Still a few
kilometers away...On the afternoon of the 29th everyone seemed to be going to Mt. Tsukuba. I didn't have any definite plans but I thought I would join a group headed there. A few groups had already left by bicycle when I bumped into Tina Wong who was planning to go by bus. I almost went along but at the last minute I decided to get a bike and go alone. That just goes to show how much smarter Tina is than I am. Mt. Tsukuba didn't LOOK that far away but looks can be deceiving, especially when you factor in the Japanese bicycle. Japanese bicycles are amazing because they are all alike! Okay, 2 percent of them are mountain bikes or 10-speeds (14-speeds?) but you get the idea. The standard Japanese bike is a 3-speed "women's bike," has a basket on the front, and is way too small for the average American male. Also, just to be confusing, the left hand controls the back brake and the right hand controls the front brake. I won't even talk about the valve stem which usually doesn't work, making it impossible to put air in the tires. I tried to put more air in my bike's tires and proceeded to let all the air out. What was worse, I couldn't get any more in with the Kenshu Center pump so I had to use another bike. After that half-hour diversion I was on the road and heading for Mt. Tsukuba.
Mt. Tsukuba is a small mountain about 15 kilometers from Tsukuba Science City. Using my bike back home I would have been there in less than an hour but it took about two with the Japanese bike. Here are some pictures I took along the way:
Still a few
kilometers away...
Rice patties
below and clouds above Mt. Tsukuba...
Man, dog, and Mt.
Tsukuba...
By the time I got close to Mt. Tsukuba I realized that climbing it was probably not going to happen. It took longer than I thought it would to get there, I was already getting tired, and I was starting to get sunburned. But I thought there was a chance, so I looked for trails on the western side of the mountain. It was probably for the best that I didn't find any. On the way I went through a small village which naturally had some vending machines, allowing me to get a cold drink (I had brought some water along but it was very warm by this time). Ah, the ubiquitous Japanese vending machine!
Your ticket to
drink paradise...
Now I was getting really tired so I decided to head back to Tsukuba. But I had to take care of the sun situation first or my next stop would be a hospital. ;-) Despite the fact that it was very hot with a strong sun shining all day, I didn't buy any suntan lotion before I started riding. I should have known better. I stopped at a convenience store and, using my best Japanese pronunciation, tried to ask where I could find suntan lotion. The girl at the counter, having no clue what I was saying, looked at me in consternation and went to get the manager. I tried again with the manager without luck until I showed her the katakana in my Japanese phrase book at which point she exclaimed "Ah, suntan lotion" (Japanese pronunciation of course). She then took me to the aisle and I was all set, except for the little dent in my ego (I thought my Japanese pronunciation wasn't THAT bad!).
The rest of the ride back to Tsukuba was tiring but uneventful. I took this picture of a nice Japanese home on the way back:
Home &
garden...
I rode by a small Japanese cemetery on the way back and took these pictures:
Eventually I made it back to the Kenshu Center where I removed myself from the bicycle and immediately headed for the bath room to take a shower, even though it didn't officially open for another hour. (One of the irritating things about the Kenshu Center is the bath room hours.) One thing I knew for certain, though, was that I was going to be very red for the next few days.