I’ve been home for about a week now and still haven’t finished the journal! At any rate, I only have a few more days of the cycle to finish writing about, so I should be able to get them out quickly now that I’ve settled back in.

From Beppu I was going to be riding along the comparatively undeveloped and isolated east coast of Kyushu. The coastline was lined with headlands and capes. Depending on the size I would either stick to the coast or cut across country to leave out what sometimes could end up as an extra 50KM

going over land and through tunnels

The road was probably the quietest it has been since Hokkaido. The coast road especially was pleasantly devoid of traffic.

Toward the end of the day I was going across country in order to reach a campsite before dark.

I came across a construction worker standing in the middle of the road after making my way halfway across the headland. He told me the road was closed ahead due to a landslide or something. After trying to argue with him to let me through anyway (it was going to be dark soon, I knew I wouldn’t make it to the campground if I had to turn around ), I reluctantly retraced my steps and started following the longer, winding coastal road around the cape. It was getting dark quickly, and as I was climbing a headland still far from my original destination a came across a perfect spot to set up.