Written by Nancy

Fukuregi camping, Shimoshima Island to Obama, Shimabara Peninsula – (50k, 612M)

It was stunningly quiet overnight in the Fukuregi campround. While our tent was right next to the Highway, neither of us heard more than one car all night. Highway 35 seems to be a road that very few people drive. The only minor issue with the campground (other than no showers) was that the humidity was crazy and our tent was soaked before we even went to bed. We took extra time in the morning waiting for the sun to clear the hills and dry things out a bit before we could ride.

Almost as soon as we left came we rode into the small village of Fukuregi.  There were several relatively new looking signs noting that this area was where the Fukuregi lullaby (the Fukuregi no Komori Uta) originated.   The information we could find on it says that “the lullaby has been handed down from generation to generation in Fukurengi, and is said to have been sung even before the Ansei Period (1854-1860). The lullaby’s lyrics express feelings of sadness and sorrow .”  There you go, every place has some unique feature. We found the lullaby on Youtube – nope, didn’t recognize it.

We had some great backroads today, through the forest on one lane roads that wound up the hills with some great switchbacks.  At one point we came to a cross roads and weren’t quite sure which road to take.  There happened to be a little house there and a lady came out to toss some plant material in a compost.  She said good morning (in Japanese, of course) and then asked us where we were going.  We tried to say the port name where we were headed but were obviously saying it wrong.  She called her husband out, and we talked to him for a little bit, showing him the route on the phone and trying to get some confirmation of what road we should take.  Between his help and looking more at Komoot we picked our path, said thanks and set off on a long winding downhill. 

Once we finally got down off the hill and back into some civilisation we knew we wouldn’t make the first ferry at 10:20, so stopped at a convenience store for a break.  Then a few kilometres down the road we almost rode right by a bakery – horrors!  So we made a quick u-turn and ducked in to buy some snacks for the ferry.  Oh right, a quick look at our watches confirmed we were now at risk of missing the 11:30 ferry, so the race was on.  Whew, we could see the ferry port and the ferry still out in the water, and despite missing the turn into the port the first time we made it with 30 minutes to spare.  Not sure these time trials to the ferry ports are quite what this trip was about, but they seem to be happening regularly!  We got to see some dolphins from the ferry, which was funny as there were two sightseeing boats packed with people following the dolphin pod while we watched them from the ferry.

While we were on the ferry (calm, smooth sailing) we picked a spot for lunch that seemed to be popular and headed right there.  We got in just before the big rush and had some decent katsudons (basically fried chicken steak on rice with a barely cooked egg) before we tacked the last 21k to our accommodation in an area called Unzen or Obama.  This area is well known for its hot springs, and riding into the town area you could see steam coming up all over (and smell the sulphur). 

The place we are staying, Shunyokan, is one of those resort that was probably once very glamorous but is now on the tired side.  There are some very fancy (and expensive) places here, but we actually could find very few rooms available – I think it’s one of those places you have to book far in advance. Check in at the hotel was quite funny – the front desk woman was perplexed by the bikes and got the manager to come out to see what to do.  He found a nice inside place to store them away from view, so I am sure they will be fine.  Our room is fine too – it’s a traditional Japanese room, so more sleeping on futons on the floor. Dave did have to have a bit of a discussion with the night manager after the Wi-fi failed to work in the room this evening – that appears to have been fixed now.

We had a quick dip in the onsen, as you do here (very hot), and then walked about 10 minutes to a coin laundry to do the wash.  This is the first place we have stayed that didn’t have a washing machine – that’s something you generally don’t have to worry about, so that shows you hold old this place is.  I can imagine it is hard to maintain these places with the moisture caused by the underground hot water steaming up everywhere. 

Tomorrow is a rest day here, as it is supposed to be raining overnight and into the morning.  We might have try out the longest foot bath in Japan that is here in town.  Otherwise it might just be kind of a lazy day.