yes, we are still alive!

and we:re having a great time. we have sucessfully crossed hokkaiko by bike and are now in the most northeastern part of the island. today, saturday june 23rd, finds us on the western side of shiretoko national park and it is foggy and cold. we have spent the last 10 days riding at least 8 hrs a day and, for the most part, the riding and the weather and the people have been fine! we:ve camped in the middle of nowhere in the rain and awoke to foxes eating our food, stayed in ryokans with incredible outdoor onsens (hot springs) with spectacular views, and have eaten more food than we need but with great relish. the food here is amazing and we have yet to have our fill of fish, miso, and pickled vegetables for breakfast and dinner. the pocky on the other hand (think sweet pretzles with chocolate coating), we:ve had our fill.

Yesterday, we climbed the shiretoko pass, on the shiretoko peninsula. It is incredibly wild and diverse with many great sounding birds, owls, deer, bears, and lush with so many plants and trees. We were right on the coast, then climbed up to the snow covered pass (where you could see the ocean!) It was 14 km up to the top and 14 km down. Up was hot in the sun, the summit was shrouded in cloud, and it was foggy and cold the whole way down. We came face-to-face with a spotted buck munching on grass on the descent. It was quite a surprise! He appear out of fog just like that! So beautiful. Anyway, we were shivering on the way down, but our keen noses smelled the sulphur, and as we neared town, along the rushing river with steam billowing up, we spotted people with their little soap buckets crossing the bridge to the local public onsen. We got warm again quick. This was the only place so far where the japanese ladies weren,t afraid to stare. In fact, they got quite a laugh out of my bike shorts, but Jen is certain it was my little butt they were laughing at. They were having quite a good time making fun of me! They continued to crudely gesticulate about how to clean ourselves. It was really funny and we all laughed a lot. The water was this gorgeous milky blue. It was the best way to end the day. We weren,t allowed to camp in the park last night beacause of all the bears, so, it was another japanese inn with outdoor onsen for us. Who says bike touring in japan is hard? Plus we have tour-busses full of cheering old folks. They love us!

we are off to put in another 8 hrs day on the bike, and by monday we:ll be back in sapporo. we:re headed towards kushiro where we:ll catch a train back to sapporo and then we:ll be on to our tokyo adventure. until then, sayonara!