Category Archives: Japan

Flight back to Berlin and hospitalization

I spent one month in Taiwan in the hope to recover. The complete August. It was raining nearly everyday and two typhoons hit the island. I slept everyday from 12 to 12 and two hours in the afternoon. Unfortunately I didn’t get better. I preferred to lie down. As soon as I stand up I felt dizzy. In the middle of August I went to a doctor and a few days later I was for three days in the Fengyuan hospital. A neurologist examined me because of my gait abnormality. He examined only life-threatening things like tumor or cancer. I got into the tube (MRI) two times. But the doc didn’t found anything life-threatening so he suggest I should go back to Germany for more research. [...]

Tokorozawa (Tokyo Metropolitan Area)

On the 19.07. I arrived at Kenta’s home. I wanted to stay for one week and then continue to Hokkaido. That was my plan, but it changed. At the beginning everything was normal. I had conversations with Kenta. Unfortunately he is very busy with his work. He is selling climbing stuff for a big company. He is a passionate climber and he uses every free day he has to go climbing. He went to the USA for three years to learn proper English. In two and a half years he cycled 48.000 km from Japan to South Africa (I cycled 28.000 km). In between he did a 4 month work&travel in Australia. I admire his strength and discipline. He is 5 years older than me. I like his attitude how to consume food. He eats only healthy, from time to time he appreciate a beer, but this is the Japanese drinking culture. He didn’t understand why eat everyday chocolate and ready to eat meals. [...]

Honshu – From Shodoshima to Tokorozawa

From Shodoshima Island I took the ferry to Himeji. I went to the famous castle. At the entry of Himeji Castle I’ve met two Korean bike traveler. We stopped and talked. Her names are Min and Chan, they both together carrying less luggage than me. They want to go from Fukuoka to Hokkaido in 4 to 5 weeks only. We made a meeting point on an offical campground by the beach. I went around the castle, but I didn’t went inside. When I arrived at campground there was nobody. I saw a price list and was thinking thats too expensive, the Koreans must be at another place. I drove to public park close by and here I met Min and Chan again and was very happy. We camped together by the sea. [...]

Honshu and Shikoku – From Hiroshima to Shodoshima

My camp in Fuchu was already situated out of the city so when I left I didn’t need to go through the city center again. But I had a steep climb up to Kumano. After I Kumano I went downhill to the coast at Yasuura. I found a great shelter in a park. On the next day on the way to Onomichi I met my first foreign bike travelers in Japan. Veronica and Harry started in Tokyo. Veronica is from Napier (New Zealand) and Harry from London, both lived the last three years in Melbourne and both have visited Berlin. And I’m from Berlin and visited Napier, London and Melbourne. So it was a bit special to meet each other. We talked over an hour next to the road, I didn’t want to let these guys go. I hope we can meet up again in Europe. Please contact me if you read this, I got your blog EveryDayAdventureClub but couldn’t find a contact. [...]

Honshu – From Kanmon to Hiroshima

Honshu is the mainland of Japan. I entered it via the kanmon pedestrian tunnel. I followed a route that I found online on japancycling.org it’s a scenic route on quiet roads, so I didn’t need to plan my way. I cycled at first till Mine it was raining a lot and I camped next to a sports field under a small roof. The city has a big industry complex, I was thinking how can people live here, there is always noise from the factory. On the next I visited the Akiyoshi Dou Cave, it’s a big cave, I was impressed. After the cave I went to the karstland. In the evening I reached Hagi Castle town. This town has an historic city centre with many traditional houses and a castle ruin. I camped in a park by the coast. [...]