Japan Day 2 Samurai skate Himeji to okayama, kurashiki

Day 2 samurai skate
Himeji to okayama, kurashiki
Distance:75km
Time in longboard : 5 hour 18m

Himeji Guesthouse

Started at 7 am from Himeji with rain and headwind. Skated on route 250 all the way to destination. Just after we left Himeji city, we ride into coastal road and into a fishing port. Got sea view cost hand. Of course, when skating along the mountain coast, we got uphill and lots of it.. Uphill is actually nothing to me but is downhill, I am worried with. On wet ground, makes braking and speed control This whole day is just skating all these mountain passes plus the headwind. Thank god I am trained for the headwind, thanks to new Zealand ruapuana ultraskate. Just When it get sunny, I take off my jacket then it rains again. I give up on changing clothes already.

My partner Joni had difficulty cycling uphill on her fully loaded Brompton. I skated faster than her on uphill and she is faster on downhill. So I always go ahead of her on hills and wait for her on downhill end.

At hinase, after the downhill end I waited for Joni for 20 minutes, still can't see her. I backtrack to find her and ask drivers along the way but they can't speak English and say no. I have no local Japanese sim card to contact her. And asking local Japanese in English is like finding a needle in ocean. So I pressed on to nearby town Bizen to find Internet or means to contact Joni. After trying shops, cafes and post office, but to no avail. Lucky I got the address of the hostel we staying tonight. I hurry on to okayama but it is already 4pm and sun is setting so after 75km, I stopped and took a train to kurashiki so I can get to hostel wifi and contact her

At kurashiki station, I managed to find Starbucks and WiFi to contact her. She was too tired at mountain passes so she took bus and train to kurashiki that is why I couldn't find her. Lucky we got reunited at kurashiki station and find our hostel now

What a day of adventure. Climbing mountain passes with headwind, losing my friend and found her again. Today is really up and down.