Taking a break to go out and grab some lunch. Neda takes some pix of the flowers around our neighbourhood
This is where we're staying for the next couple of days. Nice view of the mountains in the background
We found a great restaurant just around the corner, funky decorations hang from the...
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We are taking another rest day. Two in fact.
The pace over the last couple of weeks since we left Tokyo has been relentless. We're just not used to this constant movement, especially in our fatigued state. But...
Taking pictures of cherry blossoms is also a national past-time. Just like scarfing down dumplings,
it's an activity that I can totally get on board with as well!
We walk back to our bikes to see which one of them got towed. :)
To our surprise they were both still there! Either two-wheelers...
This is Hanami!
Hanami is defined as the "Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of cherry blossoms". It is a national past-time during the early spring, where you grab a bento box, find a cherry blossom tree and sit underneath and enjoy your food and the view. If I could...
Kumamoto Castle through the cherry blossoms
Back outside in the city, we walk along the moat surrounding the castle grounds
It's lunch hour and people stream out from the office buildings nearby
That doesn't stop many people (and animals) from walking around the very pretty grounds and taking in the cherry blossoms
Neda in her element!
Shops and stalls outside Kumamoto Castle
Walking through the streets of Kumamoto
We're actually not here to see the city itself. The Kumamoto Castle is right downtown, so we're making our way over there.
We enter the park where the castle is and are greeted by blooming cherry blossoms. Nice!
Cherry blossoms and Kumamoto Castle...
Saying goodbye to the cherry blossoms and Hitayoshi
With our bellies full of gyozas, we hop back on our bikes. From here, we are heading north up the western side of Kyushu island.
Another hour of riding and we enter the outskirts of Kumamoto, Kyushu's largest city. Cherry blossoms along the...
We already know walking through these red torii gates signify a transition to the sacred.
The thinking here is that if one is good then a whole bunch in a row is even better!
The Japanese seem to love multiplying artifacts, be they flags on the side of the paths and stairs, to torii gates...
Cherry blossoms in front of the very pretty red bridge outside of Aoi Aso shrine
Inside Ao Aso shrine, we see a priest walking into one of the buildings
He's wearing the purple robes which signifies he's high-ranking. Lesser priests wear lighter blue. The black hat he's wearing is called a...
There's a shrine nearby we want to visit. On our ride over, we see cherry blossoms!
We've been enviously reading the news about the early cherry blossoms sprouting up in Tokyo due to the unusually warm weather they've been having. Now they've finally bloomed here in the south! So beautiful...
We heard about this great gyoza shop in Hitayoshi, so we dropped in for some dumplings
The guy who ran the place didn't speak any English, so we just pointed at the pictures on the menu: some chicken, some beef and some veggie dumplings. The plates come with 15 gyozas each and because we hadn't...
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Miyazaki is the furthest south we'll venture in Japan. Today, we're heading to the north-west corner of the island of Kyushu.
Passing by a Suzuki shop. I'm way more aware of Japanese brands now that we're in Japan...
During dinner, we hopped on the Internet and found a budget business hotel situated right in the centre of the city. So off we go! But as soon as we depart the restaurant, it's freezing once again because the sun has disappeared. Thankfully, it's a short ride into town at city speeds and traffic...
Although the days have been getting noticeably longer since we arrived in Japan, this was quite a long riding day and we pulled into the city of Miyazaki well after sunset. We haven't booked any hotel or AirBnB yet, plus we are starving (!), having eaten nothing since a late breakfast.
Just as...
Our daylight hours are short enough as it is! The mountains are no help at all when the sun disappears below them at 4:30PM!
I can totally picture the lava cutting through the rock when I see these striations on the gorge walls
Beautiful reflections on the Gokase River's waters
We are one...
Less than 15 minutes ride and we arrive at Takachiho Gorge.
Takachiho Gorge is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Miyazaki Prefecture. However, we're arriving so late in the afternoon that all the tour buses have already left. We park on the sidewalk next to a scooter and the...
Kids building an inukshuk on the path leading to Ama-no-Iwato
This is the real temple of the Sun Goddess!
We hike back to our bikes. It's going to be a very short ride to our next destination.
Zooming through the heavily forested mountains roads in the Miyazaki Prefecture. So awesome!
We...
As pretty as this temple is, it's actually not the main shrine
You have to walk into the forest a few hundred meters, past a river...
The path ends at Ama-no-Iwato, which means "Cave of the Sun Goddess". Hey, you mean the story is real?!?
The path leading to the cave and the cave floor...
Drama in the parking lot of the the Ama-no-Iwato shrine.
There's a lot of mythology set in Takachiho. Although this angry dude looks like he's going to drop a rock on my head, he's actually one of the good guys.
Legend has it that the Goddess of the Sun, Ameterasu-omikami, was once driven into...
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