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April 29

Nagasaki Peace Park / Youth Hostel

Woke up, stretched, fixed up my bike nice and good, and promptly walked the 50 feet from my "campground" to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. I visited the one in Hiroshima 3 years ago, but for some reason I was moved more by this one. When I left the museum later, and walked through the neighboring Heiwa Koen (Peace Park), I actually started to tear up. Definately a recommended site.

After talking to the nice ladies at the front of the museum selling home-made ice cream (and after eating one of said home-made ice creams), I went back to Nagasaki Station. They had a little Totoro exhibit there, and I got a towel and chopsticks for the trip.

I then called up the Nagasaki Youth Hostel, deciding to give my body a nice rest today. I dropped off my luggage, got some pointers by the nice lady working the front, and headed to Nagasaki's chinatown, located in the Shinchi area. Here I had my first champon, an udon (thick noodle) soup, with seafood, beef, and cabbage in a thick broth. It is a specialty of Nagasaki, and although quite edible, I wasn't too impressed with the flavor of the broth. Reminds me too much of dirty water. All-in-all not an experience to be missed, but also not one that I will miss. Nagasaki's other famous dish is sara-udon which looks similar, but instead of soup it has a thick sauce, and lies on a bed of cruchy noodles. Not sure if I'll have time to try that one.

I next tried finding a bike shop, since I need to replace the helmet I forgot in the US. Unfortunately Nagasaki is known for being hilly (although take it from me, this place isn't any more hilly than San Francisco). My friend Kyoko related a story to me that the students she met from Nagasaki, after moving to Tokyo, learned how to ride a bike for the first time. This appears to be the case, because even with the help of the police officer at the local koban (police box), and even after he called all bike shops he found in the yellow pages, all 5 of them, we still couldn't find one that sold a helmet.

The Youth Hostel was pleasant, but doesn't serve food. One of my YH roommates is also on a bike trip. It turns out that "bike" is the Japanese way to say "motorcycle". So, I spent the evening in the company of 5 fellow "bikers".

I plan to go to Takeo tomorrow, because my schedule shows that there is a big Keirin bike race from April 29 (today) until May 3. However, tomorrow they say there is a 70% chance of rain. That sounds about right, because when I say I usually have biked alone on my trips its kindof a lie: I always bike with lots and lots of rain. I have NEVER been on a bike trip without a storm or two.

One last note: my friend Kazu will not be joining me next week, as planned, since all flights are booked to Fukuoka.