When we reached Japan’s northernmost point at Cape Soya, we could not only see Sakhalin Island (Russia) across the sea in 43km distance, but almost touch a smart and cunning fox within arms length. He fox was roaming around looking for food and knew that people often left things or probably even fed the fox. […]
Read More ›In summer, Hokkaido draws touring bikers and cyclists like flowers attract honey bees. “Honeybee tribe” (Jap.: mitsubachi-zoku) they are indeed called, the motorcyclists that flock since the 80’s to the most Northern of the Japanese Islands during the flowery time of summer touring from one campground to the next, covering all corners of this beautiful region. Also […]
Read More ›After donating, volunteering and investing into tree planting and forest protection for more than one decade, we were collecting donations for tree planting in Japan in 2016 and 2017. Our previous tree donations have supported worthy projects in in Africa, Asia and South America. For a flavour of one of our tree donation during the Zen […]
Read More ›Cycling and camping during the rainy season in Japan? Before we had left for our Tour 3 months ago, I had prepared a detailed route planning following the climate charts of the Japanese Islands, S Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. Avoiding heat, cold but especially the rain was the hot topic. But the rainy season […]
Read More ›One of the hidden treasures of Shikoku Island in Japan is it’s marine life. The Pacific coast of Shikoku is home to several whale migration routes and there are also Dolphins in the area. At Cape Muroto we went with the kids to a Dolphin centre and had an amazing and intimate encounter with Dolphins. […]
Read More ›We had an interview with Katie Roberts from Expat Living Magazine Singapore a couple of weeks ago. She wrote a lovely article that is now published in the Magazine and you can view it here: Cycling Zen Expat Living 2016. You can also view the article in the nice Expat Living Online version if you sign up […]
Read More ›Rainy season in Japan is normally not the best time to explore the Japanese Alps. However we were lucky enough to have some dry and even sunny days. Great for us was also that there are some stunning trails that we could access with the kids that went beyond 2100m altitude. Amaya kept saying “I […]
Read More ›Urban pleasures are very different to wilderness pleasures… Although we have a preference for the outdoors, we would not forgo the chance to experience the “Amichari”, watch the Lion King Musical in Japanese or observe traditional religious parades on the streets of this buzzing “megalopole”. We had just arrived in time for the celebration of the 5th […]
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