SpiceRoads Blog

Our first bicycle tour to Kyushu island in Japan proved to be very colourful indeed. Our tour started off with a fabulous meal in Kumamoto. We dined on too many courses to count and for some of us it was the first time eating raw fish! We have a new sushi convert in the group! Our first taste of Sochu was also had! A distilled drink, in this case made from rice that is 25% alcohol. After dinner we took a stroll to see the famous castle that still dominates the city. Its origins date back to 1467 but it was burnt down during the during the Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, also known as the last samurai. The castle was rebuilt and truly gives you a sense of what life would have been like during the Edo period. The next morning we were up early and ready to face the chilly and windy day. Bikes adjusted and off we rode through a quiet city. It didn’t take us long to reach rice fields and open countryside. We quickly found ourselves along the shore of the Yatsushiro Sea and saw the islands in the distance that we would be crossing via bridges across the Amuska Archipelago. The area is also well known for citrus and lucky for us they are in season! A 70 km flat ride was a perfect way to start our tour.

Days 3 and 4

A very quiet road took us through the heart of Amuska Island on this warmer day. The wind was kept at bay but the temperatures were still chilly. Along the way we came across two methods of rice planting taking place side by side — the traditional manual method and a very clever rice planting machine. The road took us up and up and again we were in citrus country, but this time they were giant Tangelos growing. In almost every village we came across we saw flags at at least one house. Signifying that a son lives there these are in preparation for Boys Day on May 5. Once we arrived at our Onsen (hot spring bath) for the night, there was an option to do an extra 20 km ride along the Sunset Line to see a 130 year-old Catholic Church. The hot bath at the end of a ride is a great way to end the day and loosen up those sore muscles! To leave the Amuska Islands we took a ferry to back to the main land and here the landscape was flat as we rode along a dyke and reclaimed land. The day ended with a tough hill up to a tea estate where we spent the night in the home of the farmers. A long day of cycling means an early night!

Day 5 and 6

Waking up in the peaceful tea estate we enjoyed breakfast with very fresh eggs from the farm and went for a visit to the tea processing center and to see the natural weed eaters for the tea bushes – goats. We bid farewell to our hosts and it was a nice downhill start of the day towards the city of Kagoshima. We had many stops on the way, including to a cold spring with shocking pink flowers, a waterfall and we saw the old road to Tokyo. Seeing the size of those cobblestones we were very glad we weren’t riding on it! Hugging the coast of Kinko Bay we had nonstop views of Sakurajima, an active volcano. One last climb to end our longest cycling day – 97 km – took us to our hotel with a fabulous view across the bay to the volcano. After our epic day we were looking forward to an easier day with a ride around the volcano. We left Kagoshima via a short 14 minute ferry to Sakurajima. This one-time island is now connected to the mainland due to lava flows. There have been 300 eruptions this year, but the last major eruption was in 1947. Though puffing a bit during our cycle we never felt in danger. We had to be more careful of the slippery black ash that was on the roads! Was a great day riding and seeing how the locals live at the base of an active volcano!

Carmela and Colin Pearson had some unusual guests at their wedding and they brought them along on their honeymoon as well! Biking is an integral part of their lives and they couldn’t do without their bikes at either their cycling-themed ceremony or on their honeymoon ride from Bangkok to Phuket. Along the way Carmela posted photos daily and commented that “our honeymoon is full of interesting culture, good food and great Thai hospitality.” Check out some of their photos below. It is a truly special couple that can spend their honeymoon cycling more than 850 kilometres and we congratulate them both!

Day 1: 115 kilometers of scenic riding from hua hin to prachuab kirikan… ending the ride at a quaint coffee shop that plays jazz music and has a good display of vintage bikes… day 2 of our honeymoon is full of interesting culture, good food and great Thai hospitality.

Day 3: sawasdee kap! arrived at the quiet beach town of bangsaphan, prachuapkhirikan. we biked up to a modern Buddhist temple with the gulf of Thailand as backdrop, discovered hidden coffeeshops and had the best pad thai we’ve ever tasted.

Day 5: day 5 of our cycling honeymoon covered 125km of “undulating” roads under 40º heat from Bankrut to a nice beach resort north of Chumpon. today’s ride was quite challenging but we’re not complaining. we had fresh seafood in a rustic restaurant along the beach, met other European cyclists on the road and was greeted with so much warmth everywhere we stop at.  

Day 6: Today we covered 140km and crossed the Isthmus of Kra, which separates the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea… crossing from the eastern coast line to the west coast. We had steamed dumplings in the town of Thap Lee. We passed through the town of Kra Buri, very close to the Thai-Burma border, where a lot of burmese workers reside. We even saw a truck full of illegal Burmese settlers just caught by the Thai immigration. Not to be daunted, we pushed on and enjoyed a chicken noodle lunch. We went through “undulating” roads that cut through the lush jungle-clad mountains and reached a spa town in Ranong Province famous for its hot springs. Day 6 of our honeymoon proved to be the most challenging to date but also the most eventful.

Day 7: Sometimes, i catch myself counting my blessings and feeling so grateful of this gift called LIFE. Today was no exception as my husband and i finished a gruelling 130km under 41º heat. We had another exceptional thai lunch and ended our ride at a beautiful mountain resort in Khuraburi. Day 7 is definitely a blessing.

Day 8:  Day 8 of our cycling honeymoon is probably one of the easiest days on the bike covering 80km of relatively flat roads. While it was probably also the most picturesque with the beautiful Andaman Sea as backdrop, it was also quite heart-wrenching. We stopped at a coffeeshop in Takua Pa, a former Portuguese settlement known for being the center of tin mining during the 1st half of the 20th century. We rode through one of the worst areas devastated by the 2004 tsunami. It was quite depressing at first but amazing as well to see how the community has bounced back. It’s interesting to point out how resilient the Thais are, very much like us Filipinos.

Day 9: After cycling for 9 days and over 850 kilometers from bangkok, we finally arrive at our beautiful resort in Phuket. Now, it’s time for some R&R! Thank you SpiceRoads for a memorable cycling honeymoon adventure!

Kristina Isberg and Peter Fenczik had this to say about their recent bicycle tour through Kerala – “We highly recommend it as a fantastic way to see beautiful Kerala!” Check out their great blog about the tour here: http://www.peteandkristinaroam.blogspot.com/2013/02/kochi-to-munnar-cycling-from-sea-to-tea.html