Isahaya – Nagasaki 23 miles The ride into Nagasaki from Isahaya was short; climbing over the mountains to the east I would descend down into the heart of the city for breakfast. It’s a city that rarely needs an introduction, being only the second ever city in history to face nuclear demolition. At 11:02 local…
Tag: Asia
Debating a Pilgrimage…
Tokushima With the ocean over my left shoulder and the bulk of Tokushima’s 80% mountainous land mass to my right, I was all set for some steady progress. Shots of caffeine at regular intervals played a crucial part in allowing me to attain full consciousness at the helms. Without this most perfect drug I would…
Getting fucked up in the Japanese Alps (4/4)
It was whilst atop Mt. Norikura, amongst a dirty grey mist, that I stumbled across a graveyard of abandoned racing bicycles. It appeared that the ‘Racing Carnival’ was no more as up to 100+ of some of the most expensive bicycles on earth lay strewn across the mountain top, not an owner in sight. Their…
Buying Rubbers in Japan: The Inside Scoop
Oga Peninsula – Yurihonjō 66 miles As expected, it wasn’t a tremendous night’s sleep, but not being violently stabbed to death in my tent by the deba blade of a Namahage was something to be grateful for, at least. The eaves of the outbuilding – still dripping from the night’s incessant downpour – made me…
Punctures, Pornhubs and Tentacles
Hirosaki – Futatsui 63 miles Along with boasting about having the most beautiful women in Japan, Akita also brags about consuming the highest quantity of sake in the country; I wondered if the two stats correlated? Unfortunately, as much as the sake fan that I am, I just didn’t quite have the time to carry…
Record Breaker
Mt. Osore – Aomori 78 miles I awoke early as usual, in sync with daybreak, slightly surprised to have fallen asleep to the sound of desperately hungry bugs. Yet, as I emerged from my tent, all was still; the heathen swarms having dissipated back into the depths from whence they had came. A thick…
The Remote Part
Hakodate – Mt. Osore 38 miles It was a short 90-minute ferry ride from Hakodate to Ōma, a small town upon the tip of the axe-shaped peninsula of Shimokita. Ōma is famed for having some of the most delectable and pricey tuna in Japan, an abundance which can commonly be found in Tokyo’s rampant Tsukiji Market….
Hokkaido Summer: Farewell to the North
Oshamanbe – Hakodate 87 miles When I slept, I dreamed of Pokémon, most notably an unofficial Pokémon that goes by the name of ‘Anusmouthmon,’ and the less said about his party trick the better! His ethereal-realm antics however wouldn’t put me off my breakfast of chocolate croissants from the ever trusting Seicomart; a supermarket that…
Hokkaido Summer: I Get Wet
Wakkanai For three days I found myself holed up in another one of Hokkaidō’s classic 1980’s themed youth hostels. It was a desolate sort of building that gave off a haunted house vibe; located atop an isolated hill. Wakkanai was still being deluged by buckets of rain and after a while I began to feel…
Hokkaido Summer: Waterfalls & Grizzlies
Sounkyo The 1,984 meter Mt Kurodake can be tackled in two ways, hiking or cheating. Be in so it was my day off out of the saddle I decided that it would be in my best interests to opt for the latter and cheat my way to the mountains summit. I‘d achieve this by firstly…
Tokyo to Tokyo 