Day: July 14, 2006

No fire crackers, no fireworks

We haven’t been used to jet lag and losing one hour is hard to take, especially waking up.  Serge now prefers to leave at dawn.  At 5H00 dawn breaks and at 7H00 it’s already a heat wave.  For the moment, Eliane is the only one to take care of feeding Serge, until Ludo returns next week.  Driving on the left hand side of the road gives her a bit of trouble, especially since the 2 vehicles which Suzuki have provided are automatic.  It’s a lot to handle on the first real day and even if Eliane knows the score by heart, she has to get used to the new vehicle, which is surrounded by a mob of people at each feeding stop.  As of Monday, only June and Mauru will be left to accompany us to Tokyo.

The scenery on the Island of Kyushu is splendid: mountains, rice paddies, traditional homes.  On Kyushu it’s still possible to find a bit of space, which is a rare commodity in this country.

Japan has 3000 islands, of which the main ones are: Honshu, Hokkaido in the North, Kyushu in the South and Shikoku between the two.  Kyushu has a temperate, tropical climate and the heat and humidity are upon us.

Serge is running like a rabbit.  He’s in heaven and the heat seems to slide right off him.  The pain in his Achilles tendon has come back and we can treat it with ice cubes which we find in the roadside shops.

Tonight we will sleep in a hotel “Japanese style.”  The rooms have tatamis and everything takes place on the ground: the futon to sleep, the chairs, the table.  Compared to western style rooms, these are more spacious because they have no furniture.  However, for Serge getting in and out of bed is an acrobatic feat.

It was 20H30 when Serge fell asleep for a good night’s rest.