Cub: Day 9 of Cycling Around Japan

Good morning.
Yesterday was the best weather, perfectly clear.
Today it's raining. I woke up to the sound of rain hitting the tent.
Well, it is cozy, I'll give it that.
But the trauma is stronger.
I'll never forget the day a puddle formed in that tent.
First thing I did was wake up and check for puddles.
No water inside! Packed up the sleeping bag immediately.
If my life-saving bedding gets wet, it's over, plus it costs money to wash.
The rain is stopping, so I might as well rethink today's plans.

Oh no, the rain is getting stronger.
It's flooding in lol.
I feel like I'm becoming a person who hates rain.

Let's pack up the tent! Rain.
It stopped! Let's pack up! Rain.
What are you doing, seriously, enough already? Rain.
The rain cloud radar is slacking off too much.
Stop already!

Woke up after 7, packed up, and rain.

Wiping the rain inside the tent, then it gets wet again.
Smoking a cigarette, wiping, then it gets wet again.
Repeating this, it's now 9 o'clock.

I fell asleep—it's 10:30 lol.
I'm just sleeping today.

It's dirty, but this is a swim towel.
This guy is the MVP.
Seriously the best! When it gets wet, you wring it out and it regains its absorbency!
I can wipe forever. If I didn't have this, I'd be done for.

The rain stops, I think 'once this is done,' and then it rains again, repeating for 3 hours.
So stupid.
I tried to leave once I finished writing in my notebook, but it started pouring.
Goodnight.

The rain stopped! I'm going! Packed up at 10:40.
I've gotten really fast at setting up and packing away the tent.
The problem is that I end up lazing around.
A house or a tent, it's all the same.
As long as I can lounge around, anywhere is fine.

Breakfast is a seaweed rice ball.
I was thinking of going to a convenience store.
The convenience store I see most is FamilyMart.
Second is Lawson, third is Seven-Eleven.
Seven-Eleven is slacking, build some in the countryside too.

I like FamilyMart the best among convenience store chains, so it's fine.
Second place is Lawson, right?
Wait, is first place Ministop?
Their soft-serve ice cream is good.
Well, let's go for now.

It just occurred to me, but I feel like I've only ever seen Class A rivers.
Aren't there Class 2, Class 3, or quasi-Class 1 rivers?

Also, mandarin orange cultivation is disappearing.
Peaches? Persimmons? Maybe those are more common?
Tea leaf fields are beautiful whenever I see them.

What a nice view.
Almost at the destination! Then the rain got heavy.
Rain! Wind! Negative ions! Tank top!
It's freezing, I'll change at a roadside station or convenience store.

There it is! FamilyMart.
I love you.
Raincoat and layers are perfect.
Whoever thought of 'Kyudan' (extra warm) innerwear deserves a Nobel Prize.
If they haven't won one, they should be given one immediately.
This is a revolution for humanity.
When I stop, it's so warm it's almost summer.

Arrived! Nagashino Weir!
The waterfall is intense! Water spray is flying everywhere.

Huh? Where's the waterfall, you ask?
There's no such thing.
There wasn't much water today, so there was no waterfall.
That's the worst.

Apparently, the rainy season in May and June is the real deal.
It rains during the rainy season, the water level rises, and it comes crashing down.

Not a single drop fell today!
I just got wet from the rain.
The waterfall and the spray were lies.
Yeah. Goodbye.
Well, I guess it's rare, so that's something.

Trout? Sweetfish? Probably trout, no, maybe sweetfish.
Well, both are delicious, right?
You can fish for carp or one of those here.

It seems you can do that too.

Next! Mt. Horaiji!
No way! I don't want to hike for an hour lol.
It's raining! I'm fat, so if I trip, I'll die!
Sorry. I'll come back when it's sunny.
I want to see it, but the feeling of not wanting to go is stronger.
Sorry. Thank you very much.

Next, Hyakken Waterfall.
Is this also impossible unless it's the rainy season? Could it be?
I can go, but it's a 40-minute round trip...
Well, I'll go for now.

A lady nearby told me I could get close by bike, so I came!
The mountain road was brutal, my ears hurt, and it was pretty far.
Was that a wolf on the way? No way, right?
There was a stray dog and I literally shouted, 'Huh? What? What?'
I didn't know stray dogs were a thing.

Wait, there's a shrine too?!
I thought it was just a temple, so I didn't bring my goshuin stamp book!
I got a pre-written one instead.

I made it! It took about 15 minutes walking from the parking lot.
The view is super beautiful!
By the way, why is it called Mt. Horaiji?
A monk rode a phoenix to go cure the Emperor's illness.
The monk said to the Emperor, 'I want to build a temple here!'
The Emperor said, 'Well, since you came riding a phoenix, let's call it Mt. Horaiji.' That's what the lady told me.

Look at this view.
Isn't it crazy? It's like a knock-up stream.
Oh, you know, that thing where the ocean gets pushed up into the sky when going to the Sky Island.
The view from below and the view from above are totally different.
The rainy scenery is also cool.

I thought about going to the next place, but I ran out of fuel lol.
But it's downhill, so maybe I can make it?
Let's aim for a nearby gas station for now!

I reached the gas station! Alright, let's fill up...
Where's the gas station? It's closed down!
Apple Maps is total trash.

The next one is far? Seriously, no way.

I survived! lol
My little bike really runs well.
As expected! I talk to it every day, so it's getting stronger.
That's my Super Cub for you.

I arrived at Nyukawa Gorge.
I had to backtrack the whole way from Mt. Horaiji to the gas station, so annoying.
I'm on a moped, but the navigation only has car routes, so it keeps trying to take me on roads where mopeds aren't allowed.
Stop it! When I switched to bicycle navigation, it tried to take me through the mountains.
It's so extreme. Just... do something a bit more reasonable!

Huh? What is this? It's too beautiful, isn't it?
If it were summer, I would've jumped in!?
Seriously beautiful! It's so crystal clear.
It's like Tanjiro's vision lol.
Yeah. That wasn't funny, sorry.

Is this it? I think so? The photo is bright, but it was actually a bit darker and I was hesitant to go further, so I'll just assume this is it!
That's a huge rock.
That's about it. The end.
It was actually really huge, probably about 50 times my size.
Maybe even more than that.

I was walking fast on the way back and slipped, hitting my knee hard.
It hurt so much, I was crouching for about 2 minutes.
It's already healed though.

Tonight is steak!
It took about 2 hours to get here.
I almost died from falling asleep on the way.
A friend recommended this place for good value.
I ended up getting a big portion and it was about 1500 yen.
Delicious! I've been eating nothing but seafood, so meat is great!
Meat, meat, meat!
It's softer than I thought, and it's nice to be able to grill it to my own liking.
There were quite a few sauces too.
Thanks for the meal.

I came to Hamamatsu Station.
Is it normal for there to be no one in front of this screen?
Is it deserted?
And where is the smoking area? I've been looking for about an hour?
There are no 'no smoking' posters, so I thought, 'Is this a city where you can smoke on the street?' but then...
'Don't make non-smokers breathe smoke.'
Shut up, then build a smoking area.
Oh, I'm not smoking right now.

A photo of 'What is being done here?'

Today is over.
It's going to rain, so I'm staying at Kaikatsu Club today.
The Kaikatsu in Hamamatsu is crazy! 2000 yen for 12 hours.
Is the cost of living in this city from 10 years ago?
I'll plan for tomorrow and go to sleep!

Alright then.