Day 7 - Welcome to Rocky's

The morning, it was raining a lot. It was still the raining season and we didn't get out of our camping site until the afternoon. This day was nice, because we are now in the mountains of Japan. With the windy roads and cool rivers, I was quickly impressed by the beauty. The rivers have a strange way of keeping a thick mist floating above it, giving off a cool breeze on the body as we were scooting on by.

Now Rocky is a Japanese ski instructor friend we met while in Hokkaido. We became good friends when we worked together in the winter. He asked us to visit, and I made a promise I would, it was nice to be able to come and keep the promise. The days that awaited us were not expected. Driving into the unknown is exciting for the soul.

He wanted us to meet him around 4pm, so we stopped in a small town and did our laundry. The day had be woken up with a lot of happiness. Our team, Above & Below had been accepted, along with another 51 other teams, to compete in a 4 day trip around Taiwan to promote tourism to the country. Our hearts were filled with joy at getting the opportunity to compete in the contest, as we are confident we can do a very professional traveling job. go to www.taiwanbesttrip.com for more details.

We finally made it to

a town called Higa-Hagawara just north of a famous town called Gero. Here, we met Rocky, his wife, and his parents-in-laws.

"Welcome to the real Japan," says Rocky. After some tea and food, we drove to his home where he lives with his wife, Ikuma. There house was nice with a garden.

There, we had some fantastic Japanese cooking, and drank some sake before going to our first onsen. An onsen is a Japanese word for hot springs and in Japan, they take it very seriously. In fact, I never tried an onsen because of the fact you must go naked and hang out with other men. I felt pretty uncomfortable with this and never tried for this reason, but since it was Rocky's chance to be host, I couldn't say no.
My impression of the onsen was definitely relaxing and cleaning. They had various baths with different temperature both inside and outside. I was wondering how nice the ladies one was since ours was amazing. For me, it felt a bit strange having Rocky showing us around while we were all completely naked. But that's the beauty of travel, having to do things you normally wouldn't. The next day was going to be a lot of fun, so we needed to have a decent sleep and the onsen helped for that!

Now, we are in Maze, the heart of the real Japan!

Day 6 - To the Japanese Alps!

After having a nice sleep, we left early to start the day. We drove to a beach near the lake for our final morning bath. It was so nice swimming in this clean water. We had breakfast and started off to a city nearby called Hikone, to visit its famous castle. This I have a photo of.

At the castle, we met a cute Vietnamese girl with her mother. And her mother shared with me a very interesting story about her country, the war, the aftermath of the commuists and how her brother took a small boat across the ocean to America, with no English and no money, only to get a degree in univeristy, a job, and then sponsor his sister and niece to live there. They moved to California in 1994, and now, her daughter, Jenny, likes to spoil her mom every year by traveling to a country of her choice. This year, it is Japan. Nice to meet you guys!

After this nice morning, it was time
to hit the road. We had a long drive to the north-east. We had to travel through some large urban sprawl, and then we made it high into the Japanese Alps, where were are now.

Our campsite is a small bungalow, and this time we did pay for accomodation, about 1200 yen each. It is comfortable and a very beautiful site surrounded by nature and woods and rivers. There are no people here, though! Nobody! Very quiet, I don't think people like camping in the wet season, only us!

Day 5 - Rain Season

Who would have thought that July isn't the best time to travel Honshu, but that was definately the case today. We were pounded by rain all night long. It continued hard into the morning, not stopping until about 11am. By this time, everything was either moderately wet to soaking. My rainproof tent just happened to be on top of a very wet ground, that the water soaked through, onto our bags, sleeping bags, clothes and just about everything else.

This wet situation slowed down our day a lot. We had to find a shelter where we could hang up everything, including our tent before packing and leaving. We managed to make everything about 80% dry, but still a bit damp as we packed our things and finally left our free camping site on the northern part of Lake Biwa. Our destination was to go to a camping ground on the eastern part of Lake Biwa, about half way down.

That was about a 60km drive through some country and busy roads. Dennis was happy today to recieve his 12 000 yen tax rebate. Something I still haven't applied for.

The drive was long, and we eventually found the 4th campsite for our 5th night. The place was closed! What shall we do? Well, actually, that is good news because it means we cans stay for free! So,.. we drove up the hill to find these premade tents. Increadible! What a beautiful place with a view of the lake.

Actually, I am writing now in this tent and I can admit I am a bit paranoid of being discovered for tresspassing in the morning. I just hope we can leave early enough before any people come and discover us here. The best part about these tents is, they are huge! And they come with some free bedding, too! Even though we are staying in another place for free, we are comfortable!

Day 3 - lake Biwa

This day was a bit uneventful, but still very nice. Dennis had to wake up early and catch the train to get his computer back while I was able to stay in bed sleeping in. A caregiver to the beach told us we couldn't camp there, but, I liked the spot, so we stayed there a second night. It was on a nice beach, and the water was so clean! It was nice to go for a swim and enjoy the fresh water. I was tired of swimming in the salty ocean.

Basically, we stayed camping on the beach, and late at night, there were some drunk teenagers near our tent, keeping me awake at night, giving me a broken sleep. It rained quite a bit and was sunny too, as this is the wet season now.

Video edited by Dennis

Okinawa Islands Cycling Tour 2009

In the end of April, my friend Dennis Wong and I took our bicycles to southern Japan. We just enjoyed a winter of snowboarding in the north of Japan on Hokkaido Island, and were looking forward to the sun and beaches.

Bringing our bicycles was a smart choice

. If anyone goes on holiday there, I really recommend it. Why? Well, for one, the buses are expensive and no

t convenient! We were able to see every beach, cliffside, view point, by pushing pedals.

We weren't in any rush. I mean, we would cycle between 2-6 hours, find a gu

esthouse or camp, stay 2-4 nights, and cycle the area we stayed in. If you really want to see Okinawa, I suggest leaving the south ASAP and going north. Naha is a nice city, but that is not why you come to Okinawa! It is for the beaches!

And when you travel north, and enter the area of Onna Village, it just gets better from there onto Nago and Nikij

in Village.

You can visit the aquarium, a must for non-divers because everyone needs to appreciate the oceans. I was very proud that at the aquarium, I've actually seen about

80% of the animals on display while scuba diving, including the whale shark. But, I never had seen a Manta Ray until just a few days ago.

One of my favorite guesthouses was a Baptist Camp in the Nikijin Areas. It was once used to convert locals, now, the owners just

rent it out to people visiting. Wow! So cheap, only 1200 yen one night, you get yo

ur own house, and

it has a private beach! Also included is basketball, volleyball, swings, and lots of space. The owners like to share coffee, cookies and practice Japanese with you, although they'll also insist you need to learn some Okinawan language.

I little bit on the sore eyes was the huge American Military Presence. At first, i didn't like it at all. But, when you talk with these men, their stories are very touching. Sometimes it is so easy to disagree but difficult to listen. Of course I am not a supporter of war, but, these men are humans with dreams, just like anyone else, and I feel a bit sorry for them as they need to deal with a great load of prejudice from the locals, and other travelers.

Along the topics of Marines, a strange occurrence happen

ed to another traveling buddy of mine, David Peyrot

, and I, while in the Nikijin Area. We were going for a long walk looking for food, when a police man picked us up. It started raining, so we went into his car. We had to show him all of our documents, and he wanted to make sure we weren't military. The military men don't have freedom like we do, to walk around in the rural areas, that he thought maybe we were going to cause trouble.

After it was clear we weren't soldiers, he drove us back to our camp, which was great, since we already walked 8km!

Other highlights were watching the dolphins jump at a dolphin show!

Cycling was tiring for Dennis, but, since he met a girl there, I was impressed to see how hard he would cycle, knowing he'd see her at the end of the day,...

Seeing the war memorial at the southern tip of Okinawa was inspiring. David and I also went to a memorial commemorating a girls' high school group for their work in the war. Wow, they really sacrificed so much. It was touching. It was also sad to think we could ever call

another country an enemy when you read about how so many young girls were killed and shot by American soldiers while trying to protect their teachers, injured soldiers and countrymen.

Crazy politics and power,...I'm going to overthrow the government and take the power,.....joking!! No thanks,.. I'd rather have fun and bring happiness to others.

So many people come to Okinawa without a plan. We were simular. We just had bicycles, and that was enough,.. right? Well, if we didn't put in the time we had, we would have made the same mistakes as others. Other people would just fly straight to Naha expecting beaches and instead, they get city. Where are the beaches? Well, I have a solution for you! Get on

a ferry at 10am and travel to the Kerema Islands!! Only 1 hour by boat, it is a different world. First, we went to Tokashiki Island. Nice place! But, I recommend you stay in a guesthouse, not just a day trip. It is excellent snorkelling, especially when I encountered 3 sea turtles!!

But, later, we went to Zamami Island, and I must admit,.. wow! That place is cool! S

maller than Tokashiki, you can camp on the island for only 300 yen, and if you need to rent a tent, that is another 1000 yen per night! Cheap! and if you're lucky to have a bicycle like

us(you can rent one),... go to the very far east point,.. there is a beautiful beach there,.. no people an

d heeps and heeps of turtles!

Another very good trip was flying south to Ishigaki Island. This place is great. It has a nice small city, and you can take boats to neighboring islands. The best choice is Iriomote Island.

90% of it is jungle! That's right! Jungle in Japan! With mangroves everywhere and waterfalls,

hiking, camping, snorkeling,..beaches. 2000 people live here and it is quiet, but lovely!

We met some people from Brazil who live and work there. They seemed to enjoying going spearfishing, making barbecues, and surfing. There was a man from Australia named Mike, who spoke perfect Japanese and was a tour guide for sea kayaking and hiking. Nice life, Mike!

Going back to Ishigaki, we stayed in a hotel called Yukuru. It was brand new and cheap, only 1500 yen. It was great to stay as it was new and people were friendly. Only 10 m

inute walk from the port.

We went diving, and it was so expensive! 12 000 yen a day plus another 5000 yen for rentals! We were disappointed because we didn't see the manta ray and decided to not dive again. But, that wouldn't be true, we were in luck! Dennis visited the scuba shop another day later, and they invited us to a Barbeque. We went and paid 3000 yen, but this gave us a free day of scuba diving. We still had to pay for rentals, but, this time, we saw the Manta Ray!

And because I had my camera, we got some video and photos of it, too! Great!

Leaving Ishigaki was a little bit hard, but, we were lucky. When we got back to Naha, there was some good news, Shaggy, the musician was in town with many other groups to entertain.

It was at this party that I strongly suggest people boycott Sean Kingston. He didn't do anything

! His songs were pre recorded, and he just pretended to sing! I've seen drunk people sing Kar

aoke better than this. But, another band called T.O.K was great. From Jamaica, they were har

d working entertainers who knew how to put on a live show! Plus, I was very happy to see Shaggy up close on stage in O

kinawa. What a great last night in the southern islands.

Well, enough of that for now, I'll tell you more later, now, it is time to fly to Osaka and buy a motorcycle!

Peace-Out!!