Thunder and Sunshine: Around the World by Bike, Part Two: Riding Home from Patagonia by Alastair Humphreys

Author:Alastair Humphreys
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
Published: 2008-06-01T06:00:00+00:00

The records of a travel-worn satchel

If we don’t offer ourselves to the unknown our senses dull.

Our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder.

– Kent Nerbur

We slept the sweet sleep of the truly exhausted as the ferry crossed the narrow strait between Sakhalin and Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main four islands. From one remote, bleak, snow-shrouded island to another. It was still cold but Hokkaido was not daunting in the way that Russia had been.

As we stepped out of the terminal to take our first steps in Japan we found three tiny nuns waiting patiently for us. We had not thought that anyone even knew of our arrival in Wakkanai, let alone that we would have a welcoming party. Two of the nuns were Japanese, one was French and after a little confusion we settled on using French to communicate. It turned out that the father of a friend of Rob’s had a friend who knew the nuns in the northernmost village of Japan. They were very happy to welcome us to Japan and asked if we would like to spend a couple of nights at their house, or whether we would pedal straight out of town. Given that the plan we had come up with so far was to just set up our tent somewhere in the hills and sleep for a couple of days, we were very happy to accept their invitation. We pedalled behind their car, which they drove at about 5mph peering over the steering wheel with the hazard lights flashing. I was not sure whether they were driving slowly to allow us to follow them or whether that was how they normally drove.

The elderly nuns cooed and giggled as they ushered us into their home. Once we had put down our bags they sent us immediately off to an onsen, a public hot bath, with a male friend of theirs. Perhaps this was a polite response to how badly we must have smelled. Just an hour or so after arriving in Japan Rob and I found ourselves wallowing blissfully in a hot deep bath with a warm futon awaiting us back at the nuns’ house. We were both incredibly happy, tired and relieved to be out of Russia.

It was Rob’s birthday and the nuns made a cake. I gave Rob a copy of The Worst Journey in the World that I had arranged to be sent to our friend Alexis in Sakhalin. I thought that it would help put our own slog into perspective. I had read the book before but with a new appreciation of their struggles in Antarctica, I was even more in awe. Although we had spent almost every minute of the last three months together, and were sick of the sight of each other, I was really proud of Rob and glad that we would have those memories to share.

After a lie-in and a huge breakfast - “more toast for you boys? I know your appetites by now!” - a lazy day washing our clothes, sleeping and enjoying some warmth, we left Wakkanai.

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