October 24, 2018 to October 25, 2018
Osaka
Our last ferry ride for the year, we hope. Leigh thinks we've down eight so far in Japan. I'm not sure how many we caught in Patagonia. Last year the number was equally ridiculous. Somehow catching a ferry when cycle touring doesn't feel as bad as taking a train or a bus.
The voyage was pretty rough as we headed in a south-easterly direction to start off with (not the best thing since we over-indulged in the buffet dinner) but once we turned northwards during the night it became a lot calmer.
We docked some time after eight o'clock this morning but it took more than an hour before we cycled off the boat. Then it was a case of wasting time as we cycled to our digs for the night because we could only book in at four. In the end, we snucj into the foyer early and sat there waiting for signs of life from reception. When the ownerr appeared were let into our room at about three.
The Asaka Ryokan is a misnomer if there ever was one. It is a real dive but has a great location being right next to the Shin-Imamiya Station from where we will catch the train to Universal Studios Japan tomorrow morning. It is also very cheap. Our room is hardly bigger than Stealth Orange and it's hard to think that the place has had a good clean in years but hopefully tomorrow will make up for it.
The next day ...
We were out of our digs before seven to catch the JR down to Universal City station where we joined the queue waiting for the gates of Universal Studios Japan to open. We had bought our tickets online the night before but so, it seems, had everyone else.
First port of call was the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Leigh had read all the books and our daughter was just the right age to grow with the books and movies so it was the natural thing to do. We couldn't resist a second ride on the Forbidden Journey.
Then it was off to Spiderman. Three times, yes three, we took the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. It was sooo good.
After that everything was rather humdrum. We did miss the two star roller-coaster rides (the Flying Dinosaur had four hour waiting times) but we're not sure that we are young enough for them any more.
In the end we still squeezed eleven rides into nine hours. We arrive back at our digs feeling pretty exhausted.
Today's ride: 14 km (9 miles)
Total: 3,454 km (2,145 miles)
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