Its time to harvest the rice.  Also time for one more ride and camp. This time I went north up the Asahi river into the mountains.  I live in central Western Japan, also known as Chugoku.  The Southern portion is full of busy port towns like Hiroshima and Okayama (where I live).  The northern portion on the sea of Japan is much less populated and also where much of the ancient Chinese and Korean influence entered Japan hundreds and even thousands of years ago. Between the northern and southern coasts, the middle of the island is Mountainous.  On this trip, parts of the land reminded me of western North Carolina, and other parts reminded my of the Rockies in Idaho.  Either way, medicine for the soul.
Stay tuned.  The full super trip story goes up next.