Road Trip (nearly) to Hiroshima

So, as usual, that early morning set-off didn’t happen until 1.30pm! A combination of coffee and croissants and finding out the roof rack had arrived delayed ‘kick off.’ Nevertheless, good to get the roof rack on – though we both think it slightly distracts from her drop-dead good looks. We also replaced the two dampers that hold the tailgate up as the old ones had lost their oomph.

The late start meant that we didn’t quite get to Biwa Ko (Lake Biwa) in daylight; so we decided to ‘live it up’ with the truckers at a service station. Unfortunately, our image of drinking beer and eating fast food until the wee small hours were shattered when we learnt that all service stations on the Expressways don’t serve alcohol.

Lorry drivers, we also soon learnt, keep their engines running all night to heat their cab so it was a rather noisy evening sandwiched between two massive lorries. It was also bloody freezing! We, quite frankly, are going to have bite the bullet and buy Expedition/Three Season sleeping bags.

The next morning we made it to the lake and drove towards, what was described on the map, as “a beautiful beach.” And, to be fair, it was utterly stunning! We were both a tad annoyed that we hadn’t made it there the night before…

After eating delicious scrabbled egg off we pottered. Pottered being the appropriate verb here, as we loved being off the Expressways and onto the minor windy roads following the northern coast of Japan. Unlike the south coast of Japan this is still remarkably rural and beautiful.

As dusk approached, we found a small fishing labour and parked up. We drank beer and wine on the beach and watched the sun go down. As darkness grew closer we made a ‘proper’ meal of cous cous and a veg stew. Yum – the cheap Japanese gas stove proving excellent!

Next morning we set off to Tottori – sand dunes that Captain thought you were allowed to drive along. It turns out you can’t! He got them mixed up with a different place. They were pretty cool and much bigger than we imagined.

Afterwards we set off for the south coast. We had decided at this point to forgo Hiroshima; it was just that bit too far and Expressways are pretty dull to say the least. With thoughts of dusk, we ended up in the Okayama area about half way between Hiroshima and Osaka. It was quite flat and the seaside ports were much more built up than their northern counterparts. Though eventually we did find a little track that led to a solitary farmhouse and land. We were literally metres from the sea and spent the evening gazing out across to a number of small islands watching the ferries shuttling between them.

We woke up to very heavy persistent rain which we were expecting. So we decided we might as well drive for most of the day towards Tokyo and then find a spot maybe near Shimoda on the coast. The rain was relentless as we stuck to the Expressways towards Tokyo. I then made a rather dull decision that actually we might as well come home; without our awning and attached room we’re pretty much stuck in the car. We also hadn’t stocked up on booze for another service station night! So 7 hours and 14,000 yens-worth of toll fees later we arrived home. A few beers later and a trip over the road for pizza we were back with the electric blanket and home comforts.

A great trip was had by all and so wonderful to see ‘the other’ Japan. Captain noted that the whole time away we hardly saw anyone younger than 40 and not a single ‘hot’ woman in a pair of stilettos and caked on makeup. You do forget when you live in central Tokyo that most Japanese are pretty normal 🙂