August 11, 2018
Ebeotsu
As a cycle tourist in Japan, there can be nothing nicer than a visit to an Onsen at the end of the day's ride. But more of that later.
As soon as we retired to our tent last night, the rain starting bucketing down. At 2am we were treated to an absolutely fabulous thunderstorm that had us wondering if ouir camp site in the woods was the safest place to be. The rain didn't stop until after seven o'clock this morning and we were resigned to spending an hour our two at the campsite to try and get things dried out. A cup of coffee for (and tea for Leigh) plus the sky starting to brighten may this a relaxing job. We started down the hill to the town soon after nine thirty and enjoyed a breakfast outside the 7-Eleven where Leigh spent some time catching on Internet things. Then we hit the road northwards, onve again on lovely quiet farm roads.
After about two hours of flying along with a nice tailwind to help us, we decided to cut back to Route 12 so that we could find some food. Route 12 was busy but has a pretty good cycle path running alongside it so it was stress-free but rather boring riding. As we approached Takikawa we spotted the symbol for an Onsen, Japan's famed hot springs where, for a small fee, you can have a good shower and scrub before lounging naked in a variety of naturally heated pools which are usually segregated by gender. Unfortunately, the Onsen was closed but a lady working in her garden next door tried to provide direction to one further up the road.
The plan was to spend the night at the Takikawa Park but when we got there it was still early ion the afternoon and it looked rather frayed about the edges. Leigh and I were both keen to have a good scrub so the lack of water made it a no-brainer for us to move on. We headed for a Michi-no-Eki (Japan's rural road side stations which have info booths, local food and toilets, amongst other things) about ten kilometers north of Takikawa where we hoped to find information about a possible Onsen and also as a possible place to spend the night.
From the information gleaned from a vague sign board at the Mich-no-Eki and the help of a lady at as konbini close by we found an absolute gem of a local, no-frills Onsen where we enjoyed a good clean-up and soak with some interaction with a few of the locals, one of whom gave us a gift of snacks for the road. Leigh always lingers longer in the ladies section of the Onsen than I do in the mens so while I was waiting for her I enjoyed an ice cold beer in the lounge area - the perfect way to end a good cycle.
After that it was back to the konbini near the Mich-no-Eki where we enjoyed a four course meal from the out-of-date packed meals counter at the konbini plus another beer, all for less than a thousand yen (about R125 or $9). Who says food is expensive in Japan?
After that we vacillated on where to pitch our tent for the night. In the end we settled on Ebeotsu Park a kilometer up the hill to the east of the Mich-no-Eki which would be a lot quiter that if we had camped in the vicinity of the Mich-no-Eki itself.
Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 138 km (86 miles)
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