I rode 64 km from the campsite to Kitakyushu through rain and humidity. Comparing it with my Scotland tour three years ago, it was a day of noticing just how many convenience stores there are and how kind people in Japan can be.

English blog translation

The distance I rode today was 64 km. I wanted to go to Fukutsu today to see a shrine, but I would have had to take a long route. I was still worried about whether I could ride that distance, so I decided to take the direct route instead. I haven't posted a photo of the bike yet, but it's pretty heavy. So on the ride from the campsite to Kitakyushu, I stopped for a break for a while in Nōgata. The weather is mostly rain and high humidity, and although the rain is inconvenient, it isn't cold, so it's fine. Even so, if the rain keeps up, I can find a hostel within three days, stay even just one night, and dry out my clothes and tent.

Three years ago, I did a two-week tour of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland with three friends. Comparing this tour with Scotland:

Weather: Scotland was colder, and the Scottish rain was freezing too, so it was a lot harder to put up with mentally than the rain in Japan. Nature and scenery: Scotland was incredibly beautiful, but Japan has an atmosphere all of its own. Survival: In Scotland there was the occasional convenience store called Spar, but other than that there was nothing. We even had to collect water from rivers. In Japan there's a 7-Eleven everywhere. Even so, in Scotland you can camp anywhere for free, whereas in Japan you have to go to a campsite.

Random thoughts:

There are too many chain stores. I'm not complaining, because more choice is better, but why are there so many? I do like FamilyMart, 7-Eleven, and Sukiya, though. Japanese people really are kind. There are too many traffic lights, so I'm always stopping, and because of that the fatigue builds up in my legs. Pachinko is interesting too, and there are loads of cars parked in the car parks. I didn't know it was that popular. Food is cheap!

I also met a man called Ōno-san. He came up and started talking to me, and asked me about the bike and the tour. He owns five bikes himself, so he seemed to find it interesting. He was really kind, and he even bought me a coffee at FamilyMart. After we talked, we took the boat together. Before that I'd been worried about how this trip would turn out, but meeting him put me much more at ease. The scenery was beautiful at night too.