Our Japan Tour is Nearing its End

Geno and I ended our bike tour in Nagano about 6 days ago and sent our bikes and camping equipment back to the Narita Youth Hostel. We decided not to ride to Tokyo, however, Jay still plans to ride into Tokyo since he has an additional week in Japan. Mine catching a cold also helped me toward that decision. The Kids, Andrew and Korey, continued riding southwest through the high northern alps of Japan. Geno and I hope to meet up with Korey again in Tokyo.

Geno and I have been traveling by train and bus since Nagano. We (Geno, Jay, and I) are now in Kamikochi within the high mountains of the Northern Alps of Japan. The mountains and fall colors are big attractions in this area. Tomorrow, we will take a bus back to Matsumoto for two more nights before taking a train to Tokyo. We plan to spend four nights in Tokyo and then fly home on Nov 4th. Jay will ride on alone from Matsumoto toward Tokyo.

For the past two weeks, beginning with the city of Nikko, then Kusatsu, Nagano, Matsumoto, and now Kamikochi, we have been in popular tourist areas of Japan. These places are fairly close to Tokyo by train or car. The cities and places are interesting and beautiful, but there are a lot of local tourist as well as foreigners. I guess this is the other side of traveling in Japan and this is a popular time of year for tourist.

After 1,700 miles of riding, our trip is now rapidly coming to an end. I have enjoyed every aspect of our trip, but I`m also ready for some home time. Updating this site has not been easy during this tour. Guess I`ll have to doing it at home. I have a lot of pictures so I`ll be busy for a while. I did add some pictures on Pbase.com. Take Care.

Herb