I was last seen 5 months ago in Los Angeles, .
Mar 312008
 

I slept virtually the entire bus ride from Kyoto to Tokyo. Which is a good thing, because when it dropped Peder and I off on the street in Roppongi, neither of us had any idea where we were staying. And we probably had about 115 kilos of luggage between us.

First things first. We subwayed to Shibuya, set up camp in the seating area of a nearby department store, and took turns roaming the streets in search of some appropriate lodgings. When traveling alone I almost always stay at one of two hostels – but in groups of two a hotel can sometimes be a better and only marginally more expensive alternative.

We ended up at Hotel Fukudaya, the same Ryokan where I stayed the first night I ever spent Japan, in June of 2003, on vacation with one of my oldest friends Nick. Talk about Nostalgia.
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Mar 302008
 

While I was off in Kyushu working for Dean and soaking up minerals from the Island’s many Onsen, Peder decided take a quick weekend trip to Korea. Our plan was to meet back at his place on the last evening of my railpass’ validity, one week before departing for Tokyo and then home. But since I’d decided to return to Kyoto a day early, he wasn’t back yet – and I had no way of getting into the apartment. I scrambled to contact everyone I knew, asking for any small bed or sofa to call home for the night.*0

Luckily I found one, and early the next morning I was right back on the road.
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Mar 292008
 

The morning after my “day of onsens” I awoke in a little Beppu ryokan smelling strongly of rotten eggs.

…From all the minerals in the onsen.

But unlike the day before, when I lazily passed the morning in bed and at Starbuck’s, this time I couldn’t wait to get outside.

I headed straight to the monkey mountain, one stop away from Beppu on the JR line. It had more monkeys than I’ve ever seen. Thousands.
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Mar 282008
 

The next morning the weather was so cold and overcast that I seriously thought about spending the day indoors. There’s no doubt in my mind: traveling in the Summer is far superior. Sure, it can be uncomfortably hot and humid, but the skies are blue and the days are long. Going outside might make you stink, but at least it doesn’t make you freeze, shiver, and get pneumonia 😛

In the end I forced myself to go out, and it paid off wonderfully. Beppu is a city lying in a valley right on the coast – green mountains to one side and the blue ocean to the other. Today I hopped on a bus up a mountain to an area where I heard there are a few secluded 露天風呂. I followed the directions precisely: exit at Tsurumi Rei-En bus stop, turn left by the small flower shop and hike uphill till you come to the cemetery. Walk up the small road that hugs the right side of the graveyard until the road ends. Dive into the bushes to your left, and there’s the bath.
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Mar 272008
 

When I awoke in my Miyazaki hotel room I was still feeling sick from the previous week’s lack of sleep, but the job for Dean was finished so I pulled out my trusty Lonely Planet and started considering where to head next. My first priority was a 5-peak climb of Kirishima, a climb that I’d actually intended to complete the last time I came to Miyazaki a GPR survey but backed out of on account of snowy weather. I backed down again, this time on account of my health. So I headed up to Usuki instead – because of the beautiful weather I thought it would be nice to take a train up the coast and watch the ocean fly by. Plus Usuki was just an hour from Beppu where I already knew of a place I could stay. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep my eyes opened and ended up dozing for the duration of the ride. Damn my immune system.

When I arrived at Usuki Station I approached the JR attendant. “I heard there’s somewhere you can rent bikes near the station?”

His response: he handed me a key. No ID, no cash, he didn’t even ask my name. Just a free bike to use for the day.

Sometimes I really love Japan.
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