Cycling around Lake Biwa 2015 (2)

The next morning, I woke up very early and continued my cycling trip. 

It was a bit cold, only 6 degrees, I felt pain in my back because of carrying my backpack all the day yesterday, my ass also felt pain, but I think all of the pain is not a big deal, because on the long road, there is some pain you have to bear, but some scenery you can’t miss.

 

Hikone Castle is a massive Japanese castle with over four hundreds year of history, there is such a comfortable feeling while taking a stroll in the old castle during the quiet morning, I’ve quite enjoyed the atmosphere here.

 

I chose Hikone Harbor to go as my second check-in point, it is close from Hikone Castle, there was no one there at the harbor when I arrived, I guess maybe it is because I woke up too early, but I don’t want to cycle in the nighttime anymore like yesterday, I decided to start as early as possible.

 

After answering the second question successfully, I kept going forward to the north, then I arrived at Nagahama City, there is another Japanese old castle here “Nagahama Castle”, it is smaller than Hikone Castle but similarly beautiful.

 

The weather became cloudy and it seemed like it was going to rain when I arrived in Nagahama, I was a bit worried because it is not so easy to cycle in the rain, but thank God the weather was getting better, actually the weather was good during the three days I stayed in Lake Biwa, I was lucky.

There is another check-in point at Nagahama Harbor, I went to the harbor and found the check-in point, and answered the third question successfully, I think all of the questions are easy if you can read Japanese, usually the answer is just near you, maybe on a poster or a map, it is obvious.

 

There were a few old men who worked for the harbor. They were very interested in my bicycle, so we chatted for a while. They were very surprised when they heard that I came alone and was trying to finish a lap around Lake Biwa by bicycle on such a cold day, they told me I must be careful. Although I went to Lake Biwa alone, I’ve met so many nice people on my way and had great conversations with them, I didn’t feel alone.

Alright, now I’ve finished three questions, there is only one more left to go, I was very excited, at first, I thought I might not be able to answer all the questions correctly because I am not a native Japanese speaker, I wondered if I could understand the questions, but all of the questions are really easy even for a Japanese beginner like me.

 

After leaving from Nagahama, there is nothing but endless fields around on the way, I cycled along the pathway alone, there was only me in the vast field, I felt so small in this moment, we are all so small in this vast world, I think the reason why we should go travel is to see how big is this world, to understand how small we are, if you understand what is small, you can understand what is big.

“Why do you travel?” Because I have to feel that I am a part of this world.

 

Then, I reached the north area of Lake Biwa. If you ask me which part of Lake Biwa is the best, I would recommend you go here, the scenery along the lake road is very beautiful, I slowed down the bike and couldn’t help but gazing at the lake, I was impressed by the scenery in front of my eyes, the water mirrored the green mountains around the lake, the small waves shone on the deep blue water, just like there are thousands of diamonds falling over it, there were many people fishing and picnicking by the lake, it is a enjoyment to take a nap under the tree in a quiet and peaceful place like this, somehow, I felt like I’ve just walked into a beautiful painting.

 

When I checked the map on Google Earth before my trip, I saw there are some mountain roads at the north area of Lake Biwa. It was scary to me because I don’t like cycling on mountain roads, but thank God, it is not too steep. Actually all the way around Lake Biwa is smooth, some people can even finish a lap in only a day.

 

There is only a few convenience stores on the way, based on my experience yesterday, I always kept 1~2 rice rolls in my backpack in case I could not find any stores to get food again.

 

There is another beautiful place in north area of Lake Biwa you should not miss – “Kaizu Osaki”, in Kaizu Osaki, there are over 800 cherry trees along the lake, people always come here to see the cherry blossom in spring, I wish I could come here again and see how beautiful it is in springtime.

 

Then I arrived in Makino. If you ask me where is the most impressive place to me in this trip, I would tell you it is Makino. Makino is a very famous place to go skiing, on the way to the top of the mountain, there is a beautiful long way with bunches of tall trees, in fall, all of the leaves turn to red, and it looks like it’s burning, although the season I went to Makino was a bit early, the leaves were still green, but the scenery still impressed me.

At first, I kind of got lost, but soon I finally arrived at the tree route, I could not believe my eyes that there is such a beautiful place like this, I parked the bicycle and took a stroll in the woods, the sunlight fell through the green leaves, the birds sang on the treetop, everything was so beautiful at this magic moment, I wondered if there might be some fairies living in these deep woods, I imagined how they hide in the tree holes or dance under the moonlight, it was a calming and unforgettable afternoon stroll in Makino.

Before the sun went down, I left from Makino and arrived at the hostel in Takashima City - “Racine Home”.

Takashima is actually not a very popular spot, it was quite difficult to find a place to stay before my trip, it took me a while to find a hostel here on internet.

 

“Racine Home” is located near Shinasahi Station, it is a very nice hostel with clean rooms and friendly service, the price is also cheap, only 1400TWD / each bed.

 

There is a big bathtub in the bathroom, I love it very much, it was just way too awesome to soak in the hot tub. Trust me, the only thing you need after cycling all the day is taking a bath in the hot tub and relaxing your body.

 

Although there is not any stores or restaurants nearby, there is a nice restaurant in the hostel, I had a Biwa Fish Meal and a cup of beer as my dinner, the fish in the meal is from Lake Biwa and it tasted delicious, it was a very nice dinner.

 

The staff introduced me to many things about this place during the dinner time, all of them are truly friendly, one of the staff can speak some Mandarin and we had a great chat, she is a cute girl, she has been to Taiwan a couple of times, I invited her to visit Kenting (which is the city I live in) next time she come to Taiwan, and then I gave her two post cards which were taken in Kenting by me, I like to exchange travel stories with others, so I always bring my post cards and give them to new friends I meet while I travel.

Everything in this lovely hostel is much better than I excepted, especially the staff and their warm smile, I sometimes think about them even after I came back to Taiwan, I never thought that I would travel there before this trip, the scenery there is beautiful, but the most beautiful part of this place is the people, they all have a beautiful heart, this is what you cannot find in the books.

 

The next day, I woke up very early, and kept going forward to finish my lake trip.

There is another check-in point near my hostel so I went there first, it is located in "Windmill Village", after finishing the fourth question, I finally finished it, I was very happy and excited because I seriously made it!

 

But when I was trying to enter my address so I can get the certification, I found there is only Japanese cities you can choose on their website, maybe because usually there is only Japanese people getting this certification, so I could only try to choose a random Japanese city and enter my address in Taiwan below, I hoped they will still send it to me.

And guess what? Two weeks later, they really sent it to Taiwan to me! Wow, I could not believe it! I am so happy to get this, it is the best memento!

(You have to pay 1000JPY as the production cost after you got the certification, so I asked one of my Japanese friends to remit it)

 

OK, now back to my trip story, after finishing the final question, I kept going forward, I was almost going to finish a lap of Lake Biwa, the following way is smooth, so I cycled very fast on this day, but most of the scenery along the lake is just OK on the way, not many cool things to see.

 

There is a special Japanese shrine on the way - "Shirahige Shrine", the torii here was built in the water, just like a float on the lake, it is very beautiful, I parked the bicycle and sat on the stairs so I could enjoy this beautiful shrine for awhile, I took out a rice roll from my backpack and had a quick lunch by the lake, it was a very enjoyable moment.

 

Near Biwa Bridge, there is another awesome Japanese temple you should not miss - "Jyukimido", one of the building in this temple was built in the water same as Shirahige's torii, and it is very beautiful, don't forget to give it a visit when you pass by.

 

 

Kept going forward.

 

 

Finally, I arrived back to Kyoto in the afternoon and officially finished my lake trip, it was an amazing trip, unforgettable to me, the scenery of Lake Biwa is beautiful, more than I thought, it was a special experience to cycle along the lake and I quite enjoyed my trip by this way.

Hope to see you again, Lake Biwa!

 

Here is the video of this trip below: