Day 6: Fuefuki to Sawa

We're pretty much at the halfway point and I've got a few more days lined up in the lovely mountains over here.

Today was a relatively easy day. Less climbing than the days before and generally nice and sunny weather being kept comfortable by a cool breeze coming in from the mountains.

I finally got a good look at Mt. Fuji🗻 behind me and it certainly stands out compared to the rest of the mountains. Impressive.

I am mostly riding through the farmlands and rice fields of the valleys right now, lined with cute houses and cute gardens.
Oh, and there is a regional road that constantly has trucks thundering up and down. 🚛🚚🛻

But I've learned to stay away from those roads unless necessary. It was fine on the Izu peninsula but over here there's just too many trucks and not enough space sometimes.

As I crested the tallest point of today I was greeted with the intense heat of a sun heating up the valley where Sawa is located and a view of the lake.

I had picked another cheap hotel in the area since hostels are scarce here and... got another love hotel. 🏩🚲

This one a bit more extreme with garages on the outside where you can hide your car against prying eyes and... let's just say they thought of everything. A "handy massage wand" (including a hygienic condom), pachinko (gambling) machine in the room and a menu for ordering food and more toys. 🪀🧸

Great restaurants and shops nearby though.
Tonight I gorged myself on curry. ❤️

Tomorrow I will ride North again and make my way through the start of the historical Nakasendo route. It used to be a rich industrial wood logging area with heavy protections but nowadays it's mostly used as a hike through the Kiso valley.

After that I will make my way to Nagoya and later Kyoto.

It's starting to look like I brought my camping gear for nothing. This part of Japan, people go camping as a way to get out on the weekends and while cheap campsites exist, many of them are even more expensive than hotel rooms. Let alone how incredibly hard it is to find them and make a reservation. Ah well.

Looking forward to seeing the rest. 😎もっと詳しく