Bike Tour Kagoshima to Minamata: Mercury poisoning
Rain would continue to be a challenge on the way to Minamata. It was also very hilly which didn’t help the cause. One night, I was riding up the hill and it got pretty dark and I could not find a place to camp and kept riding in the dark until I finally reached Minamata’s michi no eki (rest stop) where you can go inside and actually sleep legally. And this one had a couch and a few handicap bathrooms where I would wash all the dirt I had picked up along the way. I would ride 120km this day through hills and rain. It was the most distance I had covered so far. At the end of the day, washed and clean laying in my sleeping bag, is the best time of the day, especially with a full stomach and a beer in my hand. Good night Japan.
I somehow found myself riding in the highway when a traffic control officer started running towards me with his whistle and traffic light baton in his hand and guided me out of the freeway in jogging speed for about 10 minutes. Then, he bowed to me and said goodbye. Only in Japan.
The mountains in the background with layers of cloud hovering above. Pictures don’t do justice, especially with a point and shoot.
Minamata port. Why do I feel like the lumber here is not from Japan but from third world nations?
This is a guest blog post by Dae Choi
[If you would like to read the rest of this guest blog post, please go to the link provided below, thank you!]
https://bornkorean.com/bike-tour-kagoshima-to-minamata-mercury-poisoning/