Saturday, May 13, 2017

JAPAN: Ride Day 4


I was awake way before our 6:00 alarm, listening to the rain.  Today is our longest day and has the most complex set of instructions.  Because of the weather, the ride time is deferred for 1.5 hours.  Most leave at 9:30 in spite of the rain.  We opt to ride in the van until the grocery stop, and then until lunch and then the rest of the way. What the hell!

Some Japanese customs are easy to adapt to; e.g. when putting on the the “robe”, or whatever it is called, you place the right side across your left breast and then cover with the left side.  But slippers are totally baffling. When we checked into the Ryokan his evening we were given a sheet of paper which began with “There are no slippers  in inside of the building.  Please have time by a barefoot or tabi socks.”  Even more confusing is the toilet area.  No matter where, in your hotel/ryokan room of a public rest room, there are slippers inside.  Usually these have a wooden foot platform.  IK guess you can’t pee barefoot.

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Last night’s Robyn was luxurious as shown above.  Also the Onsen shown below facing the ocean (sea). And the food was fancy, if not entirely satisfying.  Then came breakfast.  Very little was eaten by the Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

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Today’s plan included going to a shopping center where everyone purchases his/her our own lunch. The van would transport the meals for a later meeting point.  It was a very large shopping center, maybe associated with Costco since there were Kirkland potato chips.  There was a large health fare at the shop.  Of course everyone was looking for something tasty after the inedible breakfast.  Later at the lunch stop I observed a couple of fishermen.

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We’re again in a fancy Ryokan, see below.  You can see the open window and the next photo  show’s what’s in the window. We’re about the check out onsen and can’t wait for dinner.

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Tomorrow is not a ride day; we’re transported to another location, in the mountains.

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