Continue reading »]]> Once again I’m lucky to have a sunny day in Kurashiki and therefore can present you fantastic photos of the Bikan Historic Area. Kurashiki is one of those cities which escaped World War II mostly unharmed and thus, plenty of original, homes, storehouses (倉 Kura), shops and mills are preserved today alongside the beautiful historic canal.

Castle of Himeji

It is 105 km from Kurashiki to Himeji but I make it in one day. Unfortunately the sight I’m looking most forward to see there is covered in a scaffolding for refurbishment. And it has already been this for way for several years! It’s Himeji’s UNESCO world cultural heritage castle.

Frustrated, I set forth for Kobe. It seems to be the peak of the rainy season as it rains for the whole day. I’m cycling for several hours now and I think I just passed Akashi. As I’m letting my bicycle with my trailer roll downhill on a street with regular traffic volume, I suddenly hear something crashing behind me followed by a constantly scratching noise. Suddenly, I see my trailer overtake me to my right. An approaching car is on the verge of hitting my trailer but is just breaking in the nick of time. Finally, the hill ends and my trailer stops almost in the middle of the road. Luckily, no one was injured nor did my trailer cause any damage. What happened? A nut which attaches my trailer to my bicycle became loose. The driver in the car is looking at me to see if I need help. I apologize for all this and gesture to her that it’s okay if she goes on. The traffic starts to flow again and I search for the lost nut when suddenly – not even five minutes later – a pick-up stops near me.

A middle aged man gets out of the car asking if I need help. It’s slowly getting dark and going on with my search wouldn’t make any sense. He comes towards me, examines my bicycle with a quick glimpse, instantly detects the missing nut and as a conclusion he says: “Ah I see what you need. Just a moment”. He goes to his pick-up, grabs one toolbox with pliers and another one with several screws and nuts, tries several and finally says: “Hmm, I don’t have one with me that fits. But just a moment. Wait here!” He quickly hops into his pick-up and comes back after less than ten minutes with the right nut. The all inclusive service comes, of course, with free mounting and, of course, he refuses to take any tip after all is said and done. He leaves so quickly that I almost don’t have a chance to thank him. Well, almost :)

My nut is nuts

With a big delay, I reach my host’s home in Kobe: Jessy and Brandon, both from the States, who teach English here. The next three days the weather changes dramatically. On one hand, it’s good that I planned a three days stay for Kobe so I won’t be cycling. On the other hand, it’s raining so heavily that it’s absolutely impossible for me to do any outdoor filming or to take any photos.  :(  Later on, Brandon checks if it was a raining record. Close. They had a few days since the beginning of the weather records in which they had more rain. Still, in Kyushu, it leads to flooding. But, indoor filming is possible of course. And so, I’d like to present you a short film about a pretty awesome Kobe beef restaurant. Kobe beef is the most expensive beef in the world. To make the meat soft and juicy the cows are massaged! And you can only purchase Kobe beef here in Kobe. It is not exported! Enjoy!

Kobe beef

[Show as slideshow]

Special thanks to: Aki Sato (Japan), Kunihito Furuichi (Japan), Jessica Dovey, Brandon Daiker (both U.S.A.),