Waiting for a Typhoon to pass.

A bit of a long one folks, so hang on in there! We are currently in Kyoto awaiting the passing of typhoon Talim which should clear by Monday. Currently raining, but we are holed up in a lovely   new Japanese style guesthouse about 2km from central Kyoto.

So the picture to the left is checking in the gear in Tokyo's Haneda airport. Which should have been a straightforward affair, which to be fair it was until we got a call back once we got through security. A very apologetic JAL lady escorted us back through security where we had to open the bike boxes to show an official. Apparently the x ray scan had showed up something containing oil, which I suspect might have been the multispeed Rohloff gear hub. Anyway, they were satisfied, and the same JAL lady, still apologising profusely ( such is the Japanese way) escorted us back through security, and then bowed deeply to us before disappearing.

On arrival at Osaka here. It look us about 2 hours from getting the stuff off the belt to being fully assembled and ready to go. Probably about 30 degrees, so a bit uncomfortable. I was a little worried that we might get some officialdom coming along and requesting us to move elsewhere, but no problems at all. Cut the cardboard boxes into smaller bits, fitted them into the chinese shopping bags along with the £1.50 cheapy rug throws used to protect the bikes and neatly left by the rubbish bin, as sanctioned by the security lady.



We stayed overnight in Osaka, and then cycled along a delightful riverside cycle path to just East of Kyoto. There is a fairly rampant green plant that grows all along the riverside with a purple flower, but more importantly a really pleasant fragrance. I suspect that the Japanese might regard this as a weed, but to us it certainly wasn't. Which brings me to some of the hazards of cycling in Japan.

These devices are there to stop cars and motorbikes from using the paths. Sadly they are also very effective against bikes with panniers - so we have to adopt the technique above. There are quite a few of them around, so a bit of a pain.

The other hazard is wildlife, notably the caterpillars that fall from trees with a degree of regularity. They are of the somewhat hairy variety and causes a skin reaction if they fall on you. They also crawl along the ground, and as soon as they come across something their instinct is to climb up it, which invariably means you. Rule number one about stopping places for lunch is to thoroughly inspect for these little blighters. Also on the wildlife list are the unfeasibly large grasshoppers, which whilst harmless, fly in alarm right into your path invariably at head height.

Cycling cafes in the UK are getting more common in the UK, and possibly so in Japan as well. This great couple served us up a typical Japanese breakfast ( truth be told it was our second breakfast) of a boiled egg, yoghurt, toast and perhaps a little bizarrely a finely chopped cole slaw. Having overcome one of our many faux pas in Japan - this time, having been presented with a wastepaper sized box by them we assumed it was for shoes ( The Japanese are quite fastidious about shoes) and put them in the box, much to the amusement of our hosts. Turns out the box was for all the stuff like gloves and phones that wouldn't fit on the small table. As is rather common when we mention cycling around Japan, this was greeted with a very dramatic "OHHHHHHHH", suggesting that they think you must be barking.

Our original plan had been to carry on north from Kyoto past Lake Biwa, but the forecast typhoon suggested that camping was not an option. So we cycled to Nara, the ancient capital of the region and stayed there overnight in a guest house.

So this is a couple of pictures from around Nara, including the 5 storied pagoda and one of Sian's pictures of a Japanese garden that we visited. A lot of historical interest around here, and extraordinarily tame deer that will quite happily allow you to stroke you, before attempting to raid any bag that you have for potential food.

Rather than go back to Kyoto the same way, we went a (ahem) slightly more hilly route. Fantastic rural views, with a reasonably gradual gradient to the crest followed by what I might call a bit of a cliff on the otherside. Just to add to Sian's fun on the way down was her having to do a bit of snake avoidance in addition.

Lots of tiny little rice paddies, but harvesting in full swing. Lots of these miniature and highly manoeuvrable machines in evidence


Our guesthouse in Kyoto is run by a cycling fanatic, so we got chatting very quickly about bikes and stuff. He then asked us had we got any plans for tonight, and on hearing not asked us to a party celebrating his other guesthouse being open for a year. Therefore having showered and done our best to come up with something decent to wear ( I suspect I failed on that!), we walked 20 minutes or so through the narrow alleyways of Kyoto.

And this was part of the entertainment - four diminutive but very enthusiastic Japanese , shall we say, elderly ladies who organised party games and sing alongs. One of these was singing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" in Japanese, and this one here. Using the pink ribbon to lift the bottle upright  whilst everyone else was singing a Japanese song. Not so easy to do by the way. Lots of food laid on, Beer and of course sake. All thoughts of being tired dissipated, and new friend Ugi taught me to count to 10 in Japanese.

Japan is  noted for having technologically advance loos, but this automatic lid lifting in our our guest house is a new one on me!

And finally an soggy selfie from Kyoto