So one day I went for a walk...

Yesterday I set out from Shizuoka, leaving behind me the ongoing festivities of the Daidogei street performance world cup and headed towards Fuji. Originally I had intended to break the trip to Fuji into two shorter walks, as the route was 35km long in a best case scenario. I am deeply appreciative of how much physical progress I have made over these past two months of walking, but I know that 35km in a single day is beyond me, both physically and logistically (the sun sets so early in the day now). However my plan to divide the journey in two was thwarted by an inability to find a place to stay, or locate a reasonable looking site to camp.  Along the coast to Fuji the terrain is very hilly at the best of times, so what little ground that might be good for camping was long ago developed. With this in mind I found a hostel in Fuji that was available, booked myself in, and devised a new plan. The route to Fuji would first be through a very urban section, about 10km long, be...

Yesterday was not a great day, and salvaged only by the kindness of a local man I met on the road - in incredibly literal terms, standing on the road. Today I woke up a little late and my energy was low after going through the ringer yesterday.  I kept my plans modest, a trip to a nearby castle grounds to stretch my legs, then relax for the rest of the day. However, after yesterday's misfortunes, the universe flipped things on its head and served me up an unexpected day of non-stop smiles and a lot of laughs, and a short spell of stepping outside myself for good measure. "Actually, let's reverse things" --The Universe.  I set out this morning and headed down stairs to find breakfast. On the way down stairs I was greeted with an old familiar feeling; sharp pain in my right knee. Seems all my running and such yesterday did my knee injury no favours.  Thankfully, these pains dull over the course of the morning once things warm up, and today was no exception....

It's Halloween evening here in Japan, and I am in my bunk in Shizuoka. There are definitely a fair number of people out dressed up for revelries despite the weeknight timing.  And it's after dark that one normally associates all the scares of Halloween, but this year I got more than my fill in broad daylight. I have been looking forward to walking this section leading to Shizuoka for a few days now. The forecast was looking like sunny weather, and I had a stretch of Pacific coastline to follow for the a good part of the day.  It seemed like an excellent confluence of factors coming together. This morning I set out and found the weather to be just perfect. The morning was warm, but overcast, as as the day progressed the clouds melted away leaving huge swathes of blue sky. The first half of my walk was mundane, moving through rural towns, with houses and farms lining my path. I stopped for my first break outside a Family Mart, which was near the coast, and situated between...

Yesterday I left Hamamatsu and set my sights once again eastward to Kakegawa, some 30km away. When I had arrived in Hamamatsu I had originally planned to stay only a couple of nights, but once I discovered my lodging was so comfortable, I extended my stay. Like most places I stay along the way, I am going in mostly blind as to what I am going to find. I am mainly concerned with finding the most affordable place more than anything else. In Hamamatsu, this ended up being a stay at "Dormy Inn global cabins", which I can best describe as what would happen if a hostel and a spa had a child.  Affordable but also surprisingly luxurious for a place where I was sleeping in a bunk bed. But while the beds were nice, and the private space attached to it was a nice surprise, the real selling point was the onsen built into the facility. I spent every night soaking here! These tubs were amazing, and each filled to the brim with 42 C (107 F) water. Each time I entered a tub th...