Kyushu Bike Adventure 3 – Karatsu to Kashima

Kyushu Bike Adventure 3 – Karatsu to Kashima

Katsu at nighttime is a dream. Daintily lit streets, hidden restaurants, isakayas, private and unassuming, then bursting with life as you walk through the door. Bright, bustling, glasses being emptied, happy faces all around. But that was last night. This morning I’m rolling through Karatu on the foldy through quiet streets and river paths over traditional wooden bridges and there’s a castle up aheadu castle or dancing crane castle if you prefer juxtaposed stunningly with this giant trellised wisteria tree. Not the season for its purple blossoms but impressive all the same. From the castle, you get these picture postcard views over Higashi Karatu. There’ll be more picture postcard views to come, but this view will be hard to beat. There’s coastline and beach and back roads that are fun to explore. Then there’s Daiji Temple that I just bumped into with this little Chosuya to cleanse before entering. Inside there’s a zen garden, shrine, statues, cemetery, and not a soul to be seen. If this was in Kyoto, it would be rammed. But in Karatu, it’s all mine. At least for this moment. Japanese perfection on full display. Awesome. That’s the real beauty of Japan is that you can go to towns that you’ve never heard of and they’re just incredible and they’ve got beautiful sites that are almost just as nice as what you’d find in Kyoto except there’s nobody there. There’s just nobody there and you can just enjoy it all to yourself and that is a beautiful thing. You know, everyone knows about Fukquoka and Nagasaki, but I’m choosing towns not because I’ve done any research. I’ve done very little research on this trip. I’m choosing them just because it’s a nice cycle route. So, I’m just going to them with zero expectations, with zero research, and every single town I’ve stayed in has just blown me away. There’s, you know, amazing things to see, historical things, cultural things, and they’re just empty. Thank God for Kyoto to draw all of those tourists away from all of the other amazing spots in Japan and I can have them all to myself. Don’t tell anybody. Okay, time to move on though and it’s a Kini breakfast on the go as I board the slow train to Kashima. Loving this train pixel art and more on that in a later episode. A quick change of trains and in no time I’m rolling into Kosima and the starting point of a long ride. Time to carload then, wouldn’t you say, Tucker? It’s lunchtime. So, I’ve just rolled into Kashima and it’s time for a bit of carb loading cuz I got a big cycle coming along and I have a yakodon. So, egg and chicken and it looks absolutely divine. The egg yolks look almost red. They’re so rich. Nori on top. There’s some small mushrooms in there, onion rice, and a little bit of soup at the bottom. So that looks absolutely divine. So rich. There’s dashy broth in there. [Music] Did I mention I ordered omu rice as well? So really strong dashy broth flavor in that soup. Super delicious. Nice onion hit. M. Really good meal for carb loading. And that egg is nice and rich, delicious and easy eating. Let’s put that to the side. Let’s hit this omu rice. So, ayakodon and omu rice. Maya fatty. So, basically rice covered in an egg omelette with this tomato based sauce. And the sauce has gone all through the rice. So, this is nice and fatty. Yum. Really rich. It’s like a deep tomato sweet richness. Absolutely divine. There’s onion in the rice. There’s tiny bits of pork as well. I wasn’t expecting that. I was thinking vegetarian. It’s just a real hearty, simple, easy eating, good cycling food. So, I just happened upon this place in Kashima just as a quick stop before the cycle. Japanese baseball on the telly, some old boys at the bar, and the two girls that are working here. Just perfection. All right, let me neck this and let’s hit the road. Next episode, I’m hitting the coastal road from Kashima to Isahaya, mountain to my right, and the Aryaki Sea to my left, and hopefully nice little isakaya waiting for me in Isahaya. Don’t be shy. Come with see you on the next leg. [Music] [Music]

Flying from Jakarta Indonesia to Fukuoka Japan for a bicycle tour on a Brompton folding bike. Expect to see Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kitakyushu, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Kumamoto and plenty of towns in between. I ride, I eat, I ride, I eat, I rinse, I repeat. 18 episodes.

Ramen, gyoza, onigiri, miso black cod, Imari beef, Takuro rice, kushiyaki, sashimi, combini, okonomiyaki, sushi, yakitori, yakiniku, tonkatsu, tonkotsu, tempura, soba, udon, matsunabe, sake, keiseki, not gonna lie, I do a lotta eating.

Sunset Reverie:

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@Japan @Kyushu @Ramen @gyoza @onigiri @miso black cod @Imari beef @Takuro rice @kushiyaki @sashimi @combini @okonomiyaki @sushi @yakitori @yakiniku @tonkatsu @tonkotsu @tempura @soba @udon @matsunabe @sake @keiseki @Fukuoka @Nagasaki @Kitakyushu @Miyazaki @Kagoshima @Kumamoto @drone @foldy @Brompton @bike @bicycle @biketour @oita @Imari @karatsu @kashima @isahaya @miyajidake @beppu @nakatsu @hells @azamui @saiki @nobeoka @takachiho @takachihogorge @sakurajima