Kyushu Bike Touring

Japan is among those magic destinations that are impossible not to love. At this time, we decided to go to a week-long cycling adventure to southern island of Kyushu. Both of us travelled in the country’s main island, Honshu, therefore we decided to go somewhere where we can experience the country’s famous Cherry Blossom slightly away from the crowd. Kyushu turned out to be the right choice, as outside the main cities we hardly could see any foreigners, so we could have the magnificent landscape with the blooming cherry trees all for ourselves.

 

We flew from Singapore to the city of Fukuoka. We assembled our bikes right at the airport and then rode straight to our Airbnb (which was a conventional Japanese city apartment, i.e. super small). As we arrived in the afternoon, it was raining at night and we wanted to start riding really early we just had a quick dinner and called for a day at around 10PM.

 

 

The next day we started riding southward. After riding just 14 kilometers we stopped at the historic town of Dazaifu and strolled around the center filled with medieval houses, temples and shrines. After lunch we continued riding through agricultural lands and rural towns until the city of Korume. Here we stopped at the impressive Daizenji Tamataregu Shinto shrine, which luckily escaped the bombings of WW2. After shooting a few photos we started riding again till the hot spring town of Takeo Onsen. When we finally arrived to the town after sunset the till pleasant whether turned rather cold, and our muscles were aching due to the constant and strong headwind which we experienced all along since we sat sail in Fukuoka.  Therefore, it was a relief to stop at “CoCo Curry House” to get a large, spicy and tasty katsu curry. After this superb dinner we spent an hour in a public hot spring (onsen in Japanese) to wash the sweat and dirt of a long day.

 

We spent the night camping in a public park. Being in a mountainous area the night turned out rather chilly, even inside our tent and sleeping bag that is rated to be comfortable even in 3 degrees Celsius. While we certainly did not suffer from hypothermia, we our sleep wasn’t the most comfortable (perhaps due to the reason that we just came from the tropical Singapore).

 

In the morning after dismantling our tent we had breakfast in a nearby convenience store and headed towards Nagasaki. On the way stopped by at the marvelous, almost otherworldly Yototku Inari shrine. After trekking up to the shrine we had some lunch in the nearby town and then continued our ride. The road towards Nagasaki prefecture leads through steep mountains which are often connected by bridges built over rocky gores. While cycling in this area in late afternoon a heavy and long lasting and cold rain shower forced us to stop before Nagasaki city and spend the night in the town of Isahaya. We didn’t regret. After checking into a surprisingly nice roadside hotel, we walked around the town center where we stumbled into a pleasant izakaya restaurant.

 

On the fourth day included only a short ride until Nagasaki city where we checked into “love hotel”. We chose this accommodation as most hotels in the city asked prices beyond our reach. Love hotels are establishments that rent out rooms for either short (1-2 hours) or long time for couples …  Yet, due to the affordable prices we favored them both in Japan and previously in Korea. In Nagasaki we spent the day with exploring the city. Despite its sad history it is a beautiful place mostly due to its dramatic sea sceneries.

 

The next day we sat sail to climb up to “Unzen’s Hell”, near the resort town of Unzen Onsen. The “Hell” consists several hot spring fields where hot sulfurous water is bubbling up to the surface with billowing steam. In the middle ages Christians rebels were executed here after the Shimabara Rebellion. This was definitely one of the most unique sights during the trip, therefore well-worth the grueling 40km climb. In fact, Angela was crying starting from half way, threatening to throw her bike or stop a truck to take her up. Yet, her mood changed once she saw this otherworldly sight that perhaps resembles of the surface of another planet such as Venus.

 

Once we finished walking around the hot spring fields time well passed into the afternoon leaving us less than an hour and half to reach the last ferry from Shimabara terminal to Kumamoto. Luckily, the rest of the route was almost entirely steep descent, so by completing the last 20 kilometers with a one swing, crazy fast downhill we even had time to comfortably eat.

 

We have no much memory of this ferry ride. As soon as we boarded, chained our bikes at the bottom of the vessel and climbed to the passenger cabin we fell asleep and only woke up when we already reached port in Kumamoto. After a 14 kilometer ride we finally arrived to our comfortable hotel. After checking in, chaining our bikes downstairs in the hotel lobby and changing clothes we went out to hunt for some dinner. I can recall that I had one of the best sleeps in my life that night.

 

We spent the next day exploring Kumamoto’s pleasant city center, visiting its castle that was ruined in the 2016 earthquake and buying some additional camping stuff to keep our tent warm. Towards sunset we hopped on the bikes to find a nice camping spot a bit outside of town as we were unwilling to pay the rather high Japanese hotel prices. We stopped first in one of the north eastern suburbs to have bath in an onsen. After cleaning ourselves we grabbed some dinner in a shop just in front of the hot spring’s reception then hopped again on our bikes to cycle to the nearby public park to assemble our tent.

 

With having an extra liner and isolation in our tent we slept comfortably. Waking up in the park early morning was a beautiful experience. The cherry trees around us were blossoming in beautiful pink color at the backdrop of the park’s green.

 

This day another set of grueling climbing followed when we road to the mount Aso National Park where the famous Aso volcano is located. When we struggled ourselves and our heavy bikes up the road, which was even steeper than the one leading to mount Unzen (interestingly Angela wasn’t complaining as much), the landscape gradually changed from lush green to almost desert-like. We could not climb up to Mount Aso itself as there was significant volcanic activity and approaching the crater less then 1km was prohibited. Nevertheless we could see it from a distance along with another interesting, strangely shaped peak, Komezuka.

 

Long descent followed the long climb, and the another climb after leaving Aso town, and of course another descent. In midafternoon we stopped by in a small town for some extremely delicious wagyu beef before reaching Tsuetate, a gorgeous onsen town well after sunset. First, we picked up some nice hot soba in a small restaurant, then as always before camping we went to find an onsen. This night’s hotspring was absolutely the best. For 2000 yen we got a private outdoor pool for one hour. After a hard day of cycling the hot water in a beautiful garden in the cold night felt like heaven.

 

We set camp under a beautiful Shinto shrine in the mid of the town. After a comfortable sleep we dismantled the tent, but left the bikes at the shrine to explore Tsuetade a bit. The town became a famous (Japanese only) tourist destination in the early 20^th century. It’s no wonder that there are barely a few private houses, and most of the buildings are ryokans (traditional Japanese inns). The town lies in a steep gore on the shores of a small river and the whole setting is just unimaginably beautiful, especially in Sakura season.

 

Both of us would have killed to stay just one more day, but time was flying and we had to catch out flight in Fukuoka. The last day we cycled through some beautiful rural area with traditional village houses and valleys dotted by blossoming sakura.

 

Hotels were full in Fukuoka, therefore we were forced to stay in a very expensive but very comfortable one. The next day we found carton boxes in a local bikeshop for our bikes, went to Daiso to get cheap packing materials and packed the rigs. After that with two taxis headed to the airport.

 

Because of its rich culture, facinating landscapes, clean and safe environment, helpful locals, convenience stores (with heated toilet seat!) and sumptous food, we will definitely go back to Japan for another epic bike tour.