J224 – 7/29/2006

Last night all the hotels in the city of Miyoshi seemed to be full but finally we found two rooms, then one and finally a fourth, so everyone could be accommodated.  There will be fireworkds tonight and at the end of the afternoon crowds started flocking to the riverside to wait for the show, which was to start at nightfall (20H00) and which lasted two hours. It was an opportunity for people to go out and relax and traditional costumes were often seen.  Women wore lovely, many colored kimonos which Ludovic photographed for you can see in the photo gallery.

As for Serge, he was in bed at 19H00 and didn’t even hear the noise of the rockets.  It was a dreamless sleep until 3H30.  He woke in a bad mood, all you had to do was look at his face.  At the first feeding he was upset: “I’m going back to bed, I’m fed up.”  Letting off steam was a help, even if there was no question of going back to the hotel, the day had only just begun.  In the end, contrary to the plan, Mr. Koshita put together a very pleasant itinerary in the mountains.  The scenery was magnificent. “Without doubt the most beautiful stage in Japan so far” said Serge, who in spite of his fatigue seemed to profit from his surroundings.  At the 54th kilometer and after a 15 km climb, Serge went over the Kagikake pass at an altitude of 720 meters.  We went around the Dogo-Yama Mountain (1271 meters) to descend to the small village of Nichinan, where only a Japanese style B&B with 3 rooms could welcome us.  What luck, because Serge could end his stage at the door of the lodging and tomorrow he won’t waste time getting to the start.