(Japan) Chiba – Tokyo Bay (Sept 18-22, 2020)

It was our 1st bikepacking trip. We were super-excited! It was our 1st step of cycling the world! Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we couldn’t travel outside of country… so we decided to cycle all over Japan, to gain the experience & skills, so that was exactly what we did!

In our 1st trip, we planned to take a ferry (Tokyo-Wan Ferry) to the nearby Chiba, and cycle around the Tokyo Bay back to Yokohama. Although Chiba is connected to Tokyo mainland, it’s protruded out with 3 sides facing the sea, so always feel like it’s like an island. Many people go there for surfing or beautiful beaches in the summer.

First of all, we rode to Kurihama port for the ferry. We passed by Yokosuka, which is popular for their “navy curry fried breads”, and U.S. fleet stationed there, so a lot of American-looking shops & moods there. of course, Americans love burgers, so quite a few nice hamburger restaurants there. We had burgers for lunch too! The big & juicy handmade burgers! (not the small & dry & poor ones like the macdonalds or burger kings!)

There were not many ferries, maybe just 2 ferries per hour, so we had to wait for quite long, but once got on the ferry, we just needed to leave our bikes, and we could head to the air-conditioned lounge, easy!

The problem was — after arriving the port in Chiba, it had already passed noon! We were running out of time! Also, although it’s along the sea, we had to ride in narrow & crowded car roads. It was continuously uphill…

And then, my hubby’s bike was not working well. It seemed to be something wrong with the gear… anyway we couldn’t fix it. So, we were riding really show, but it was getting darker and darker, and nothing around, not even convenience stores…

We finally found a convenience store. If there is one thing that I’ve learnt in life, that would be “eat before starving; drink before thristy”! Who knows when our dinner was going to be, so I insisted to stop by and eat even though it was already evening…

I was right. It was continuously uphill, long countryside roads, fewer & fewer cars, I guess they all went home for dinner. We were sure that we could not make it to the camping site that we planned, so we urgently booked a business hotel online with our phone.

Soon, it became dark, and we got lost in narrow roads between the fields with no street lights. The roads were too bumpy for our cross bikes, and my headlights/tail lights were either dying or too dim. Finally, after a lot of ups & downs in dark roads, we found our small hotel. We even convinced them to let us put our bikes inside the hotel at the hallway. Perfect!

The chicken steak was so juicy… This a clear salty chicken soup noodles, so simple but taste good!

So, around 9pm? We finally had our over-dued dinner. It was a bit cold at night, but luckily there was a cute little private restaurant a few min walk from our hotel. It was cozy inside, with just the hostess herself cooking & serving also another 1-2 parties, with the TV on & a nice bar in front. We enjoyed the quiet night.

Actually, the hotel charge was much cheaper than normal, due to the “Go To Travel” discount at the beginning of the pandemic. Government was trying to encourage people to spend money? However, the discount stopped after 2-3 months. We did make the most of it for our bikepacking trips. In fact, we almost didn’t camp, just stayed at hotel because it was cheap enough, had warm beds, hot shower, sometimes even noce breakfast included. We paid average USD 20-30 per person per night / twin bed room. It’s a good deal in Japan.

The next day we continued to ride along the Tokyo Bay. Quiet nice field & wide roads… We even found some big parks & DECATHLON (only 2 in Japan!)　on the way!

When we got closer to Tokyo, the traffic started to become busy & complicated. We got lost in some bridges… but the Tokyo Bay view was amazing!

In Chiba, we stopped by some food court in shopping mall for some curry and nan. At night, we stayed at some business hotel again, thanks to “Go To Travel” discount! We stayed near town, so we could go drink at night… In fact, there were too many choices, we ended up went to 2 restaurants in one night — a grilled chicken (yaki-tori) restaurant & a Japanese pancake (okonomi-yaki) restaurant. The restaurant with an old post box is decorated with the 70’s – 80’s of Japan (the Showa period). It is so adorable!

Haha… although it was a short trip, we did our laundry!

Also, We stopped by Kasai area in Tokyo for lunch. Many Indians live in Kasai area, so there are many good Indian restauants & glocery stores there. This one is my favorite restaurant! Their butter chicken curry is the best! It us so buttery & rich. I think they might have used homemade butter.

 

At night, we stayed at an apartment style hotel. It’s actually old whole building of old one-room (studio size) apartments. The owner modified it for travellers, so each apt/room has own bathroom/open kitchen/Washer & Dryer/TV & Internet… It’s perfect for long-term stays, though we only stayed for one night. It was really comfortable, except had to prepare own meals.

At night, we walked to nearby town for dinner. This is Ginza area. At night, the lights make the town look so beautuful & so different from daytime.

This is my favourite Turkish restaurant in Tokyo, called “Istanbul“. There are very few Turkish restaurants in Japan. This one is good, because it serves not only Kebab, but also many other Turkish dishes & deserts too!

 

Finally, we were back to Yokohama area. Riding along the riverside is nice, and it was such nice Autumn days.

It was such a nice trip, although we end up didn’t camp at all! Our trips will continue~~