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The first riding stages · Kyoto – Kobe – Kurashiki – towards Hiroshima
After our days on foot in Osaka, my feet have competition. The BMW takes over most of the transportation. I find this division of labour exceptionally successful. The feet can now concentrate on sightseeing; the machine handles the rest.
Our guidebook places the opening day in Kyoto on 26 September: introductions, a briefing and a welcome dinner. The first riding stage begins the following day. A tidy sequence on paper. For me, above all, the moment when a travel plan finally becomes a motorcycle journey.
The city stays below; the view grows
According to the itinerary, the first route heads towards Kobe, over the Rokko heights and onwards to Himeji and Kurashiki. The photographs from our first tour days already show this change: mountains, greenery and a view down over a large city. Japan apparently has several floors. Osaka was the busy ground floor. Now we are discovering the upper storeys.
A viewpoint presents a motorcyclist with a small dilemma: you want to keep riding because the road is enjoyable, and stay put because the view is too. A very pleasant problem. At 76, I am quite happy to accept problems of that sort.
A route with several different personalities
The guidebook lists Himeji’s white castle and Kurashiki’s historic lanes as the next contrasts. The tour then heads towards Hiroshima; Kure and the Yamato Museum are planned for the third tour day. That is the framework of this first stretch. Every item on the programme does not automatically become an adventure story here. My own photographs mainly record that first change: out of the city, into the landscape.
What keeps surprising me along the way is the quiet roads and the variety. Japan can be dense, loud and full of people. Then comes an area where the landscape suddenly takes over the conversation. Our guide ahead, me following on my large BMW — a thoroughly useful way to spend one’s life.
The motorcycle journey is underway. So am I. In the next look back, we park the machines again for an island visit. The feet had better not celebrate their lighter workload too soon.
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