Thunder and lightning in the flat marsh land


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1. CPH 12.08.13

2. Narita - Tone 13.08.13

3. Tone 14.08.13

4. Tone 15.08.13

5. Tone - Oarai 16.08.13

6. Oarai - Tomakomai 17.08.13

7. Tomakomai - Iwamizawa 18.08.13

8. Iwamizawa - Azahikawa 19.08.13

9. Azahikawa - Kamikawa 20.08.13

10.Kamikawa - Nukabira Onsen 21.08.13

11.Nukabira Onsen - Tokachigawa 22.08.13

12.Tokachigawa - Kushiro 23.08.13

13.Kushiro - Shibesha 24.08.13

14.Shibesha - Lake Kussharo 25.08.13

15.Lake Kussharo - Lake Akan 26.08.13

16.Lake Akan - Abashiri 27.08.13

17.Abashiri 28.08.13

18.Abashiri - Sapporo (tog) 29.08.13

19.Sapporo - Otaru 30.08.13

20.Otaru - Kamoenai 31.08.13

21.Kamoenai - Makkari 01.09.13

22.Makkari - Yakumo 02.09.13

23.Yakumo - Hakodate 03.09.13

24.Hakodate - Aomori 04.09.13

25.Aomori - Lake Towada 05.09.13

26.Lake Towada - Lake Tazawa 06.09.13

27.Lake Tazawa - Hanamaki 07.09.13

28.Hanamaki - Tsukidate 08.09.13

29.Tsukidate - Sendai 09.09.13

30.Sendai - Tone 10.09.13

31.Tone 11.09.13

32.Tone 12.09.13

33.Tone - Kurihama 13.09.13

34.Kurihama - Hakone 14.09.13

35.Hakone - Gotemba 15.09.13

36.Gotemba 16.09.13

37.Gotemba - Fujinomiya 17.09.13

38.Fujinomiya - Shizuoka (Kyoto) 18.09.13

39.Kyoto 19.09.13

40.Kyoto 20.09.13

41.Kyoto 21.09.13

42.Kyoto - Nara 22.09.13

43.Nara - Wakayama 23.09.13

44.Wakayama - Higashikagawa 24.09.13

45.Higashikagawa - Takamatsu 25.09.13

46.Takamatsu - Iya Valley 26.09.13

47.Iya Valley 27.09.13

48.Iya Valley - Imabari 28.09.13

49.Imabari - Onomichi 29.09.13

50.Onomichi - Hiroshima 30.09.13

51.Hiroshima 01.10.13

52.Hiroshima - Takayama (tog) 02.10.13

53.Takayama 03.10.13

54.Takayama - Matsumoto 04.10.13

55.Matsumoto - Hakuba 05.10.13

56.Hakuba - Nagano 06.10.13

57.Nagano - Tone 07.10.13

58.Tone 08.10.13

59.Tone - Narita 09.10.13

60. Narita - CPH 10.10.13

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Letter 13

 

Saturday 24.08.13      66,20 km

 

I never saw a breakfast room, with SO many people in such little space, but it is functioning. Today I start with japanese style with rice, fish, meat, miso soup, vegetables aso. They have a small version of the salted apricots - hardly as strong as at Nori. The lady has shown me a drinks machine and it's free in the morning. I plan for once to have a cupof coffee. I choose Creamy Café-o'lait. Klonk, klonk! What was that in my cup? I had ice coffee. That's not what I planned. When I've studied the machine from my seat, I see that there's something written in a blue square on top in one side and in a red square in the other.
I do get my warm coffee!
 

They have mini croissants, mini pain de chocolat and buns of different kinds. I take them with the coffee. There's a neatly folded piece of cloth on the table, so you can clean it. And people do it - me too.
 

I have different maps in the station and roll easy out of town 10.30am. Goes around the harbour. If their maps had been topographic all the next had never happened, but now it does. I chose a route that passes Kushiro Marsh Observatory and it's not just a tower somewhere in the marsh, as I expected. The tower is up on top of one of the green mountains. When I find out it's too late. It's too far to go back so I fight my way up there.
 

Besides exhibition on the devrlopment of the marsh and flora and fauna in the tower itself, there is a wooden path in the area. It's a huge disappointment. Besides some posters telling what you might see if you were down there, there's nothing. And that far the path never goes. So the hundreds of years old algea balls and some funny grasses I never see. But I get through it in a hurry, because there are mosqitoes and you can't stand still, that's the positive about it. There are some view points but you can see it from the tower as well. A funny thing is, that I'm the only person, who walks the path in the right direction - haha. I meet someone with a bell on the backpack and remember that that's what they recommend for areas with bears. The sound scares them away. There is actually also a poster telling when the last bear was seen here. There was one as well when I was in the wood to see the old railway bridge, said the guy from Hong Kong, Steve.
 

Now there's thunder ahead, so I wait and eat in a bus shelter that is conquered by a greater relative to the danish cross spider. They're some giants.


                                   The mystic marsh

End up at road 243 that shall take me around the marsh and to the main road to the north towards Akan National Park. I go ahead right towards the thunderstorm. And in this flat land! I'm lucky there's also agriculture around here and for once I'm clever. When I arrive at a big steel roof with bunches of hay rolls I seek shelter BEFORE the rain starts. And it does. Like cats and dogs. It looks as if it could go on all day. It's hard to figure out.
 

When it doesn't rain THAT much I leave. A little later it gets violent again and I seek shelter again, this time among some cows. Though I'm on the other side of the fence.They're just on their way to eat what's lined up for them, but one of them is afraid of me and stops the whole flock. I feel quite bad about it. I can't stay. It's 4pm and it's 30 km to the town with the magic name: Shibucha. Almost like Shan-gri-la. If I shall make it before dark it's NOW!
 

                           Shelter for a small bicycle
 

Now I make no breaks, rain or not. The road that would lead me to one more view point and then back to the main road goes to Shibucha, but it also says Shibucha straight. It must be a short cut, but across the green mountains. One after the other. It's steep and it's hard. I climb upwards - and speed down the other side. Shi - bu - cha - Shi - bu -cha - it goes around my head for each step upwards. But I advance. I think it's at the forth mountain that it's less steep and where the valley after has widened. And so on. There're no people, no towns, only farms at the sides and a few passing cars.
 

When I see the sign saying 2 km to the main road I know it's the last mountain. When I reach the main road it's getting dark and I hope there will be a bicycle lane? There is, a bad kind. 5 km later the lights start telling about a town to come. I go to a 7-eleven and ask: Hotel? Yes, there is one in town. He brings on a map and points and tells. I understand it all - or more correctly: I know how to read a map. I have to go on until a road passes the river. Then there'll be a road to the right
first and at the next big road I turn left and it's some hundred meters....
 

It is as easy as it sounds.
 

And here I am, and they have wi-fi. Unfortunately the wheather looks bad for tomorrow if a got the wheather forecast right. But in Kyushui - it was much worse. That's a comfort.
 


 

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