Anecdotes and Aphorisms, the Trip Thus Far

Holy cow, it has been WAY to long since my last post. Rather than spend a lot of time apologizing, I will instead opt for a really kickass post (hopefully).

Quite uncharacteristically, I have actually been sticking to a sort of journal while on this trip. I've never been one for writing a journal at length so I keep it simple by writing only 3 or 4 memories, events, thoughts from every single day of my trip. Whatever I feel was most important from the day, I'll jot down a quick note to remember it by.

In one of the other posts, I followed a sort of anecdotal or aphoristic template for writing and I quite liked it, so I believe I will take that method for a spin once more! What follows will be short stories or thoughts that I think were the most pertinent.

August 3: Mini Celebrity in Asa
Always the life-saver, Kawasaki-san has the occasional friend that lives along my route. Such was the case in the small town of Asa, where I was to meet Mr. Sogawa, the head honcho of the area newspaper. As I came riding up to the station, a few men in white shirts wielding big cameras started taking pictures down the street in my general direction. Of course, I looked behind me to find out what in the world was so interesting, but as I rode closer, I found out that apparently I was the subject! The photographers worked for the Yamaguchi prefecture's Yomiuri Shinbun and were there with Mr. Sogawa. They took some pictures, we had some drinks and then conducted my 2nd interview with a national newspaper (the same one, and of course)!

August 4: Meet and Greet in Shunan
As I headed to Shunan city, apparently still within reach of Kawasaki-san's never ending network of friends, I was told this time to meet a Mr. Tsukimoto, again the head honcho of the area newspaper distribution. Finding the place to meet him was easy...since it was a bright green building with Tsukimoto written on it. I feel like it is a rare opportunity to meet someone with their own building, so of course I forced him to take an awkwardly angled picture with me!

Mr. Tsukimoto...and his building!

August 5: Hard work pays off in Miyajima
Japan is absolutely full of mountains. The damn things are honestly and unavoidably everywhere. However, once you reach the top of them, there are always surprises to be had. Sometimes you get a rip-roaring 60 km/hr (almost 40 mph) downhill sprint. Sometimes you get a harrowing ride through a tunnel with semi trucks driving close enough to flick your ears...in the dark.

Other times you find an ancient hideout for Japanese pirates, complete with a beautiful garden, temple and waterfalls. Awesome.

Lantern art at the Pirate's roost

Sorry for the blur...but a really cool restaurant (in an old Pirate's den!)

August 6: Eerie timing, Hiroshima Bound
I'll be completely honest, until arriving in Miyajima I was not aware of the exact date of the bombing of Hiroshima (or Nagasaki). When I was told the night before about the ceremony to be held in the morning, I made it my goal to wake up early and bust out the 25 km to Hiroshima as fast as possible to make in in time.

The bomb was dropped at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945. I arrived to the Hiroshima Peace Park at 8:12 a.m. on August 6, 2011, minutes before one of the more surreal moments of my life. Breathing heavy and looking for a place to park my bike, some awfully loud Japanese comes out of the speakers, accompanied by an even louder, single bell toll. Everyone, everywhere around me freezes. I quickly realize this is a moment of silence and do the same. For a solid minute, I am almost certain that everyone in the city didn't move a muscle or make a sound, save for the ringing of the bell in the middle of the park, the Peace Bell. Words cant describe the reverential and respectful aura that everyone had during those moments, and I will certainly never forget it.

Perhaps not the most appropriate picture, but it is important to get a sense of location! My bike in front of the Atomic Dome.

The only real remnant of a terrible explosion...and my bike

August 7: Soul crushing ride to Mihara

A product of my poor planning and the general difficulty to predict Japanese terrain, this was far and away the toughest physical activity of my life. I was left only with a few words of advice to give:

• In high school geometry, you deal with angles of all sizes, but no one ever tells you that the difference between a 9 degree slope and a 10 degree slope is similar to the difference between stubbing your toe and getting kicked in the face by a Muy Thai fighter...and then spit on.

Silver lining? I found a bus stop with some comfortable, though dusty seats on the top of the mountain.

Probably seen better days.

August 8: Soul healing ride and a soothing 0 hours of sleep, Omishima

Japan can really beat you down, but then you get the chance to ride across the Seto Inland sea, a solid 75 km ride with paths designated ONLY for cyclists. I couldn't imagine a better recovery to the previous day's misery. 

Really big bridge, and the man that will cross it.

As the night fell, I cleaned off the days grime at a public bath and then went to a roadside station to stake my claim on a park bench that would be my bed for the night. After some slight preparation (lying down on the park bench), I closed my eyes to sleep. I was charmed almost to tears when an instrumental rendition of Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star played over the station's loudspeakers at 10 p.m. The heat and mosquitoes made it hard to sleep, so I welcomed the song warmly as it crooned above my head again at 11 p.m. As the clock struck 12 a.m. I awoke to the song playing once more, and fell asleep, glad that the final encore had finished. At 1,2,3,4 and 5 a.m. I was ready and willing to wish every single star out of the sky because of their cursed song inspiring sparkles. I hardly slept and woke up early...but waking at dawn does have it's rewards.

Legit!

August 9: Quaint towns and kind teachers found in Saijo

Honshu, with it's tall mountains and thousands of semi trucks was dust in the wind, as I crossed the final bridge and made my way across Shikoku, the big island just below the eastern tip of Honshu. Quiet roads and rice paddies abound as I took my favorite "Hey! Look where my bike is!" picture:

I am sure this looked better in real life...but hopefully some beauty comes across

After arriving in town, I saw a few foreigners talking in a parking lot. Since I knew absolutely nothing about the nice little town I had found myself in, I decided to approach them to ask for sightseeing and restaurant suggestions. Caleb, one of the men, had lived in the town for 4 years and was working for the JET Program. He pointed me to an onsen (public bath/hot spring) and told me to give him a call afterwards, where he would show me a great place to eat. Whilst eating and conversing, the ever interesting question of "Where do you sleep?" came up. I had staked out a wonderful bench in a nearby park, and freely told them about it. However, Caleb instead just suggested I take a night tour of the town with him and his friend, play some super Nintendo games and just sleep at his place. I can't say I hesitated, but I can say that I have nothing but the fondest memories of Saijo, Japan!

August 10: So much luck makes me nervous. Kanonji

For those that haven't heard of Couch Surfing, go check it out right NOW! It has it's occasional mishaps, but when it's good, it is unbelievable.

Speaking of the mishaps, though, at 8 p.m. the night I arrived in Kanonji I was told that my host for the night would not be able to host me. Unshowered, covered in mosquito bites, I tried to stay positive as I rode aimlessly around town looking for a park to sleep in. What I found happened to be the most populated date spot in all of Kanonji after 11 p.m.! Unfortunately, it was still too hot to sleep, so I made my way to a 24 hr. convenience store to buy some food and bask in the AC. As I was locking up my bike outside the store, another car pulled up, and a few foreigners and a Japanese woman hopped out. Equally surprised to see one another at 12:30 a.m. we made some short conversation and almost immediately after knowing only my name, I was invited into the home of Brent and Maki Betters (wonderful newlywed couple) for a warm shower and comfortable couch to sleep on. Heartbreaking kindness and trust, if you ask me. Unfortunately, due to my foolishness I wasn't able to snag a picture with them...so here are some weird scarecrows I saw on my way out of town.

They certainly scared me away.

August 11: Like strangers, passing in the dark. Takamatsu

I have quickly learned that it is an unspoken code to stop and chat with any other cycling tourists you see while on the road. Conversation comes easily and the camaraderie is instantaneous. It is a really wonderful feeling. However, the likelihood of meeting other tourists can be quite low during the hottest time of the year, especially considering the hundreds of different paths one might choose while on their tour.

It is painful sometimes to understand so well the struggles of others who are alone on the road, but not tell them so!

Unspoken Code #2: sleep is tough to come by, never interrupt it.

August 12: The invisible beauty of Himeji Castle in Himeji
Perhaps because this was meant to be a short day, I felt especially exhausted while doing it. Knowing that I only had 40 km to ride when normally that number is 70 or so made it much harder to ride through the heat and mountains to reach my goal. That being said, on the toughest days of this trip, there are always great things to look forward to. In this case I was meeting an old high school friend, Matt Davis (some of you might know him, even!). It is an extremely rare and interesting experience to do something so normal, like hang out with old friends, while doing something much less normal, like teaching in Japan or riding a bike across it!

Also, Himeji's claim to fame in Japan is the castle by the same name. However, in some poorly planned act of restoration, the castle is currently covered by what looks like a makeshift office building, complete with a faint image of the castle which it conceals. What would be a wonderful sight is somewhat lackluster in this presentation, I couldn't even bring myself to get a good picture of it.

If you look closely, you can see the picture of the castle on that office building

August 13th: Kobe with Shinpei

Sometimes having an experience that feels completely non-foreign is exactly what you need when staying in a foreign country for so long. I must say I never expected to have this experience with a Japanese person, until I met Shinpei. This guy studied in Lawrence, Kansas for a year and learned enough college "dude" English that I actually didn't think he was Japanese, and I told him so. 

His family has owned and operated an Izakaya (Japanese-style bar) forever, and he offered to let me eat there for free. Taking the kindness in stride, I agreed, and the feast that followed was a sight to behold! Raw fish that I'd never seen before, my first experience of raw, Kobe beef and even some fried whale. I know there are many that disagree with the hunting, killing and eating of whales, and I count myself among them. However, when something is offered to you out of kindness and as a genuine part of another culture, I can say right now that I will never turn that opportunity down. Anyways, here was the food:

The whale is on the right in the middle. The beef hadn't come out yet. So  tasty!

August 14th, 15th and 16th: Less than restful rest days, Kyoto

Before I say anything else, I will say that Kyoto was an amazing place to visit, and I don't regret a moment that I spent there. However, I learned from a somewhat stressful "rest" day in Hiroshima that, in the future, I must be smarter about when and where I rest, and most importantly that I am actually able to rest! Instead, for the three nights I was in Kyoto, I stayed up late and got up early, then went sightseeing for 6 hours each day. Not so hot on the legs and knees!

Enough complaining, though, because this was one of the most amazing times of the year to be in Kyoto. During this season, one of the most important holidays in Japan is happening, the Obon festival. Obon generally revolves around one's ancestry and paying respects as such, and it is filled with some of the oldest and strongest traditions in Japan. For example, each year temples around Japan collect thin wooden boards, on which are written wishes, hopes, dreams and the like. During the Obon festival, the largest temples of each region will make an enormous, smoky bonfire and burn them. Everything is always in Japanese, so my understanding of the event is somewhat thin, but it was certainly a sight to see!

An action shot. A bundle of dreams, tossed to the flames

Apparently not enough smoke :) 

Ceremonial tapping of the smoky pines

I also had the opportunity to visit the Fushimi Inari shrine, home to about 6 million Torii, or Japanese sacred gates. I promise you'll recognize it when you see it.

So there were these, and about 100 other "hallways" scattered about the mountain. Literally thousands of Torii

Lastly, and the most fun event of Kyoto, was "Geisha hunting" with my German buddy, Fenja! The Geisha of Kyoto, who are NOT prostitutes, are Japanese hostesses trained in just about every form of Japanese traditional culture. They can conduct tea ceremonies, play instruments, dance, sing, tell jokes and cook a mean dinner all to the tune of about $4,000 for 2 hours...depending on the Geisha. If you find the right place in Kyoto, you can occasionally find them as they hurry to their evening appointments. Like so (all credit goes to Fenja:

Super, super young (not officially a Geisha, yet)

Awesome shot

Very graceful, right?

For the sake of familiarity, here's a shot of me and Fenja. She was a couch surfer at the same place as me, and since she actually knew what she was doing in Kyoto, I tagged along and did quite a bit of sightseeing with her.

The thing we're holding says: Amerika and Deutschland. We didn't put it there and thought it was too funny to pass up

Whew! It feels good to be caught up to the present moment. As I type this, my time at an internet cafe is quickly running out, and I must soon depart after 2 hours of sleep and make my way to Nagoya, Japan! It's 4:30 a.m. and I have no idea what the weather looks like outside...but I hope it's nice, or at least that the sun is up :)

New donation goal: $2,050. At the suggestion of my best bud Marty Pool, I hope to raise at least a dollar for every mile that I ride. Ideally I would like to get a dollar for each kilometer, but I would rather have a goal that I might reach :)

Now available: I have made an updated route map that includes everywhere I have been and slept, as well as where I will be going (as of tomorrow, at least), check it out at the top by clicking on the Where in the World is Dylan page. Furthermore, I give you, my reader, my solemn word that I will never have another absence like this one. It's time to put my big boy pants on and make some money for the Red Cross.

Lastly, DONATE PLEASE if you haven't already. I know this blog has been just about my experiences and my story, but to an extent that is the purpose. Later, when I am actually closer to the affected areas of Japan, I will be able to prove more conclusively the need for further donations in the relief effort. Head to the top of the page and click the yellow button, it's just that easy!