Day 65: Yoshiwara to Yui
Hours walked: 8:30-1:30
Distance walked: 16 km
Cumulative: 1,403 km
It was so hot today - but we saw a random Starbucks early on and popped in for some air conditioning and cold drinks. At lunchtime, though, we sat behind the 7-11 in 34 degree heat, while Jakob lurked near the stroller and got stared at.
We crossed some really long bridges - they’d go on for like 15 minutes while we crossed wide, shallow rivers with startlingly blue water. Our two patched inner tubes have been holding up well; we haven’t had any more tire dramas for the last two days … whew! Levi napped on Sophia half the morning, after being serenaded by two sisters and one parent for a few kilometers.
We hopped on a train from Yui to Shizuoka for our second Toyoko Inn in a row. We’ll stay there again tomorrow night, meaning more slackpacking - yay!
 |
| A tatami workshop we walked past |
 |
| The sea will never get any less perfect |
 |
| Zadie and Levi share a glance |
Day 66: Yui to Shizuoka
Hours walked: 6:30-1:00
Distance walked: 23 km
Cumulative: 1,426 km
Quote of the day: “I don’t even have to squint!” - Aurora at 5:26 a.m.
We started extremely early today, since it was going to be a brutally hot day: cloudless and 37 degrees, not ideal for hiking. We debated taking a rest day, but since we leave tomorrow for two weeks in South Korea, we decided to just do it (as usual).
The historical Tokaido road we are following connects Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, and (pretty much) Osaka, so we haven’t seen a whole lot of nature lately. Today we had the choice of staying low and following a broad sidewalk right next to the massive coastal highway, or cutting up to Satta Pass and back down. For the sake of Tamar’s knee and our stroller tires, we took the low road. It wasn’t beautiful but it was easy walking.
The first two hours were blessedly cool. Mount Fuji loomed behind us, the surf crashed to our left, an endless stream of trucks and cars roared by to our right. The sun turned into a blowtorch right as Levi fell asleep, so we drank tons of water and read aloud until a coffee shop eventually appeared. From there, it was six mighty hot kilometers to Shizuoka and our hotel.
With more than one headache, we lazed around for the hottest hours of the day, Levi napped again, kids played cards.
In the evening we walked out of a sketchy Sri Lankan bar and ended up with delicious Indian thalis instead. Everyone fell asleep early, exhausted. And that’s it for the first half of our hike!! Tomorrow we head to Seoul and Busan for two weeks of R&R, it will surely feel weird not to walk all day. Then we’ll come back to Shizuoka with renewed visas and renewed energy, and keep heading for Cape Sata…
 |
| The Tokaido hugs this coastal highway to avoid the hills inland |
 |
| Being vegetarian at this breakfast sucked |
 |
| Don’t dig up the phone line! It’s so cute! |
 |
| An old man was watering his plants so the girls asked to be hosed down. All three of them were overjoyed |
Ohmygoodness! I just opened a treasure box!!! This is so much fun!!! — pen pal C
ReplyDelete