Equipment and accommodation

We’ve been planning for some months now, with the most important purchase being the bikes themselves. They are specialised touring bikes from Thorn Bikes. Whilst heavy, they are extremely well built and designed to carry the loads of panniers at the front and the back. A fair amount of the equipment we already had, but the other major purchase was a decent light weight tent. I’ve had a one man Hilleberg tent for years, and sold it on ebay to part finance a larger Hilleberg tent. Again it’s a quality issue - they are light, easy to erect and quite simply do the job that they are asked to do.

I have no wish to camp for the entire duration - in a way its more of a back up plan if we fail to find any suitable accomodation in the way of bed and breakfast etc. I think by the time we get to Thailand we won’t need it all and may send it back before we leave Japan.

We have gone for the comfort rather than spartan option in terms of equipment, which does mean carrying a fair old load. My bike and equipment ( I get to carry the tent!) weighs about 45kg. This is incredibly noticeable when climbing, and I’m very glad to have a very very low gear ( known in the trade as the granny gear) to help. Most other bits of kit have been chosen as a lightweight and quality option.