My time with the bike came to an abrupt end after the municipal office in Yamanashi would not issue me a temporary license plate.
Category: General Travel Stories
The Zenkoji Temple and my “rebirth”
My time in Nagano was incredibly peaceful. I wanted to wait to write about my experience so that I could include some of the pictures I had taken which were on my SD card.
Typhoon Malinda
Up until this point, the best sushi I had in my life was at a small family run Izakaya in Lake Yamanakako. But tonight, that record was topped and I can honestly say I will never enjoy sushi the same way again. My Aunt and Uncle took me to a sushi restaurant owned by a friend of theirs in Shinkoiwa. Watching the Chef create his masterpieces was fascinating. It was an absolute art.
Re-connected
Finding an unlocked phone in Japan is not an easy undertaking. None of the big service providers( Softbank, Docomo, AU) will sell you one without a plan.
Typhoon Ju-Go (15)
So far, I have been very fortunate in my trip to not have encountered any typhoons. In fact, it only rained on me once so far and that was when I was already on my way to my hotel room. I consider myself lucky since I am traveling through the country during its typhoon season, which runs until the end of September.
Destination: Unknown
Now that the Fujisan hike has been accomplished, I feel like I can spend more time enjoying my new bike. No longer constrained by bus schedules or proximity to the train stations, I can now focus my efforts on planning more detailed routes. I can also remove about 30 pounds of hiking equipment from my bike which I am really excited about!
My first Onsen experience in Lake Yamanakako
After descending Mount Fuji, I had more energy than anticipated, despite the 2.5 hours of sleep. There wasn’t really anything near Mishima that I was interested in checking out, other than the Izu Peninsula. However, it didn’t seem like a good option given the day. I didn’t have hours of riding in me, and all the hotels I found were going for hundreds of dollars.
Continue reading “My first Onsen experience in Lake Yamanakako”
The ocean of clouds
My journey to Mount Fuji started off incredibly frustrating. You need to reach the trail head by bus as it is closed to personal vehicles. During off peak season (which happens to be now), the buses leave Shinfuji station only twice a day, once early in the morning and once in the late afternoon, contrary to the timetable I found online that showes buses leaving every 2 hours from Mishima station until September 10th.
Tokyo Traffic
As jet lag strikes with a vengeance, I find myself wide awake at 3:30 a.m. local time.
Yesterday, I made the trip to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo with my Uncle. In order to get the bike registered in my name, I am told that I require a notarized signature by an Embassy official. This is pretty much a CAD$50 exercise where the official attests that they have witnessed my signature. The entire process should take less than 10 minutes. (Well-in my case, it took about 1.5 hours but due to a non-administrative mix up on their end, so I won’t get into it). On Monday, I am heading to Yamanashi to finish the registration and insurance process and then I will officially take possession of the bike.
The drive to and from the Embassy gave me a good opportunity to assess the traffic conditions in Tokyo. My first piece of advice would be to ensure that you are very comfortable with both the signage and traffic signals. This should be very intuitive, but in case it is not, I would suggest that you make sure you are so comfortable with them, that they take you zero time to process. The highway signs in Japan are very confusing due to the sheer complexity of their urban highway system. You do not want to be in the situation where you have to struggle to figure out your direction as well as the road rules. The latter should be completely intuitive before you even think about throwing a leg over! I found an excellent resource online that does a good job explaining all the rules in English for motor vehicles, non-motorized vehicles and street cars. Most of the signs are intuitive or similar to North America so it is not a big undertaking. However, keep in mind that in addition to the traffic rules you must follow, you will also need to read the traffic laws for other vehicles, both motorized and non motorized, to better understand how they will maneuver when you are sharing the road.