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Maria Safont-Tria
Maria Safont-Tria

Maria Safont-Tria

matkusti 15 maahan. Lue lisää
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  • Maria Safont-TriaBikePaking JapanMatkaaja

    DewaSanzan

    22. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    So here is the highlight of the whole trip! I decided to take a detour towards Dewa Sanzan where I had gifted myself booking an accommodation in a temple with the Yamabushi monks (which was out of my budget), but I had to stay in the area for three days because it wasn't available until then. It was a big detour of 40 km, but I felt like that place was going to be really special and I didn't want to leave at, and there was the possibility to hike three mountains as a form of pilgrimage and I wanted to do at least one of them. The reality is that I was struggling a bit with my decision of leaving Japan earlier and making my trip shorter than what I had originally planned. I felt like I was failing myself a little bit and that leaving so early so I could make it for the training was too early and rushed. But on that day, as I started cycling through strong rain I had people coming to give me food for the ride. When people who don't know you share something with you out of genuine kindness, I believe it is the most beautiful thing you can ever experience. So the day already started on such a special day. As I got deeper into the mountains the landscape became more and more beautiful and pure. At some point, the longest waterfall was coming from the mountain and disappearing into a shrine behind a strong and savage river. It was so wow that I could not put into words. As I reached the last opportunity of a convenience store I stored enough food for the three days I was planning to stay around, I was going to look for a place to wild camp on the first day, hike the mountain on the second and go to sleep in the temple and go on on the third day. After a few minutes out of the convenience store I wasn't sure where I was going to find a place to set my tent around there, and I was really dirty and tired. So I thought, if I see someone in their garden that seems nice I will ask if I can camp in their garden. After a few houses I saw a man mending his garden that seemed so nice (how could I tell that from just a quick look, that I don't know but I felt it). As I went to approach him I realised he had such a nice garden, that I couldn't do that to him. So I just asked him if he could help me find an affordable accommodation. He called a friend who arrived all at once and they both called and called until they found me an option. But I said I couldn't afford it. And then, he said, just stay at my place. He called his wife to adk for permission and nodded. After a nice warm shower (very needed, mostly for his home), we chatted for hours (through google translate). His lovely wife arrived from work, she made us an amazing dinner (which was surprisingly vegetarian), and later at night one of their sons and his daughter in law arrived.

    To continue...    Lue lisää

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    Yokobori

    20. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Cycled until I felt like I had enough, which turned out to be this town that had a big spacious park where I decided to set my tent. A man stopped to ask me if I was planning to camp there as he saw me preparing my home in a hidden corner behind a tree, and I said I was, to what he replied if I didn't want to put my tent in the center of the park. My thought process was that I wasn't allowed to camp there (as most of the places where I was camping) and that I was there all night on my own, so I didn't want to be seen by people because I was exposed to anyone who would want to come and open the tent. So I said no, and he asked if I wasn't scared. And I was, all of the time. I spent the evening doing some maintenance (as I often did) because a lot more rain was due to come for the following days, and had an early night.Lue lisää

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    Kakunodate, Samurai Town

    18. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Today I decided to take a half rest day so I could go on a small hike, so I only programmed to do 30 km. I stopped at a beautiful wood workshop road station and headed towards a gorge to go explore a bit. It was a beautiful spot, but sadly the trek was closed due to landslides (yes, this keeps happening to me), so i had to head back and continue. I went to visit Kakunodate which was known to have been an important samurai town. And it was beautiful. I found a homestay and stayed there (as always, I was the only guest), and walked a little bit around the town entering the samurai traditional houses. I decided to stay an extra day to take a full rest day, I had some delicious soba and amazing sushi while I was there, and just enjoyed having a slow paced day as I strolled through the samurai district.

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    🥢    Lue lisää

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    Tazawa Lake 🐻🌋🌧️

    17. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Last day crossing the steep and wild Akita mountains. The landscape got colder and colder as I climbed up, until it was all covered snow white around the road. It was beautiful though. It was a last challenging day, the cycling started with a road that had fully fallen down, so I had to go back down the mountain and climb it again from the main road, which added another 10 km to the route. And it rained, a lot. After a couple hours on the road a car stopped to say that there was a bear behind, and not too further away I bumped into a cub bear. Such a wonderful but super scary moment, the mom is going to come out of the forest anytime now, and this is it for me, I was saying to myself as I was literally holding my bear spray paralyzed in the middle of the road. There were no cars, no connection. As I was looking at the bear as still as I knew how to be, he started approaching me. Great, I thought, now what? But I was so lucky, he turned around and faded into the wild forest, no sight of his mother. I also got to stop in a volcano with the craziest hot spring. Known to be the most acidic onsen in Japan. There was simmering water everywhere and a really strong steam giving the area a mysteriousness to the place. People were lying on the ground everywhere inhaling the steam, because it was known for curing diseases. Now, there were signs everywhere saying it was highly radioactive, so not to stay there for long. So, was it actually good for you? I continued to Tazawa lake completely wet, I was gonna wild camp, but I found a little jazz bar right next to the lake and it felt like a good way to spend a rainy evening. I found a campsite and set up my home while it was pouring down. The lady who worked there, a 77 year old lovely woman, could feel how my cold wet bones were challenging after such a hard day, she made me some dinner and hot coffee and brought it out for me. I felt so lucky to be so seen and understood. Then, after putting all my belongings in the dryer, I took off to the Jazz bar to enjoy a nice bear in the heat while listening to some nice japanese jazz. The main singer was trying to sing classics in english, I say trying cause not a word resembling the actual lyrics haha it was still lovely. The owners of the place were nice and rude at the same time which was confusing. Who knows, maybe it was my mood. The next day, after having a slow morning I slowly took off for a short biking day.

    ⛺
    🏯 Sounds Good Jazz Bar, there is an onsen town nearby that is very famous, but it was too far and a bit hilly for me to go just for an onsen, Gorge    Lue lisää

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    Bumped into other bikepackers (3 on that day!)1Lovely man from the hotel I stayed in

    Somewhere in the Akita mountais

    16. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    As climbing up out of the lake (again, my suffering was very real and I was as slow as a turtle), I bumped into a german bike packer! We stopped in the middle of the road in this funny inclined road and chatted and shared about our experiences for more than an hour, so exciting that I was finally meeting other cyclists. Even crazier, going down we met a taiwanese bike packer! Ming and I were cycling separately (I told him I would cycle on my own, because I don't like to have to feel like we need to match paces) and my route was a bit wilder (and slower) cause I normally like to get into smaller dirt roads to keep it fun. Ming needed to find a new tube for his bike and a new pump, so as we arrived to the next big town I pretty much lost him, he couldn't find a bike shop and then said something else was wrong with his wheel, and even though I tried to follow up, he kinda faded away (I probably scared him through my way of travelling haha). I had two options for the night, a campsite or a hotel, but the campsite was way too far and steep for my abilities, so I stopped at the hotel to ask for a room. It was a place known for an onsen geranium (whatever that means). Beautiful place in front of a river. And again, I had the place for myself. The owner was so lovely and he sat to chat to me for a while, left me some food and the next morning I woke up to a plate of veggies. As I was here, though, I started thinking, do I want to do this for two more months? Or should I revisit the idea of going back to Spain to do the silks training that I was looking into.

    ⛺ Shibari Onsen Motoyu (5900 yen), there were a lot of bears around and I had to cycle another 7 km of 600m uphill which was undoable. Owner is the loveliest and super nice room with amazing views    Lue lisää

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    TowadaKo

    15. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Now, the climb up to this spot was the hardest day of the journey. It was just going up and up all day. It was so tough that I had to carry my bike for 3 km (which was mortal). When I reached the highest point in the mountain, I found a lookout, and just collapsed haha why am I purposely doing this? Still, it was an amazing place. A couple of tourists came by and we chatted a bit (which meant I could speak in english for once). Here, I met Ming, a chinese cyclist that I had met in the ferry and we agreed to meet up. We were the only people in the campsite (as usually for me haha). He got a flat tire and arrived rather late, we shared some dinner and some interesting conversation about the relationship between china and japan, and we prepared for another day through the mountains.Lue lisää

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    Hirosaki, Hirakawa and Kuroishi

    15. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Left towards the Akita prefecture and their big mountains, through a wild path with lots of fallen trees and rough ground (still pretty fun). But first, took a slight detour to visit Hirosaki, a town that had been really important for the Samurai History. Cycled through the gardens of the Hirosaki castle and tried a delicious (but small) apple pie from a fancy tea shop and an apple icecream from a cute lady selling them in a trolley, Hirosaki apples are famous. I was also lucky enough that I still got to enjoy the last bits of the cherry blossoms. Then I continued my journey towards the base of the mountain so I could have a shorter day climbing up. What I wasn't expecting was that there were bear signs everywhere where I was planning to camp (it was an abandoned campsite). The signs said "bear infestation", but I had no idea if that was from years ago, from when the campsite closed or very recent... So after thinking and thinking I decided to be prudent and find a different place to sleep. My first option was to ask someone if I could camp in their garden, but I couldn't find anyone outside with potential for my mission (japanese people are pretty reserved, so it's hard to see them outside if they are not mending their garden or going somewhere and their houses are always closed with blinds). So I accepted I deserved a fancy day and went towards a hotel that I found online (and that was incredibly cheap, obviously). They said they were full, so I had to do a bit of drama, until they pitied me enough to give me a room. And it was so nice to have my own space. There was also an onsen (where I met some really cool ladies), free breakfast and a tv (so I even watched the greatest showman, only a movie in english, just for the luxury of having the option haha). It was also a futon type of room (same as where I had been staying with the couch suffers), which means you sleep on the floor and the carpet is made of bamboo. So nice.

    ⛺ Takara Onsen Nurishi (4500 yen breakfast and onsen)
    🏯 Hirosaki castle gardens    Lue lisää

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    Aomori

    12. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    After a day riding around Hakodate, I took the ferry to Honshu Island (the main island in Japan), the ferry was fancy, had a sleeping room (in the floor hehe, unless you had more money than what I certainly have), showers, dining areas... And made it to Aomori. I stayed at another couchsurfing, Tetsuo, who was a really kind soul. His house was very basic, he didn't even have a shower (that's when I deeply regretted not showering in the ferry, yes, never say no to a free shower just in case). We chatted a little bit (his english was super good, finally!) and he made me an apple tea, since aomori is famous for its apples. Afterwards, his friend Shun picked us up, who was a really cool, curious person (didn't speak any english sadly though) and they took me to their friend's house where we did a Nichiren meditation. They gifted me a mala and we followed some prayers in japanese, it was super wholesome. I had mentioned in the car that I loved spinach but couldn't find it in Japan, and Shun took us to have dinner at a Japanese curry restaurant owned by his friend. Amazing food (and with spinach hehe). That night, at 11.44 pm there was an earthquake! But I was fall past asleep so I didn't even notice. I spent the next day visiting Aomori, went to the Nebuta Museum, Nebuta is a really big festival that happens in August where they parade with big representations of fights against demons where I got to play some cool instruments representing going to the festival would be. It reminded me so much to how we do it in Catalonia with the Gegants, funny how we humans are all so similar. Later, I checked out the coast area, looked for some basics I needed since I wasn't gonna pass a big city in the next few weeks and visited the San'nai Maruyama which was a settlement of the Jomon period full or reconstructions of cool houses and other ruins. In the evening, two other couch surfers arrive, Undis and Kaddi from germany, and we went to do the meditation again and had dinner all together. Next morning, my cycling resumed towards the samurai city Hirosaki.

    ⛺ Couchsurfing with Tetsuo
    🥢 it was closed when I was there, but the Gyosai center has a ticket system where you buy tickets and choose toppings for your seafood bowl through the morning market. Did sound really cool.
    🏯 San'nai Maruyama and Nebuta Museum    Lue lisää

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    Hakodate 🤼‍♀️

    10. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    After a nice warm onsen to wake up I rode on a grey rainy day towards Hakodate, my last stop in Hokkaido. I stopped in the famous pentagonal park Goryokaku and cycled to my couchsurfing, Yumi. After a desperately needed shower we went to do some groceries (an interesting fact about some supermarkets here is that they work as self service, which means that you scan the products and put them on your trolley and then pay for it at the end, crazy the amount of trust there is in this country and how it actually works!), and they cooked some miso ramen for dinner. My experience with couchsurfing has always been a bit weird, I have normally stayed with people with a bit awkward dynamics but I am eager to give in another chance here in Japan. In this case, it was slightly weird as well. Yumi could speak some english but her husband didn't speak a word and they had a friend that looked scary (he had one tooth left) that was always around and wouldn't even look at me, she would also interact a lot more with him than with her husband, who she treated a bit like a dog. I am also not sure if she had a lot of interest in me and it didn't feel organic. Nevertheless, it was great to have some comfort for some days and mostly to see Japanese culture a bit from the inside, which I did, and everyone was very kind. The second day I went with them to a female sumo tournament in Fukushima, a beautiful rural town and had lunch at her friend's parents place, they were actually very interested in me which was cool and they lived in a very traditional house. Watching sumo for the first time was really cool, the fights are super short and they feel really relaxed and not angry like other martial arts I have seen. An interesting thing I realised is that your opponent was chosen randomly, which meant that it wasn't separated by weights (so some fights were like a joke as you can imagine). I also tried Sakura Ice Cream which you can only have for two weeks a year in the west of Hokkaido (cherry blossom ice cream) and it was delicious! We had some burgers for dinner from a famous place and had an early night. I woke up early the next day and continued my way, I went to cycle around Hakodate to see the city, it was the first port in Japan to open to international trading so the architecture is very different, unique and elegant. Had some mackerel in the morning market (the traditional japanese breakfast is normally grilled fish with rice and some pickled vegetables) and made my way to the ferry station, where I met another bike packer! Excited to look at someones bike and see what they are doing on their trip (which went both ways). His set up was a lot lighter, which made me decide to leave my winter clothes in the next town (hopefully leaving the cold weather behind in Hokkaido), because I am planning to bike Northern Honshu from the centre, which means a lot of mountains and hills, so any extra weight will be strongly felt!

    🏯 To do: Motomachi area, Goryokaku Park, the views from Mount Hakodate at night were elected as top 3 views in Japan a few years ago but I didn't get to see it because I am not the biggest fan of night city views so it wasn't worth the hassle, take the ferry back to the mainland
    🥢 Eat: Lucky Pierrot (burger place with japanese twist)    Lue lisää

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    Mizunashikaihin Onsen

    9. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After paddling through the most beautiful landscapes, starting with the green of the mountains and down to the wild coast and beautiful desertic fishing villages. I bumped into a place where very strong steam was comming out of and went to see what was happening, there was a geiser in there! Next to it was a spot set up for cooking with the steam of the hot spring (incredibly hot), where a lovely man shared his food with me and later I took the opportunity to cook my vegetables in, what a fun way too cook! Later on I continued till the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula and spent the evening the next morning in the most incredible onsen right in the sea, which would uncover as the tide would go down with different onsens and temperatures. There I met a lovely lady with whom I shared the onsen with and decided to wild camp right in front of such wanderful place.

    🏯 To do: Mizunashikaihin Onsen (mixed onsen, see on website times when the tide is low, otherwise the onsen is fully covered by the sea), Shikabe Geiser Park, Jomon Establishments (I accidently missed it but supposed to be really interesting)    Lue lisää

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    Onuma Park

    8. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today was about making it to Onuma National park, very close to Hakodate. The first part was a bit bumpy and the day gradually increased with hills and wind. The stunning lake at the end of the journey was an absolute jewel, but with crazy wind that didn't stop until late at night. Lunch stop was some delicious noodles with onion tempura (I think).

    ⛺ Lake Onuma East Camping Ground (free great campsite)    Lue lisää

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    Yamazaki

    7. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    After a very early morning, leaving Toyako with its luxuries, my slow way towards Hokkaido began, the port that would take me towards the mainland of Japan. The ride started with lots of hills going up and down (I had to climb three mountains on that day) and many long tunnels. I guess the rest days paid off because I had so much energy and really enjoyed the ride, so once I arrived to my proposed destiny, it felt like it was way too early and I wasn't done yet, so I continued for 25 km more thinking that I could maybe cut one day off riding. Stopped in an interesting crab restaurant for lunch and slept in between some trees in a park in the middle of nowhere. Now, the ride was mostly through fishing towns that felt deserctic, I had just read about how Japan was having a very big problem with an aging population without enough descendence that was abandoning the rural areas for a life in the cities. This was proof of the reality.

    🥢 Food: Hamanoya (crab restaurant)    Lue lisää

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    Toya Ko 🌋♨️🛖

    4. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Spent three days with Ismael and Mauricio, two mexican guys from Chicago that I met in my hostel in Sapporo that invited me to stay with them in a beautiful cabin that Mauricio's boss had right in front of the lake. Cycling there was beautiful, it started with a lot of rain for the first two hours but it soon turned into a beautiful sunny day riding alongside the sea. Now, the last bit, was an intense steep climb, but totally worth it, once I arrived to the beautiful onsen town. I first went to see if I could find a solution for my stove in the only outdoor's store I managed to find in a one week bike ratio, and the lovely staff gave me the best quick fix ever. After, I met the guys at the house, we grabbed some dinner and we went to an onsen. Funny, some onsens don't allow tattoes because they are associated with the Yakuza (the japanese mafia), so I had to cover myself with plasters everywhere to hide them (and as you probably know, I do have a fair few, so it was a funny task). On the second day, we visited Mount Usu, taking a cable car to the beginning of a small walk around the crater of the volcano, and then, onsen again, and some delicious sushi for dinner. On the third day, we went on a day trip to Jigokudani Valley (Hell Valley, guarded by a demon). After a long and expensive journey (and hopefully one of the few ones I will do on public transport) we got to the fuming and smelly town full of sulphur boiling pools, pigmented rocks and turquoise water. We walked around for a couple of hours admiring the geological feature and then spent a few hours in the crazy onsen next to it. So yes, lots of volcanoes and lots of onsens. Finally, on the last day we woke up really early and left to continue our separate journeys. I went to see the ruins of what was the village before the volcano exploited (from far away because it was too early to enter the area, and cycled my way towards the next stop).

    🏯To do: Mount Usu, There are fireworks every night at 8.45h (yes every night), onsen from any fancy hotel in front of lake Toya), foot baths everywhere
    🥢Food: Sushi Aikawazushi 寿し処 あい川    Lue lisää

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    Noboribetsu Onsen ♨️🌋👹

    3. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Another windy journey, which sadly wasn't the most pleasant road to ride in. Nevertheless it was a short riding day because I had planned to spend the day in the Ainu Museum. Once I arrived at the campsite it had beautiful sea views and access to my very first Onsen (japanese hotspring, separated by sex where you go in naked, you will have to shower first in a public shower that is normally super nice, you pour hot water to yourself from a designated place and then you are welcomed to enjoy the hot spring water with a folder towel in your head, which seems to be all japanese favorite). I had the onsen mostly to myself both times I went (evening and very early in the morning) and it had a ryokan (outside onsen).

    ⛺Izumi Hot Spring Camping Ground (it was super overpriced and pretty busy, but it had access to the onsen, beautiful beach sight views and close to the Hell Valley)
    🏯 To do: Jugokudani Valley and Lake Kuttara loop, takimokatan onsen (expensive butworth it, biggest onsen in hokkaido with 14 onsens and 7 types of minerals, also oldest building from Noboribetsu)    Lue lisää

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    Shiraoi and Uppopoi

    2. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    After waking up on a foggy rainy day, I rode in the wind towards Shiraoi, where I had booked a campsite thanks to the super kind people from the visitor centre which was on top of a lake and close to a museum I was really keen to go see. The ride was pretty nice and not too much on the road for the first half, but the wind made me work hard, even having to paddle when going downhill. The second part was just highway and a lot of wind. I was also a bit rushed because check in finished at 16.30h in the campsite, and I wasn't sure how long it was gonna take me to make it there. I stopped at what looked like a Japanese chain for a very cheap delicious kimchi meal and eventually made it to one of the most beautiful campsites I have ever seen. At the beginning it was only me, and the guys working there thought I was crazy because the forecast said the weather was gonna be terrible, so they let me set up my tent under the cozy rest area. Later on, two other guys arrived at the wide wild camp, which was the biggest gift to me, because as I was getting ready for dinner, I realized my stove had just broke. I asked to borrow their stove and as I was cooking they were so kind to even come to give me some delicious warm soup. I rested a bit in the campsite, organized myself a bit, and the next day headed down to visit the National Ainu Museum (Upopoy) which was the most interactive museum I have seen in my life, full of live representations on what they used to be their day to day life in a Kotan (Ainu village), I got to see the offering ceremony, got into a singing class (yep, singing class), and saw a show where they showcased their typical instrument (too weird to describe but so cool), they sang lullabies, danced with an arch and an arrow and played and sang so more. But everything was in Japanese, so I could only guess what they were explaining. At the end of the last show, one of the girls that was performing came to talk to me and apologize for the fact that nothing was in english, and tried to explain some basic things to me in a broken english. After that she asked, where are you from? And I said I was spanish, to what she replied that it was incredible because there was a girl working in the museum from Catalonia. I laughed, that's where I am from, I replied. And she got so excited and disappeared to a room to give her a call. A few minutes later Queralt, a girl from Manresa, was walking through the door, and I had the coziest experience in the museum getting to learn from the Ainu in the most private and warm way (and yes, in catalan!). Finally, I had a traditional ainu soup, and started a short journey towards Noboribetsu.

    ⛺ Stay: Shiraoifurusato 2000 Nennomori Porotonomori Camping Ground
    白老ふるさと2000年の森 ポロトの森キャンプ場 ($400 yen a night for an amazing open and empty campsite, also really close to Upopoy)
    🏯 To do: Upopoy (better to go in the morning because there is a lot of workshops going on, requires a few hours to fully explore)    Lue lisää

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    Lake Shiretoko (50.8 km ⬆️890 m)

    1. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    The first day into my biking trip was intense, I chose the harder route to make it more scenic and I was absolutely untrained for it. But I knew that from the beginning, I still wanted to do it (surprising from me, ain't it?). The cycling was on its way up pretty much all the way there, it started with a beautiful way along the river as I was leaving the city, and then just up up up in the forest. No bears, but I did see two deer running away. I thought about cycling back so many times (even more when there was an avalanche warning sign) and had to walk with the heavy bicycle and take so many stops as well. But it was so worth it, the lake was stunning and the day was gorgeous (and to know that I could do it). When I got to my planned destination where I was going to camp I realised it was a bit more civilized than I expected, so I had to continue for another 10 km, until I found a little spot next to a village. I thought to myself, perfect, I go to an onsen (a japanese hot spring) while I wait so it gets dark and then I prepare my set up. Surprise for me, the onsens were only for in house guests (or I looked too smelly at that stage), and the town looked like a ghost town after 5 pm, so no relaxing clean evening for me. I found a bit of shelter in a public bathroom where I could charge my phone, and went to sleep on a cold rainy night. I thought to myself, you are crazy, first day in and you are already camping somewhere where you are not allowed and where there are bears, so I could have rested better than I did. The next morning I realised that my bear proof method for food (hanging a bag high on a tree), was not effective for birds (fair enough), so I lost most of my food and had to recalibrate how I do things with that matter. Spent a bit more time on my sheltered bathroom (I know, it sounds like the dream vacation) and went to the Visitor Center, where there was some cool information about the flora and fauna of the area and the staff were so kind and helped me book a campsite for the day. And then, we cycle again.Lue lisää

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    Otaru and Nikka Museum

    1. toukokuuta, Japani ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Field trip with Filip before heading on my big road trip, left Yunomi home because it wasn't on the way I was planning to go. We went to Nikka Museum to learn some more about the distillery and the manufacturing of whiskey, and obviously did a whiskey tasting hehe after that we went back to Otaru, walked a bit starving around the beautiful town (which had an interesting European air) and found a secret fantastic seafood restaurant.

    Afterwards, a long ride back to Sapporo.

    We did have a small incident trying to catch a bus back to Sapporo where the bus drivers wouldn't stop to pick us up (two buses kept on going, until luckily a japanese couple came to the bus stop and it finally stopped, even though the bus driver was incredibly rude to me), which after commenting to a few other travellers, I learned that apparently Japanese people are pretty racist with foreigners, which was a massive disappointment and gave me a bit of a bitter taste to start this big adventure. I had heard so many times how Japanese people are so friendly, but I finisshed the day a bit sad thinking, but are they really?

    🏯To do: Nikka museum (quite far away of Otaru, but the views from the bus are stunning), walk next to the river and see the glass artistry, try sea food
    🥢 Food: 郷土料理おおとみ    Lue lisää

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  • Maria Safont-TriaBikePaking JapanMatkaaja
    Haruka Cheese RamenGaraku CurrySoupMiso RamenYunomiHidden turn of night SapporoBlack RamenHomemade food with unknown ingredientsNo idea what this was, but definetly far away from veggie

    Sapporo, PREparation 🚵🏼

    24. huhtikuuta, Japani ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Well well, where to begin. After one of my specials (an eternal journey to my first destination), made it from Hobart, to Sydney, to the Blue Mountains for a few days, Sydney back again, Kuala Lumpur for a lovely night in the airport floor, Tokyo for a fancy night in an airport bench, and finally Sapporo). I don't think the sleep deprivation helped with my emotional and overwhelmed state, and the big grey modern city was something I could not be more ready to leave behind me.

    Nevertheless, I could not rush out of the city due to its practicalities. This first week consisted mostly of preparations, visiting biking and outdoor shops was my main activity. And spending my savings on preparing a home in a bike was the order of the day. My low bike knowledge and my nule japanese next to their inexistant english made this journey challenging and a bit scary. But, wasn't that what I was looking for? But I found japanese people to be lovely and always helpful when asking for help (which I did a lot), and always an expert on google translate;)

    Now, as preparations go by, and I await for the sakura to be at its highest peak, while I let snow melt a bit in the mountains, where I am due to start for this bigbig adventure.

    Now, for those wondering, what is it that I am taking for my very first BikePacking trip:
    - Kona Rove St Bike (which I have named Sakura) + helmet
    - My 32 l backpack on a back rack + 2 20 liter bags + a front holder to transport my camping equipment with me + a small front bag for essentials
    - Phone holder with my phone (and yes, this time there is a sim card with it) + 1 water bottle in a holder in between my bike (and another bottle in my bag) + 2 lights (one front + one spare) + bell
    - A riko bag (pretty roughly made with broken tires as a handle) and some tools to keep the bike safe while transporting
    - bike tools: pad set, levers, 2 spare tubes, multi tool kit, oil, cloth
    - clothes: long and short biking pants, long and short leggings, two thermic pants, cool long sleeve (yep, the one with the faces from pipi), marino whool thermal shirt, sports bra, 2 sports tops, tshirt (glowing in the dark one from sara), 2 fleeces (one to be left behind after hokkaido), windproof, waterproof jacket, cool colourful hat (no one let me leave it behind, another part of pipi with me), 3 bandanas (since i will quickly loose them), 5 sets of undies, 3 hiking socks and 1 normal socks, 1 swimming suit, hiking shoes, flipflops, funny pack, hiking 20 l backpack
    - cooking gear: stove, pot, gas stoves (will start with 4), cutlery, knife
    - camping gear: tent, sleeping bag, mat, pillow, some light sports food such as hiking food, oats and nut mix (and a bit of coffee), 2 head torches
    - first aid kit: with emergency blanket, gases, bandage, hand heater, pills (ibuprofen, antihistamin, gastro), plasters, compits, and most important lavender oil, 1 caravina, tape, sewing kit portable battery, sewing threat and needle, whistle, bear spray and bell. Random: an electro device that I was gifted in the blue mountains
    - Bathroom utilities: toothpaste, toothbrush, earrings, earplugs, sunscreen, insect repellant, soap, conditioning, hair ties and pins
    - Random bits such as ebook, notebook, earplugs, random calming stone from Xavi (a selenite), few random papers and stickers, Ky's friendship kit, bin bags and waterproof for backpack, toilet paper, 2 sets of sunglasses.

    Now, after getting everything ready I got to be a tourist for a bit (I forgot how exhausting that was!) and went for a stroll through the cherry blossoms, got my Omikugi (fortune tell?); tried all sorts of food; got stuck having dinner with a really american guy (help); stayed late night chatting to the guys from reception after getting invited to ice cream and whiskey by an interesting Japanese man, who made me breakfast the next day; went to the beer museum with Filip, a german guy I met in the hostel and a Singaporean girl we adopted in a matcha cafe on the way; had a beer at a cool venue and midnight ramen with Filip; and just organized, disorganized, planned and unplanned everything and nothing until there was nothing but to accept it was time to start (not even being sure of which direction I was gonna take, north, west, east or south?)

    ⛺ Accommodation: Wize Owl Hostel (not iverly social, still met some cool people, staff super nice and great installation with super quipped and clean kitchen, and lots of space in the room, super central as well), SappoLodge (so very quiet, I guess because of low season, and not the most budget friendly, nevertheless great installations, little kitchen, with so much free food and lovely staff (one of the staff even drove me to the bike store)
    🥢 Food: Sapporo Ramen Haruka (Amazing cheese Ramen), SoupCurry Garako, Shirakaba Sansou (miso ramen), Genghiskan Ram, convenience store random snacks, Isono Kazuo (black ramen), d:matcha Kyoto Sapporo
    🍸 Night Life: BeerInn Mugishutei (mostly imported beers from the states but pretty cool venue and owner and staff was pretty cool)
    🛒 Shopping: Sam's Bike (most specialized shop I found in Sapporo, mechanic is grumpy and scary (in a cool way) but owner is so lovely and helpful, I have spent soso many hours in that shop already), 2nd outdoor (most amazing outdoor op shop I have seen in my life, they pretty much have everything, left the place with almost everything I needed), Shugakuso Shiroisi (super well stocked outdoor store with pretty much anything needed for bikes, camping and hiking store), Shugakuso Hokudai Store
    🏯To do: Cherry Blossom at Mayurama Park and Hokkaido Jingu, walk around the busy Sukino Roads, Sapporo Beer Museum
    ❓Fun fact: spice level goes hand by hand to price, so the spicier you want your food, the more money it costs. Is it a good thing for those afraid of spice?    Lue lisää

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