Up 4:45, morning wash and then pack. The park was ok, but the surroundings were nasty. I found a grocer after only 3 km, and had coffee. What I thought was a delicious cake, turned out to be spaghetti with curry. Pew...

I had to ride another 6-7 km in the terrible harbour area, before everything started to lookk normal again. And then, all of a sudden, 13 km after the start I found a magnificent park at the Japanese Ocean. Well cut grass, benches and a toilet house, which the stomach because of the spaghetti in curry found was a wonderful thing. It's very beautiful here. In the middle of the lawn there is a ship. Too bad I didn't stay here last night.

Traffic counting, Route 113 7:35 - 7:45. Cars in one direction : 145 cars equal to 870 cars per hour.

As one can tell from the figures above, this was not at all a pleasant place to be. It became much better when Route 113 turned towards the inner part of the island. There are mountains on both sides, but there have not been too many steep climbs. The tops of the climbs are removed by means of the tunnels. I have started with a new technique. When traffic is approaching from behind, I get of the bike and stand still next to the wall of the tunnel. Of course this means that it takes longer time, but it's safer. For the first time on the trip I have had wind, headwind of course, but it's not too bad. I have arrived in a mountain town called Oguni. This Is where I am staying tonight. Now it's 1:52 pm and I am sitting on a bench watching people pass by. I just finished my lunch: Rice with chicken. Quite delicious. The dish was heated in the microwave oven. The town has a small, somewhat decayed park at the end of a bicycle route, with water and toilet. This is where I am going to sleep tonight if everything goes according to plans.

A wonderful night. There was a bench and a little table in a little house. In a small pond there were carps, and when it grew dark the frogs really took over. A great experience of the nature. Once again a good night's sleep whit those different weird dreams. I believe that Dennis Renault was involved..

Once again I am sitting on the bench I mentioned above. But now it's Saturday morning 5:53 am, and I just had my morning coffee and 2 cakes with fish taste. The weather is beautiful. A little bit cool. I am going to put on a sweater when I leave.

The park I slept in last night was more or less a reservation for animals. There was a small house with benches, a table and a small pond with very busy carps. And when it grew dark the frogs took over. A very remarkable experience. I rode on to the other end of the town (actually more than 3 km), because I figured out that the shop was open day and night. It was, but they had no instant coffee at the moment. But the shop assistant got hold of a cup and some coffee from behind, so I got my coffee after all. The plan for today is to move quietly towards a mountain town, which is about 70 km. from here. I expect a beautiful ride through the mountains.

Something funny happened to me outside the shop before I left. A man came up to me and asked me, where I was from. He spoke a little English. I showed him my route on the map, and he called for his friends, who were going to take a look too. When he sat down to eat his soup, I asked him if I could take a photo. It was ok.

All of a sudden he pulled out 1000 yen, which he thought I had deserved for my ride. Luckily I had a small Danish soldier, which I gave him. He also wrote in my bible.

It was a wonderful trip in the mountains, but too soon it started to get flat again. Now it's 11:26 pm and I have ended up in Nan-Yo, a pretty big city. Once again I am visiting McDonald's, but this one is not very cosy. It's situated in the corner of a supermarket, and the music is much too loud. My stomach has not been too good today, but I believe it's the first time I have any problems with it. At 66 km I am arriving at a town and a bigger city at 81 km. I plan to stop in one of the two places.

I stopped in the first town, which is called Harakata. I believe it's big enough. I found an impressive park where I walked around for a while.

A man on a bike stopped me. He turned out to be the manager from the museum (historical) which was in the park. I was invited to visit the museum (on the house) and had a quick guided tour, while the manager constantly was searching for the English words he knew. I took a photo, which he was very thankful for. Finally I asked him if I could put up my tent in the park. He said it was ok, but I could not use fire. However he knew of a camping site 6 km from there on a bicycle route near a lake.

It was only 3 am, so I tried to find the bicycle route. But after a few hundred meters ride on a mountain I found another park area with benches and a little house. A little higher up the mountain there is very nice green grass. That's where I am staying tonight. It's now 4 o'clock, the sun is shining brightly, it's about 25 degr. and i have a magnificent view over Harakata Town.

7 small boys just came here. They were looking for bugs and animals to some obscure purpose. Of course it's a bit lonely here, but apart from that the place is perfect. I am surprised that so few people use these park areas, which is to be found in practically all towns and cities.

I decide to change my plans. A father of one of the boys came up to them, and apparently they explained him about me, and then they all disappeared quickly.

I decided therefore to ride back to the first park, where I made a nice nest close to the little house. In the wonderful pond there are carps, ducks and geese. Right after darkness came, I learned, that there were frogs too. Amazingly how much noise they can make. This nigth I slept wonderfully. One of the dreams took me on a search for a horse in Sacramanto

Got up 4:45 am. Once again a wonderful morning. I wrote a nice letter to the man from the museum. Finally I pushed it under his door.

Up till now there has only been mountain riding (50 km). A beautiful trip without too much traffic. I had to buy milk and biscuits in a local shop.(A little expensive), because I desperately needed something. After 50 km I have arrived in the rather big city of Shioristi, where I am working on coffee and cakes right now at 7-eleven.

I have now reached Kakuda, where I am placed in the park at 3:25 pm. It is very big and beautiful. This Sunday afternoon people are working in their gardens. I just called Denmark. Everything is going just fine. I ate dinner at 7-eleven. Nice meal with chicken and rice. I just watched some people play base ball, just for fun. Very amusing.

On my way to this city I had to climb a mountain side, but all in all Route 113 across the island has been ok. From here I have only about 15-20 km to the coast, where I tomorrow morning start on making my way down south. A gardener is working on the lawn next to me. It's like a carpet. He said something to me, which I did not understand. I found a place near an open air stage, where I put up the tent. There are numerous mosquitoes here, and around 8 o'clock a lot of children were playing some thing. Some people came to sit close to my camp for a couple of hours. Both the party and the children finished the evening with fire works.

Up 4:45 as usual. But this day I had only to ride 300 m to the morning coffee at 7-eleven. However I chose the wrong bread. It tasted of curry. Then I had to find Route 113 out of town. Of course I did not make it. Apart from that, the morning was a bit different from the other mornings. There was a lot of fog or mist, which actually made me wet. As mentioned above I lost my way, when all the signs suddenly were in Japanese. But I came to some very big mountains with steep climbs. I asked my way a lot of times and after a while, I succeeded in hitting Route 113 again, and it took me to Some, where I have waited in 10 minutes for good old McDonald's to open. I have spotted a Youth Hostel in a city called Tara 100 Km south of here. Now I do not quite know what to do, ride as fast as I possibly can to get to the place today or take it easy and get there tomorrow?
I can not count on riding directly to the hostel, and that fact taken into consideration, I have plenty of time. Therefore I have just decided to choose the easy way.

Now I am riding on Route 6, which I believed was a rather big road, but the first part of it was ok. I have tried to call the hostel, but in the middle of the call, a lady started to say something. The mist is gone now, and the weather is beautiful and not too hot. The biggest problem at the moment is that my clothes and my gear is very dirty and greasy. I suppose it is because of all the cars on the roads.

I have changed my mind a number of times. For a short period I was certain that the hostel was right around the corner, but time went on, and everything went very slowly. I have now ridden 96 km, and I have another 50 km to ride to the hostel, so I have given up for today. I went into a shop called Mini-stop, which turned out to be a small restaurant. Outside I met a young lady, who was a nurse at a nearby hospital. She wanted very much to talk, knew some English, but after a while it was difficult to find more to talk about, so I rode on.

After 4 km I saw a green field, which is a perfect camp site. In a small corner I am going to put up the tent. I now went back to Futaba and took a look at the town. Not very much fun there. I bought myself a new writing book because the one I am using at the moment will very soon by filled. It's now 11:37 and I am once again sitting outside Mini-stop. In a moment I will go shopping there. I feel tired and sleepy today. I suppose it's because of all the days in sunshine and intense heat which start to hit me. From here I have still 260 km to Tokyo, so I have plenty of time.

I still plan to reach Tomisato Friday evening, if my new friend is at home. I went into a shop to find something English to read, but that is impossible. Everything is in Japanese. I really need something to read in. It´s a big problem.

When I came back to the wonderful field I found, that the farmer were working there. I had only on thing to do. Put on a big smile and produce my introduction card. They also smiled to me. But it would damage the field if I put up the tent. I finally pointed to a small corner next to the place, where they had parked their cars, and they told me, it was ok.

-Wonderful, I said and got hold of my bike.
When I wanted to drink from a bottle of coke, the man came up to me and gave me an "Icy guy", a kind of frozen chocolate milk. It tasted very delicious. I found a small Danish flag, which I gave to the man, and I took a picture of the 3 farmers.

Now it's 5:29 and I am watching the farmers toil. The sun is shining brightly, and there is absolutely no wind in this corner of the field. The temperature is probably around 27 degr. From one of the big loud speakers, which are placed everywhere, I can hear a lady talk. I suppose it's a kind of religious evening prayer.

200 m from here Route 6 is running, that's where shall be riding tomorrow, So far it has not been too bad. To my left there are a lot of fruit trees. A man just came by to look at something. A dog I suppose. I gave him a polite bow. It's a good thing to be friendly to the people you meet.

Soon after the harvest people disappeared, and I was all alone again. Because of the various insects I quickly went into the tent. I do nor recall having dreamt special dreams this night.

Up as usual at 4:45 am. The grass was a little wet. Further down Route 6, where the traffic was much worse, than the day before. As a matter of fact it was not a beautiful place to ride either, and I spent most of the time watching the traffic.

It was somewhat cloudy every now and then, and when the road went along the coast it was quite chilly. But the temperature has been around 25 degr. most of the time, with no bright sunshine. I have had a tail wind today. That's all right with me. I had planned to find the Youth Hostel in Narita, but that turned out to be an impossible job. Then it occurred to me that Taira is a suburb, which I passed 6 km ago. Well, back again. I asked my way a lot of places. In a couple of shops they managed to find the hostel, but they were unable to tell me how to find it. I attacked a post man, but he did not know either where it was. Or perhaps he did not bother. I asked again a couple of times before I gave it up.
I know I have been close to the hostel, so it's a bit annoying.

But on I went on Route 6. Now I am situated in the other end of Iwaka, in a burger bar (not McDonald's). I had a wonderful burger, the coffee is fine too. But they did not offer me an extra cup!

On the whole the day has been boring with nothing exciting at all. Apart from the times I asked my way, I have not spoken to anybody. I am now 200 km north of Tokyo, so before long I can close the circle. A young Japanese couple is sitting next to me. It's terrible how he is champing his food .

The day went on in the same way. The traffic got even worse. On my way out of Iwaka I saw a sign with the words Central Taira, so once again I tried to find the hostel. More or less it is now a matter of principles. But the traffic out of Iwaka was terrible. I also got into a harbour area, which is perhaps the most ugly thing you can imagine.
But suddenly my trained "park eye" spotted green grass. I rode down a one way road and yes, a beatifulk park. That's where I am now 4:39 and I have already spotted the place behind a bush where I shall camp tonight. But before that I rode to a 7-eleven shop where I had supper. Octopus in spaghetti. Unfortunately it was to hot and spicy, so I could taste the meal for hours afterwards.

I called the old folks in Aabybro. Everything was ok. It is chilly now. I have put on my sweater and jacket. My legs have been itchy today. They are filled with red dots, which do not look like mosquito bites.
I have not been feeling to well today, because the nature was nasty and I had no wonderful experiences. But now I am feeling better.

Sometimes people pass by and most of them say hello to me.
Oh now, now I tasted the fish again. It tasted of garlic. I hate garlic.

A beautiful park in an uncanny and disgusting industrial neighbourhood. Well, what can I say?

I recall a weird dream, but about what?

And I who believed the rainy season was over. It started to rain around 3 am, sometimes heavily, and it was still raining a little bit, when I got up a little before 5. I rolled very slowly down to the 7-eleven shop, where I was yesterday and had coffee, cake and a pudding for 359 Yen. I decided to ride on although it was raining, but after 10 km it got worse. I had to take shelter, but it was very difficult in the disgusting industrial neighbourhood, so I got rather wet.
Finally I discovered a small tunnel close to an intersection, and that's where I am now at 6:56 am. A man caught sight of me and brought me an umbrella. This is a terrible place, ugly buildings and a smell of oil and gasoline is drifting all over the place. This does not look like day rain, but what do I know about the weather here. I have an address of a camping site about 80 k from here, but let's see how long I am going to stay here.
When the rain stops I still have another problem, which is the cloud of water the lorries create around the wheels. And you can say again there are many lorries on this Route 6.

Another break at 6:47 after 19 km in a heavy rain shower. However, I managed to get into a 7-eleven shop before it really broke out. I have sent a post card today, and I called Narita YH and ordered a room for tomorrow night. I talked to a gentleman who spoke a decent English.
This is how the plan goes now: Tonight the camping site, tomorrow the youth hostel, and then I plan to get the bike bag in Tomisato. The man told me that they accepted Visa card, so all in all it would be nice to stay there for the last 3 days.

It´s now 9:38 and it does not look as if the rain is going to stop at all. It's not a lot of rain, more like a drizzle, but it is impossible to ride in it.

It never got better. On the contrary. It seemed that the air was made of water. So after a while I cave up caring about it, you cannot just stand still at wait for the rain to stop.
The traffic was terrible and the surroundings absolutely awful. Should I say something positive I could mention that it was not cold and that I did not get hurt.

At 4 pm I arrived in Oarai and started the search for the camping site, which was just as difficult, as I had thought it would be. I asked my way numerous times and was shown in all possible directions. But then I guessed ,that the site was in the middle. Finally I managed to find a way from the back side to the site, I also found the office, where a lady with great efforts filled out my papers.
Then I had a "guided tour". They had a "coin-shower", which I used first of all. Of course I needed to put another 100 yen coin in the machine, when I had shampoo all over.
The manager showed me some tents and told me, that I could rent one of the tents for 2000 Yen. I told him I was fine.
Now it rained more than ever before. A deluge came down on me and continued for hours. I got hold of an umbrella and went out to get some suppli4s.
I came back and stood staring at all this water for a long time. Now the manager could not stand it any more. He went up to me and told me that I could have one of the tents for free. I accepted his kind offer. Good for me, because the rain did not stop until 3 am next morning. It was wonderful to have plenty of room. And once again I was so close to Tokyo, that I could receive "Armed forces" channel on my small radio. It's weird stuff, but I do understand the language.

Up 5:15, pack the stuff and take a look at the damages. Nothing was broken or ruined, but most of the things were damp or wet. I wrote a "thank-you-note" to the manager on a postcard with the Danish flag and pushed it under his door to the office. Coffee as usual at 7-eleven.

I found out that, I had now 90 km to Narita. Nice weather. The sky is blue again. Still a lot of water to be seen on the roads. I ride south on Route 51, sometimes it's pretty, sometimes it's not. The traffic is wild as usual. Nothing much pleasant to mention about the trip on Route 51 to Narita. Not very beautiful and the traffic caused that I spent most of my time keeping an eye on the road and the cars.

I have now arrived at Narita YH, which turns out to be a hotel in a very tall building. It was quite easy to find the way to the hostel. A lady in a shop made me a very accurate map. I was here a little after 1 o'clock and I talked to an elderly well dressed gentleman in the reception. He pointed out to me that cheque in time was after 3 pm, and therefore I went out to get a spaghetti meal with two cokes. I was told that one nights stay was 4000 yen or about 200 kr.
I believe that's fair enough. I intend to use my Visa card, and if that's ok, I plan, later today, to book accommodation for the last 4 or 5 days here. This place is close to the Airport. I think I have 4-5 km to go. But in 15 minutes I am going to take a look at it all.

This has got absolutely nothing to do with a Youth Hostel. I am not sure why there is a YH sign. With breakfast a room is 4700 Yen. I have camped wildly so much that I am now going to waste a little.
The room is small, but there is a bath and a toilet. The bathroom was the first thing I asked about. When I came up I washed some of my clothes. Then I did not do anything at all.
I did a little zapping on the Japanese channels. Actually I managed to find Ivanhoe with English speaking. That's a movie you can see over and over again. For once I had no weird dreams. I think the bed is too good. I tried to call Tomisato, but I only got hold of persons who spoke Japanese.