November 25, 2024
Day 54: Airport dry run
What do you enjoy doing on your last full day of a trip abroad? I've rarely had to ask that question of myself, especially on a bike tour. There's always a seemingly endless list of errands and chores to complete. The flights have either been in the morning or early afternoon, so packing could never wait until travel day. Because of this history, we were in full task mode, and the choice to visit the airport in advance was a no-brainer.
First, we waited for the post office to open at 9am. Our posted bags were waiting for us patiently. Whew! I have nothing but praise for Japan Post. They're so cheerful, helpful, and efficient, it makes one wonder whether it's actually a public institution. This coming from someone who loves government and has spent almost his entire career in the public sector.
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Next it was off to the airport on our bikes, a mere 2.5km from our apartment. You can easily get to the international terminal by taking sidewalks the whole way. Pretty cool!
The terminal was very crowded on a Monday afternoon. To make things more hectic, there's a ton of construction going on.
We pushed our way to the elevator with our bikes and got off on the departures level. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was in Busan. Most of the soon-to-be passengers were speaking Korean. It was nice to be able to understand bits and pieces of what people were saying.
At the Wrap & Box counter, a woman was furiously spinning plastic around a set of golf clubs. When she finished, we discussed our boxing needs with her. She went into great detail, even putting together a mock box for us. It was a much different operation than in Incheon. There, they had equipment to make a custom box of any dimensions. Here, she showed us how she would cobble together two rectangular boxes to make a bike box. I showed her that this wouldn't be tall enough, but she said she would cobble together yet more cardboard to make up the difference. It seemed odd, but she was very confident. She said she would be working the counter tomorrow too. We're sold. We can disassemble bikes at a station nearby, and we have plenty of time to tweak things if they don't turn out quite right.
There are a few items we've been wanting to buy, but wanted to wait until the tour was over before adding to our bags. We walked over to Hakata Station and its huge complex of shops. It was as crowded as the airport! Not quite as many Koreans, though. It took a while, but we found the souvenirs and gifts on our checklist.
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It was dark and chilly, so a final bowl of ramen sounded perfect. We returned to a nearby hole in the wall called Kanade. They were so friendly when we had lunch there on Sunday that we felt compelled to pay them another visit.
This day gave us a chance to mentally distance ourselves from the routine of touring, which feels like a necessary step to avoid the whiplash of suddenly being stuck doing nothing inside a crowded tin can for 15 hours. Or maybe it's only 13 hours on the way back. It's a long time either way.
As is tradition, I'll report on the plane trip, bike reassembly, and the dark, cold, and probably wet ride home that will greet us in Seattle. I can hardly wait!
Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 3,000 km (1,863 miles)
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