Road to Laputa, Kumamoto

I've come to learn: if it's not hard to get to, it's not worth seeing. That is definitely true for the Road to Laputa. The name again comes from the similarity to a Ghibli movie: Castle in the Sky, Laputa (Japanese: 天空の城ラピュタ) https://goo.gl/maps/sMzzhqvjDZy A touch ride up like 1,300m or so and I finally made …

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Kumamoto

I caught the ferry from Shimabara to Kumamoto port for roughly $12. I think I slept the whole trip. When we landed I rode straight in to see the mystical Kumamoto Castle. However, I did not realise how much damage the 2016 earthquake did to the area. Actually as I write this in Kumamoto, I …

Mount Unzen and Shimabara, Nagasaki

Nagasaki is one of the worst cities for cyclists, because there are so many bridges that don't allow cyclists or have like 200 stairs to go up. So even getting out of the city took some time. I then had to climb up 2,000+ metres of elevation to reach the town of Unzen. Mount Unzen …

Nagasaki

I left Fukuoka early in the morning and aimed for some ruins of WW2 roughly 110kms ride away. I usually try to avoid the mountains but this time I was glad I chose to go the mountain route. I eventually arrived at my destination, Kawatana Human Torpedo Training Place (魚雷発射試験場 探信儀領収試験場) and had a look around, …

Fukuoka

My ride from Motonosumi Inari Jinja ended up being a lot longer than planned. I rode 120kms+ and made it all the way under the sea to reach Kyushu. Probably the worst bit of sleep yet though, concrete benches are not comfy. The next morning I set off early to beat the traffic into Fukuoka, …

Abandoned Love on the Road to Kyushu

Kyushu (九州) is Japan's southern most island and my final big 4 island. On my way from Tsunoshima I planned to visit an abandoned amusement park. However when I arrived it had been completely dismantled. However not to spoil the fun I noticed what seemed like an abandoned Love Hotel (a normal one, not with …

Caves, Shrines and Beautiful Islands, Yamaguchi

I had 3 main things to tick off on my journey through Yamaguchi: Limestone Cave - Akiyoshidou Motonosumi Inari Jinja Shrine Tsunoshima Island Yamaguchi (山口) Prefecture literally means the Mountain's Mouth, so with that being said it was not easy riding. I should mention I was considering doing some WOOFing whilst in Japan before the …

Hiroshima Part 4 – Miyajima & Yuu

So I went to the infamous Miyajima (shrine in the water) on Itsukushima. I went here a few years previous with the Dogg (Luke Poggi) and had a mad time hiking up the mountain so I wanted to do it again.   It was as good as I remembered, except a lot more sweaty this …

Hiroshima Part 3 – Baseball

Go the mighty Hiroshima Carp (my new team) I went with my friend Midori who I showed around Sydney when she came to Sydney the previous year. So she was paying me back by doing the same. Early into our discussion Midori asked me what I'm most disappointed with during my trip. I think it …

Hiroshima Part 2 – 6th of August

Today marks the 73rd anniversary for the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It's essentially the Anzac Day for Hiroshima. In the morning, they have a ceremony to remember the people lost, which is in time with the bomb drop at 8:15am in 1945 - corresponds with the Anzac Day Dawn Service. I went …