was the tunnels. Although they make it much easier because you don't have to go over the mountain it's quite dangerous. There is no space and the trucks get really close!

But in all of this rain and typhoon stuff I found a friend. His name is Fujita and he is going to Cape Sata as well. His route is different from mine and more direct so he'll be there before me. We had to split up, but I hoped we would meet again. Most of the people biking are not going all the way of course, so meeting one who is was really nice.

More rain and mountains and I reached a small town called Oshamanbe. It's famous for various dishes which includes crab and has a lot of hotels compared to the size of the city. And what I was looking forward to the most after a cold shower. Onsen.

When I got to the city I searched for WiFi. At the station I got lucky and I soon located the place. For you who don't know, onsen, you're missing out.  It's a natural hot spring and it's awesome after a day of biking.

I got another surprise there. I recognized Fujita's red bike and thought it was good that I didn't try to continue to Hakodate.
He was in the onsen too. This one was cheaper (only 420 yen) than the other I went to in Haboro, but it was really nice.

Fujita and I talked a lot and after that we went for curry because most stores were closed. It was only 19:00, but since it's a small town I guess that's how it is.
After dinner we went to the station to sleep and this is where we are right now.
Free WiFi, we can charge phones and safe from wind and rain.

Tomorrow is Hakodate, I can't wait to go sightseeing there!

Over and out!

Distance: 110 km.
Top speed down hill: 64
Condition: tired, but dry.
Quote: ups and downs, smiles and frowns.

Day 4: Sapporo sightseeing

29/8

Waking up relatively early because I was charged by the hour in the manga cafe and because I wanted to go get my bike, meant that I had plenty of time to go around sightseeing. 

And sightseeing I did. The Sapporo clock tower, Sapporo Factory which is an extremely big shopping mall. Actually a series of extremely big shopping malls put together would describe it better.

I also went shopping for things for my trip. A long-sleeved t-shirt was high on my wish list and I found a t-shirt from Under Armor and it was cheap so I bought it. 

I also bought a pump which could have been cheaper, but the store clerk insured me that it was the best. And the shop was really cool. Doing this trip brings me places I normally wouldn't go. I also looked for some tubes. I found them before I found the pump. It was a store I visited before and the owner just gave it to me for free. I needed two, but he said that I could have this one. Amazing guy!

Now, after eating sea food, a must here in Hokkaido, I decided to head out of town. Tomorrow I'll likely get to encounter my first typhoon on my way to Hakodate. I'll go along a well traveled road with bus stops all the way and by doing so I hope I can seek shelter anytime. 

I got maybe 25 km. from Sapporo station and found a parking lot. It seemed like it's also here the police are waiting during the day and to be honest I didn't know if I'm was allowed to sleep there or not. 

Distance: 25 km.
Time: 2,5 hours
Condition: thinking about tomorrow
Quote: I hate traffic lights... a lot.

Day 3, Coast cities of Hokkaido

After leaving the hotel I found a small park next to it were I decided to sleep for the night. Better places to sleep was plentiful had I continued 20 minutes down the road. Next time I go homeless I know what to look for. Bus stops have resting houses, some are heated, have vending machines and come with a toilet too. Fancy.

I saw many fishing villages and ruined houses today, looking at the coastline and all these small houses I realized what a remote place I was. Nature was claiming back its lands and it was a mixed sensation watching the many ruins of all houses where fishing was all that matter for survival. People must have moved to the city of something.

After biking for a few hours I got hungry again and decided to stop at the first 7-eleven I had seen on Hokkaido. There sat a man in front of the convenient store smoking while eating an ice cream. Little could I do while eating my katsu - sandwich and bananas when he came and started talking to me. Something about ww2, grenades and weapons in general.
I didn't really want to talk to him, but nevertheless I made the right noises in agreement at the right times to respect his courage to talk to me in the first place. His Japanese was very rough and informal and he was a bit hard to understand. But the conversation moved to castles and when I told him that I was going all the way to Cape Sata the suggestions of castles to visit became numerous.
Last topic was food and then I felt inclined to take flight once again fearing the man would ramble on forever.

Getting to Rumoi was easy, it's the cities that are difficult to maneuver in. I placed my bike at a corner of some houses and not 2 minutes after I was met by a police officer. He was very kind and asked a lot of questions. Now, being non-Japanese sometimes mean you have to do a little extra. I showed passport while explaining my situation and he was kind enough to point me in the right direction. When he asked if it was okay to take a picture I was sure he meant of me. Surprisingly it was of my passport. Never have I seen someone  excited about a passport. A word out to the designers back in Denmark. He was very impressed.

He even leaded the way to the nearest 7-eleven for free WiFi. And he came back with a map later. Unbelievable! First real encounter with the law here and it was a good experience! The thank you of the day price goes to the police officer for his kindness!

After meeting the police officer I decided to go all the way to Sapporo. Which meant that although I was close to my original goal in Takikawa, I was quite far away from Sapporo still.

But the thought of saving a day made me stubborn and since I was in a good condition I decided to move on to my new destination.

I met some new people at the local seicomart in a smaller town. I decided to rest for an hour before continuing and as I was lying on my back look on at the sky someone called out "hello".
Didn't take much notice of it the first or second time, but she called again and I looked in her direction. She then asked me if I was okay. And whether I was just sleeping. She then continued asking the same questions you would expect people to ask a non-Japanese person in a rural city and after explaining myself she began asking questions about Denmark. Her family came back, she told what I had told and we said goodbye.

The rest of the trip to Sapporo was long and the road was being renovated some places making it crucial that I made sure not to go over something that might cut my tires. I went on long after it got dark and 25+ km before I reached Sapporo I could see the lights from the buildings.

Sapporo is a nice city, but I hope to get to a more unique part of the city because downtown is just like any other big city in Japan. Crowded, cars everywhere.

As for my urban survival I chose to go to a manga café and sleep there instead. It's cheap enough and you get showers, a computer,  manga and free soft drinks.
Thought I deserved it.

Tomorrow is sightseeing.

Distance: 210 km
Time spent biking: 10.30 hours
Top speed on flat stretch: 47km/h. That's almost as fast as the cars are allowed to go. (They go a lot faster though...)
Condition: feeling accomplished
Quote: Sun, please stop..

Day 1 & 2 - a nice start!

As the pictures on Facebook might suggest I managed to secure a mighty fine touring bike, relatively cheap as well. The bags, (4 in total) was included and the only extra thing I paid for was a front light. Had the back light already! 

Now the story of what happened when I came to the bike shop is quite fascinating. See, I thought I had little if any chances of finding the whole package. So I asked for a road racer after explaining my intentions. Which I'm getting quite good at now! The owners wife looked at me, (the owner was fixing a bike for a costumer), she must have thought I was kidding with all the luggage I was carrying. (It's not that much though...)

She showed me the only touring bike they had left. Wheel size could be bigger, but I could adjust the seat. 104.255 yen with proper registration and all, that's about 6500 dkk. If you're lucky you might find a frame or a really used one in Denmark for the same price. Adding the price of the bags would make it two bikes if not more here in Japan. 

I talked a lot with the old couple in the store, they were really nice and I'm glad I took the chance and waited to buy the bike. This is the biggest victory so far!

I rode back to the station, attached all the gear, bike computer and even my suitcase. When I was done the sun had set. It does quite early in Japan. I saw a couple of riders along the way and I talked to one who was going to sleep in front of the station, he was waiting for the next train back to a small city were he was going to take a ferry back to Osaka. I don't know why, but he didn't seem as enthusiastic to talk to me as I was to talk to him so I left him and wondered what I should do next. Sleep there or start my journey. It was getting late so I decided to get dinner. And after that I went on to the most northern point of Japan. 

I saw signs about deer and bears, lucky I only got to see the deer, haha. I saw lots of them actually. And foxes. One was particularly playful and kept following me after I got to my destination. There were so many things up there, monuments for peace was what most of them were dedicated to. 

I slept in the entrance of a lookout and information house and was therefore free of insects!

Next morning I woke up and looked outside and saw a pretty big deer who was going around like it owned the place. It was so early and no one was there. I took some more pictures and took a stone to keep. Then I tossed out the suitcase after rearranging my gear. 

Then I went on to ride for more than 8 hours, not included breaks. But I did have some, my computer just stops counting time when I'm not moving! (So convenient!)

Today ended with a nice bath at an Onsen in Haboro. I'm going to stay here and wake up early tomorrow to continue. I went some 20 km. longer than I had planned to, but I think I will get an extra day by doing this so I might continue. It's relatively flat here and I'm saving my strength for the mountains later so I might as well ride long and not as fast on the long, flat parts here in Hokkaido. 

People are nice here too, riders, both on bike and motorcycle, are waving. Dairy farms are everywhere and the weather is perfect. I do hope for some clouds tomorrow though.
I'll be leaving the coast side again and seeking inland which means a bit more hills and maybe even more wildlife! Tomorrow's destination is Takikawa, but let's see it I can't ride a bit longer. 

That's it for now, I'm getting good at finding free WiFi, let's hope I can find some tomorrow too. 

Distance: 160 km. Plus
Time: 8 hours plus.
Condition: clean and comfortable.
Quote: what does the fox say? 

Tokyo day 1 & 2

Aaaaaaand I got WiFi again. This is posted from the most northern city of Japan and I'm using free WiFi, it's amazing. Lucky for me the website I used for this blog can be downloaded as an app as well, this makes the experience of writing it on my phone a lot easier, haha. 

So where to start.. before jumping on the plane, I stayed at my friend's apartment. This was easier and we enjoyed, hold on, sushi and Chinese buffet! Exceptional experience indeed! My flight was relatively good, I didn't sleep at all, but who has time for that when you have so many movies at hand. Cathay airlines was a really solid choice, haha. 

Superman vs. Batman, Civil War and Erased.

I also met a Finnish girl on her way to Australia where she is living. We parted ways in Hong Kong airport which by the way seems to be a really nice airport.
I had no trouble at all, but the food on the airplanes is still the last kind of food I want to eat.. it just doesn't agree with me.  (Or is it the other way around?)

After arriving I spent some time around Shinjuku area, looking for free WiFi and a place to charge my phone. Luckily you don't have to look that long for WiFi anymore. And charging can be done if you know where to find an outlet. 

I also found some places with bikes, but most of them were too small or simply too expensive.

I met up with my friend Hide who, as the amazing hero he is, found a place I could stay for two nights. Hide and his friend Remi who I stayed with, showed me some more stores around Shinjuku and a lot of really cool bikes, but the story was the same as before; size and money.

So I decided that tomorrow would be the day I would buy the bike. 

Next day I looked for 6-7 hours without finding anything I could use. The last shop I visited with Remi was really good. Price and size was good enough, but I was too late and the shop was about to close. Here I decided to buy it in Wakkanai. I researched a lot and there are two shops there, but I have no idea about the selection. 

Thanks to Hide and Remi for helping me out, without you guys a had no chance of starting this trip. 

Here in Wakkanai it's really nice. The weather is not as hot as in Tokyo.
(I really wished it wasn't so hot!) 

Oh, btw not buying a bike in Tokyo means not having to pay for transporting it, haha.

Now, I want to say that it's beginning to become clear that I have to focus, become near immortal and quite lucky if I want to finish my trip. But I'm ready. Now where to get that bike...

Condition: walking 15 km from the airport to the city made me hungry.
Quote: I love free WiFi!

Departure: 1 day left

So after a really awesome hiking trip in Iceland with my friends, good memories, hardship, wonderful scenery and questionable weather, I returned to Denmark to charge my batteries before my next battle. You know, the one with the bicycle and all. 

It hasn't really dawn on me yet that it's tomorrow and in approximately three days I'll be standing in a bike shop in Tokyo and choosing the bicycle that has to take me 3700 km.. but maybe I'll realize it once I'm standing in the shop, haha. 

I also feel like I don't have enough baggage with me, (which I probably don't have), but I will buy some more in Tokyo. Maybe. 

Tomorrow at 11:00 I'll leave Denmark and then a 25 hour trip with two stops awaits. We are getting closer and closer! 

I'll have to get my last vaccine soon, better safe than sorry when it comes to things I can't do anything about. 

The picture is all my luggage. 

Tuning out. 

Condition: hopeful
Quote: meaning is not there until we find it. That is what life is about.

To Iceland!

In a few hours I'll go to Iceland for a hiking trip with two of my friends. We have done trips like this for many years now and it's going to be amazing! 8 days of hiking plus a few days of sightseeing. We packed 17,5 kilos of food! That's the same as one of our bag packs!

After this trip I might upload some pictures from Iceland and then I'll have 5 days to prepare for the next trip, meet up with people and so on. It's getting real now! 

I hope that everything will be alright, but even when things go slightly wrong we'll get entertaining stories. 

Condition: tired of packing food! 

Quote: You must nourish the ideals which you support.