Cycling in Japan 2016 - Gorillas in the mist

5 Sep - We rode from our hotel and immediately hit the uphill section. The uphill section lasted for quite a while. Kilometers of 'quite a while'. There were some avalanche tunnels earlier on, lower down the hill. Iona, Col and I got into a rhythm and we tackled the hill together.

Avalanche tunnels

It soon turned into misty sauna weather. Very warm. Unfortunately for Iona and Col, I was in fine singing form. Equally unfortunately, I can barely remember any lyrics. So at one stop, I grabbed my portable Bluetooth speaker and popped it in Col's bike bag. Then on my phone I played the music I had been subjecting them both to with my raucous, breathless music.

Like a sauna

As we ventured further up the hill, it got mistier. At one stage I was a bit ahead and singing away to a song at the top of my lungs when I heard men laughing at me. In the mist on the opposite side of the road squatted three men. They were obviously commenting on my fabulous singing voice. In a few metres I passed their car, with a damaged fender. No idea what had happened or why their car wasn't drivable.

Anyway, not long after that we got to the top. Dai had some food set up. We got jackets on and used the toilet. There were signs about bears in there. Not about bears,actually in the,toilets but the signs were there....a ripped off stall door  propped against a wall, battered fixtures: clear bear signs. No views from the top due to the mist. Headed off pretty quickly on the downhill on the other side. A few kms down the hill we rode into brilliant, hot sunshine. Crazy place.

The downhill took us to the Shiretoko visitors centre. We walked to a waterfall and spectacular sea view before having lunch. I ate a venison burger. Not bad.

Another optional extra saw us riding past our accommodation for five kms to the Shiretoko five lakes. Well, the first one anyway. The others need guides. It was a scorching ride uphill to that car park. A raised boardwalk took us to the first lake. 800m of boardwalk. With an electric fence to keep bears off. Although the sign warned about the electric hedge.

There were lilies growing in the lake which formed millennia ago in the dirt  wash off and landslides from the volcanoes. The land was largely untouched by the Ainu and was then farmed, by the Japanese colonists in the early 1800s, with the resulting tracts of weedy land covered in a low growing bamboo that prevents native species growth.

Shiretoko Five Lakes

Rode back to our accommodation. No Wi-Fi there. Not even cell service. The last 200m was steep! But extremely pretty in a mountain stream kind of way.

This was a traditional Japanese room. No bed but all the makings in a cupboard. I threw wee mattresses on the floor and it was so hot I just put sheets on it. I showered and lay there reading before popping into Iona and Col's room for a cup of tea, a photo in the futon cupboard and a visit to the onsen.

Back to get dressed for dinner and headed off to see what was for tea. Turns out it was a banquet. A feast. Courses kept coming. And this place had bottomless drinks. I found a lemon fizzy drink that I liked. Col tried the beer and maybe even a whiskey.

Banquet!

We ate all manner of things. Crabs. Prawns. Barbecued steak and corn. Soup. Sashimi. Egg sacs. I can't even remember them all.

When I got back to my room, the staff had made my bed, with a duvet. I threw it off and grabbed another sheet. Far too hot for a duvet.

But what a great day. A contrast of weather and topography crossing from one coast of the peninsula to the other. Fantastic.