[Preview] Fukuoka to Nagasaki: Hills and rain welcomes me
Bike Tour Nagasaki
Bike Tour Nagasaki: I would quickly learn that Kyushu is not a place for novice cyclists like myself. It was fine until I got out of Fukuoka and hills and mountains are endless on Kyushu. I was faced with quite a few mountains and hills on the way to Nagasaki, and not having a map that worked on my phone or a physical map, I used the tourist map that I got from Fukuoka which indicated roads very vaguely, and in turn, I would get lost a few times and ride up a good portion of a mountain for nothing, well, besides the jaw dropping view.
I took the conditions of the roads for granted in Japan but I noticed that there are designated bike lanes made for bikes and pedestrians which was good for a few days but I would eventually stick to the main road since there would always be small bumps going on the sidewalk and getting off the sidewalk. This in the long run would be bothersome. The streets are very narrow in Japan and lot of times, they were single lanes. Everything in Japan is actually smaller in scale and cars were smaller, hence, the small roads were big enough.
Drivers in Japan have the best driving etiquette hands down. When tractor trailer trucks are tailing you for a couple of minutes doing 20 km/h, waiting until it is completely safe to overtake me. With earphones on, I wouldn’t even be aware of them following me since they will never ever honk at you. At times, there would be multiple cars behind me, a trail of vehicles tailing me waiting for the right time to pass me up, and the whole time, not one driver dares to touch their horn. Driving etiquette in Japan is perhaps 150 years ahead of Korea. Culture shock while pedaling.
Nagasaki was definitely a memorable place. I felt like there were so much history and places to visit. I couldn’t load the fifty photos I wanted to upload because it took too long to upload.
First stealth camping in front of some beach. It looked nice, but I would have to deal with rain, sand fleas making their way into my tent. The shitty tent I bought for about $20 had parts where it was netting and the holes were big enough for small creatures to trespass and say hello to me while I was asleep. It was an unpleasant start for the camper.
That wasn't an aquarium
My first biiru. Foam at its best. I’ve never been a big fan of Japanese beer. I thought it was just above average beer and never had craved for it. This would all change and I would place Japanese beer on top of my favorite beers. I would become almost addicted to its signature flavor of hops in its beer. I would come to fall in love thanks to my Okinawa bike buddy who taught me a lesson on Japanese beers.
This is a guest blog post by Dae Choi
[If you would like to read the rest of this guest blog post, please go to the link provided below, thank you!]
https://bornkorean.com/bike-tour-nagasaki-hills-rain-welcome/