SBK Japan

30 Oct 2008

Love my new chain! It decided to stretch rather suddenly, and it did so in an uneven manner, so by the end it felt like riding over a continuous rumble strip. Nice and smooth now!

While in Hiroshima, I couldn't resist paying my respects at the "Atomic Dome," the epicenter of the A-bomb attack.

This site has folded paper cranes for each person killed.

Hiroshima also has a lovely castle.

While in the area, I decided to revisit Miyajima. This is one of the three most popular tourist sites in Japan (along with Matsushima and Amanohashidate). Took the passenger ferry over, which cost me 340 yen, plus 500 yen for parking. Found out later that for another 260 yen, I could have taken the bike. Should have done that, because it's a fairly big site and I could have seen more if I was mobile. But I've been there before, so it's all right.

Oh deer! Lots of them prancing around there and, oddly enough, nobody is chasing them with chopsticks.

This torii in the water is quite well known in Japan.

This whole shrine is built on stilts, over the water.

A few more snaps.

There's a lot to see here. You could easily spend the whole day. There are also more shrines going up the hill. Also lots of deer and monkeys. I'ts 500 m high, so I was too lazy this time, but I did climb up last time. When I finally reached the top, a monk up there solemnly informed me: "toppu"

Lots more to see there.

Hey! Ganja, mon!

Neat stores too.

Anyway, enough of all this culture. Might end up with brain damage. Time for some fun! Purely at random, I picked R186. Holy guacamole! I'm very tempted to use the word "awesome," but unfortunately it has been so uverused by the teenagers that it's lost its original meaning by now. All I can say is that this road is incredible! It runs from the Seto Inland Sea, all the way across to the Sea of Japan. Twisty, high-speed, two-lane, perfect surface all the way, and no traffic. 130 km of pure bliss! Those lucky wankers living in Iwakuni really have it made.

I got so tumescent that I could only force myself to stop for a few snaps. If I wasn't a smoker, I probably wouldn't have stopped at all.

Unbelievable ride! Shoot me now! If you're ever in the area, don't miss this. If you're not in the area, go out of your way.

On the Sea of Japan, turned right onto R9. This is actually a lovely road, but all the truckers use it. Pity. Spotted this on a smoke break. Didn't anybody tell them that these things work better with propellers mounted?

Got as far as the small town of Ohta before I ran out of steam. Would have liked to get all the way to Matsue, but it's getting pretty cold at night. Found a very decent business hotel, New Sky Hotel, for 5,250 yen.

Lovely day! A bit of culture and great riding too.