After a handful of hours on the ferry, along with our new traveling companions met in Aomori, we heard a voice coming out of the speakers : “We’re about to land in Hakodate, prepare yourself to leave the ferry”
Woah! We were both speechless for a second there. We had just made our way back to Hokkaido, where the both of us had lived for 2 years each. But this time, we had arrived on our own forces, and on a bike!
After spending 6 days in Tokyo, doing everything a tourist wouldn’t do, (and unwillingly avoiding every single thing a tourist WOULD do) we jumped back on our specializedTricross bikes and started cycling towards the Japanese alps and the city behind them, Niigata.
With little to no surprise, we left Tokyo relatively late and the first day flew by too damn quickly: traffic, street lights, last purchases for the trip and more then 50km before even finding ourselves outside of that urban jungle.
As soon as we reached the first little village outside of the suburbs of Tokyo, we pitched the tent and went to sleep super early.
Kyoto, at last!
Prior to getting to Kyoto, we got a big surprise: Chiara, Federica and Orsola (three former university classmates of ours) got in touch with us and invited us to crash at their place for a night. And who the hell are we to refuse such a thing!? As soon as we arrived there, we threw our sleeping bags on the floor, took a quick shower and went together for a night out in town, eating, drinking and most importantly, reminiscing big time!
The day before reaching Osaka we stopped at Takarazuka.
Why? Why the hell not!
No, seriously, Takarazuka is where the KING lived. Nope, I'm not talking about Elvis, not that KING. I'm talking about Osamu Tezuka, the one and only KING when it comes to Manga.
Right after finishing the Shimanami Kaidō, Japan's longest bicycle route, we reached the little town of Onomichi. Now, it might be little and pretty ignored by most touristic guides but believe me, it's beautiful. Clean, colorful, interesting and filled with smiling people. You can't ask for more from a city!
