Day 35 to 36: Hagi to Fukuoka: Rushing for the exit

November 10, 2007

The remaining two days of the ride was fairly undramatic, compared to most of this terrific tour. Leaving Hagi, we crossed the Honshu interior again, this time passing over Akiyoshidai Plateau - a wild, open, depopulated karst region that looked like it could have been in Scotland. From there, we dropped down to Shimonoseki - a large, busy port city and the jump-off spot for ferries to South Korea. Instead, saving that for possibly a future trip, we crossed the Inland Sea the next morning by ferry to Kyushu and cycled down its northwest coast to Fukuoka.

Kashima Honkan ryokan, our final inn for the tour, was the target for the bicycle bags we hoped had been shipped from Narita. We had more than a few tense and uncomfortable moments after we arrived when we tried without success to explain what we were seeking and met completely uncomprehending faces. Finally it occurred to us to ask them to call the booking agency so we could get an interpreter - at which point they brought the manager into the picture as well. After puzzling for a bit himself, his face suddenly lit up and he hurried into a back room and then returned with the bags. They had arrived almost a month earlier, and everyone had forgotten about them.

The next morning, we ended as we began - airport bound, with me comfortably in the front seat of a taxi and poor Rachael wedged in the back again beneath her bicycle. After 5 weeks on the road and perhaps the most interesting vacation ever, we headed westward toward home, fantasizing about a possible return some years down the road.

The Akiyoshidai Plateau, western Honshu.

The ATSU girls' team. What an array of smiles!

The Atsu Junior High girls team, showing their logos.

A monument to the great 10th century sea battle of Dannoura, and the bridge over Shimonoseki Strait to Kyushu.

Our ferry to Kyushu, across the mouth of the Inland Sea.

Kitakyushu - another industrial morass that took several hours to traverse. We lost an extra hour or so here when we were turned back at the orange bridge in the background, and had to improvise an alternate route to the coast.

Down the west coast of Kyushu, on a lovely cycle path that took us much of the remaining distance to Fukuoka.

Today's ride: 123 miles (198 km)
Total: 1,463 miles (2,354 km)

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