Oh no, not again

Later and later each time it would seem. December 2019 and we travel back in time to November 2018. We were planning to head back to the UK on the 18th so it was time to start winding up and do the last few things we wanted to do (for this trip at least for there would surely be shorter trips later).

Since it was nearly time to head back home I had to decide what to do with my bike. I was quite tempted to take it back to the UK with me and started looking into the process of shipping it over. It was doable without customs duty since the bike was so old but given the changes to emission regulations I wouldn’t be able to ride it in to London for my commute. I decided against shipping it and chose to sell it instead.

But before I sold the bike I just had to go off for another trip. November is a great time to go into the mountains with the trees displaying some beautiful autumn foliage. I plotted out a route to head up to Nagano heading through the mountains. Of course I had to take a detour to get a view of one my favourite sights in Japan - Mt Fuji. I worked out an alternate route this time to get a different view and headed to a place called Yamanakako. It seemed like quite a popular spot with loads of cars and bikes parked along the side of the road. It was a beautiful clear day so there was a great view of Mt Fuji.

Having enjoyed the gorgeous view I decided to continue my journey but my bike wouldn’t start! I kept trying for a while and thought that the old issues before I got it fixed had returned. There was nothing around where I’d stopped so I decided to try and go a bit further down by just letting the bike roll. Luckily I happened to be at the top of a hill so was able to just coast. Now this is not a particularly clever thing to do with a motorbike that weighs about 170kg. Not quite the same as going downhill on a bicycle. Nevertheless needs must, and I just let it coast going very slowly around the bends and spotted a restaurant just as the road flattened out. Pulled (or rather pushed) into their parking area and tried my luck again but no joy. It was just past 11 at this point and restaurants in Japan tend to open early for lunch so I thought I might as well have a bite to eat and let the bike cool down. Prior to getting it fixed, sometimes the bike would need to cool down before it would start up again. I enjoyed a lovely meal with a cute little doggie who came up and sat next to me for company.

Got back out to the bike and was poking around at the carbs to see if I could get it started. I hadn’t signed up for any recovery service in Japan so wasn’t sure what to do now. Called Nozomi and told her I couldn’t get the bike started and that I might need her to look up some garage. I was still poking around the bike and suddenly spotted that the kill switch was flipped! That’s a switch on bikes that you can hit if you want to stop the engine. Quicker than trying to turn the key. I must have accidentally hit it when I stopped to take the photos of Mt Fuji. Reset the kill switch and hey presto the engine fired up. All that drama over nothing! I had easily lost an hour or so by this time but decided I could still push on and reach my accommodation for the evening up in Nagano.

Just one quick rest stop and then on to Erinji in Yamanashi. I’d never heard of this temple but I spotted it on the map when I was plotting my route and decided to make a stop there. It’s a beautiful temple and well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

I stuck with my planned route and went out over the mountains and saw some stunning scenery. It was very tempting to stop but the views were so good I felt like I’d be stopping every 5 minutes. Since I was already a bit late I had to push on and reach Lake Suwa in Nagano. It was dark as I headed up towards the lake and my phone which was working as my sat-nav was running out of battery. Just what I needed - more drama. Freezing cold up in the mountains at this point and really dark. I was probably going a bit too fast and then suddenly spotted something in the road. Jammed on the brakes and came to a stop about 10 metres away from a big stag staring at me. It ran off into the mountains and I carried on, a little bit slower now. After a bit of going around in circles finally managed to find my accommodation, had a hot bath, a quick meal, and got some much needed rest.

Headed out early next morning to make my way back. It would have been nice to take a trip longer than 2 days but no more days off! Of course being up in the Japanese Alps in mid November meant it was pretty cold. As I made my back back I pulled into a 7-11 car park to grab some food. As I pulled in I noticed a lot of strange looking bikes and young guys standing around looking at me. I found a spot, parked my bike and still intrigued by the bikes as I went into the shop. I was tempted to ask them if I could take a pictures of the bikes but wasn’t sure. I got my onigiri (rice balls) and tea, and went out to sit in the sun as I ate them. Suddenly the bikes started up and I realised who they were - bosozoku. Japanese bike gangs who go around on noisy bikes!

Fairly uneventful ride from there as I headed around Lake Kawaguchi for another look at Mt Fuji on my way back home.

The next few days were busy with work, and packing boxes to take everything back to the UK. As is always the case we’d managed to add more crap to all the things we’d already brought with us so it was a tough job to fit everything in our bags and boxes.

We managed to squeeze in visits to two places I loved to eat - our local ramen place a few minutes walk away, and a place that serves a spicy noodle dish called “tan tan men” which is a short car ride away. Another place I had to visit before we headed back was the park by the river where I used to go for a walk and sometimes a run. It was a weird feeling going to these places to say goodbye even though we knew we’d visit Japan again. It just felt like it would be different. These were visits to places where we lived, and later it would be where we were visiting.

Nozomi has a very good friend whom she had not seen in a while who now lives in Hong Kong. She was planning to visit Japan when we were there but that didn’t work out. As luck would have it we found a very good flight back to the UK with a stopover in Hong Kong. We chose a fairly long stop so we could go into the city and meet her. I also have a cousin who lives in HK so we arranged to try and meet up with them as well. Nozomi’s friend picked us up from the airport and we went out for some dim-sum. We then headed to her house which is out of the city centre and spent some time with their family. I’d arranged to meet my cousin for an early dinner before we had to head back to the airport. Unfortunately I didn’t realise that another cousin who lives in Shenzhen could have met up with us if I’d told him earlier! Ended up having a video call with him while we were having dinner.

We’d already let the people who were renting our place know that we were coming back so the house was empty and waiting for us when we got back. First brekkie back in our house seemed like full circle back to our first brekkie at the flat in Japan.

And that’s the end of our adventure in Japan.

Who knows, maybe I’ll write some posts about holidays or general ramblings but given my track record don’t hold your breath.