Kosuke the hostel owner told me that the easiest way to cycle from Nara to Osaka would be along the route 25, a road that wasn’t a straight shot from one city to the other but circumvented the mountains that separated the two. Looking at the map it also appeared to go straight into the city centre without merging onto any car-only highways.

There was a light drizzle that that got heavier ad I was leaving Nara so I ducked into a diner by the road to get some breakfast and wait out the rain.

The ride from Nara to Osaka was not particularly interesting, I was cycling through urban sprawl all day.

It was obvious when I had arrived at Osaka though, the buildings suddenly shot up in height and the road got much wider.

There was also a deluge of rain when I got int the city. I could tell all day that it was going to rain heavily at some point. I had hoped to get into my hostel before this but I was too slow.

It wasn’t too bad though, actually added to the whole Blade Runner atmosphere that Osaka gives off.

I got into the hostel, dumped my stuff, had a shower then ventured out and road my bike around the neon city for a while. Tried some okonomiaki, a delicious Osaka speciality.

It’s like a savoury pancake, fried and lathered in sauce. The place I went to cooked it in front of you. Just what I needed after a day of cycling through the rain.

It did rain in the end. Hard. My tent held up great, to the rain at least. The thunder and lightening that accompanied it kept me awake late into the night until the front passed across the lake, the loud crashes and blinding flashes becoming faint rumblings. It was the wind that scared me the most. It only blew strong for a short while, but there was about a two minute period when the storm (typhoon might be a better word for it) was at its worst. The lightening was blinding as it cut through the dark, the thunder deafening and the wind managed to push so hard against the poles that give the tent structure that it started to collapse in on me.

Everything held, and around midnight I drifted off to sleep, the rain still pounding on the tent which had mercifully survived the winds battering. The next morning I got up to continued rain and decided to scrap the plan of hanging out by the lake for the weekend and just travel straight to Kyoto.

aftermath of the night before

It was a pleasant cycle along the shore of the lake despite the weather. I passed a sign for an onsen and decided to grab the chance for a bath. It was probably one of the nicest onsen I’ve visited so far.

approach to the bath

the bath itself

As I got further south along the lake and closer to the city the development became much more apparent and soon I was cycling through that sprawl that radiates from a city like the white of an egg from the yolk. Still found this Shinto gate standing in the lake despite it all.

There was, mercifully, a cycle path that ran along next to the train tracks so I could avoid the worst of the traffic.

Every straight and flat road that ran into the city seemed eventually to converge with the motorway, so as usual it was a headache to get into the city. Eventually I gave up trying to following the flat routes and turned onto the road that went over the mountains that ring Kyoto instead of through them. It was a climb for maybe thirty minutes and then downhill right into the city. Much easier than trying to duck in and around the motorway.

the descent that led to Kyoto

I made my way to the train station and found some last minute accommodation. Sleeping indoors that night while the rain poured outside, I felt I made the right decision to head for the city.

The plan was to approach Kyoto from lake Biwa. I was going to spend a few days up by the lake before heading into the city and to my halfway point.

My route today began following the rocky, volcanic coast next to the Sea of Japan. The scenery was incredible, and part of it reminded me of the Giants Causeway back home in Ireland. Never before in the trip was I so plainly presented with Japan’s geographical roots as a volcanic island.

despite the sign I still haven’t seen a wild boar.

rock formations off the coast remind me of the Giants Causeway

A bit before midday I left the 305 as it turned to continue following the Japan Sea coast I turned inland for lake Biwa and Kyoto. I had spend a bit of time cycling on lorry-laden secondary routes but it was more bearable than the day before. Soon I was in the mountains that acted as a wall between the lake and the sea and the road calmed.

the first road sign I saw for Kyoto.

I got to the lake at 2 or thereabouts. I could have cycled along the shore some, but the further south along the lake you progress the more developed it becomes. I found a small stones beach, nice and secluded, and set up there for the day.

When I’m wild camping I set up at dusk, around 6:30. Enough light to work by and the cover of darkness soon arrives. At 4 o’clock however,a nasty dark cloud started creeping over the lake and deep, threatening thunder followed. I quickly made camp, but the rain didn’t come.

I spent three nights in Kanazawa at the excellent Shaq Big House, a new guesthouse/hostel run by an amazing guy (called shaq). The place was only open for three weeks when I arrived so everything was brand new. Shaq facilitated a wonderful stay at Kanazawa for me and the other guests at the hostel.

me and shaq on the morning I left

My plan was to cycle to Kyoto via lake Biwa over the next four days, spending a day by the lake before heading into the city where I had bookings made.

This day the aim was to get from Kanazawa out to the coast, the start of Route 305 which I was told was a beautifully scenic route to the lake. Getting out of Kanazawa was not too hard, but the road was busy and I really wasn’t enjoying the ride so I just turned off it. All I had to do was follow the coast, how lost could I get?

Well I followed a bike path I found down by the sea for about an hour. When that ran out I went to look for the road that would take me to route 305. This proved quite difficult and I’d say I spent a good 90 minutes trying to get back on track.

I eventually joined back up with route 305′ which by this time had diverged from the busier highway 8 and took me through the small villages and countryside following a series of small lakes along the way.

I arrived at the sea sometime around 4 and set up on the first beach I found. I had covered some fair distance despite getting lost for a while and looked forward to getting to the lake tomorrow.