Day: August 11, 2006

Crossing Nagano in the early morning was very pleasant and Serge was accompanied by Mr. Koshita, a journalist at a national, daily paper, and Mr. Nakamura and his wife, who participate in Ironman events (long distance triathlons).

Not only was Nagano the site of the 1998 winter Olympic Games, it also houses the lovely Zenko-Ji Temple, which Serge discovered on a road reserved for pedestrians.  He then took route 37, a small mountain road.  It was almost like being in the Swiss Valais Canton: very open with ski slopes disappearing into woods of fir trees in the distance.  Most of the homes are made of wood and look like large chalets.  In this mid range mountain decor the only thing missing are cows.  There are no pastures and the little bit of available land is given over to crops.

At the 45th kilometer, Serge started his descent and left this heavenly plateau.  Mr. Nakamura had to turn around to go back and after a few kilometers Mr. Koshita stopped as well.  So Serge finished the stage alone.  It was good to see him enjoying his race, happy and in good spirits.  His followers were delighted to have him in an even mood for the whole day.

Friday is the peak of the Japanese vacation period.  Since most Japanese will be traveling, we took the advice of our Japanese friends and booked our hotel rooms. We will reach the seaside tomorrow in Joetsu before going along the West coast of Honshu to the North of the island.