The last big city of Shikoku!

• Road_warriors's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Kochi

Trip Start Sep 22, 2005 Previous
Entry Trip End Jan 12, 2006 Next
Entry

  Kochi, Japan
Sunday, October 16, 2005

After leaving Ashizuri Cape we headed up towards Shikoku's last big city, Kochi. We wanted to be in Kochi by Saturday night because we'd heard great things about a huge sunday market that we definitely wanted to see. So we were on a deadline.....and we got caught in a typhoon. A typhoon, of course, is just a big storm but we were getting pelted by rain and we were back on mountain roads again. The rain was not letting up and we weren't making good time. After two days of riding Saturday afternoon rolled around and we were still a good 50 miles from Kochi. Basically, in that weather on those roads we weren't going to make it. So we broke down and did something very bad. We took a train the rest of the way to Kochi. I hope you don't think any less of us because really, it felt great to be out of the rain. Of course, we had to do the ol' wrapping the bikes in our rain flap trick and getting it on the train was once again a hassle but we did it. While I was getting the bikes onto the train though I heard a very loud popping noise from within our makeshift bike bag. I couldn't do anything about it at the time though so I didn't worry about it. I sat down and enjoyed the hour long ride that would have taken us five hours to bike.

We got into Kochi, got our hotel squared away through the tourist information booth at the station and then put our bikes back together and the source of the earlier sound was instantly apparent. One of my spokes had broken and my back rim was badly bent from the tension.

A blurry picture of Kochi at night.

On top of that my front brakes had loosened and I couldn't get them to stop rubbing against the tire. So basically I wasn't riding anywhere. Our hotel was within walking distance though so that didn't pose a problem. There was a bike shop on the way to the hotel so we stopped to see if they could help us but unfortunately they couldn't. But they did give us the name of a bike shop that specialized in sport bikes like ours. We couldn't do anything about it at the time so we continued to our hotel.

Kochi was actually a very cool city. The center of town was right next to our hotel, a shopping arcade with late night restaurants and karaoke bars that was probably a good mile long with lots of really cool side streets surrounding it that looked like alleys in Paris. Unfortunately I didn't really get many pictures of Kochi, for some reason I never really brought my camera along with me, but trust me, it was very cool. No, really, you have to believe me.

The Sunday market started early, with street vendors setting up their booths and displaying their wares, selling everything from fruits and vegetables and fresh grilled fish to antiques and electronics. They lined the street leading up to Kochi's castle and gardens. Walking through the markets was a stimulus overload, with competing smells, colors and sounds. I can't tell you how many times I almost bought cheap and amazing samurai swords, the logic of riding my bike with a samurai sword strapped to my back and trying to take it on the plane with me obviously flawed and yet still so desirable, but alas, reason won out. Reason always ruins all my fun.

One of the best finds in Kochi though was a restaurant called Hakobe. There's a type of food in Japan called Okonomiyaki that's impossible to find in the states but it's one of the best things that japanese cuisine has to offer. It's kind of like a pancake filled with different meats, vegetables or noodles of your choosing. At an Okonomiyaki restaurant you're seated at a table with a flat iron in the middle and they bring you your ordered ingredients and either cook it right in front of you or you cook it yourself. After it's cooked through you turn the grill to low and spread a sauce that's slightly reminiscent of barbecue sauce on the top and then add a little mayonnaise to the mix as well. The taste is unbelievable. And at Hakobe's we had the best Okonomiyaki that either of us has ever had (eat your heart out, Nate!) and we've had quite a few since we eat it whenever we get the chance. So, in case any of you just happen to be passing through Kochi anytime, you should check out Hakobe.

In the end we had to stay three nights in Kochi in order to get our bikes fixed (not that we're complaining). The shop we found turned out to be amazing. It was small but the owner spoke good english and you could tell that the shop was the culmination of a dream for him. He loves road bikes and is a biker himself and you could see his love of the machines by the way he tuned both of our bikes and fixed my rear rim with infinite care and a determination for perfection. Sarah and I both appreciate everything he did for us because without him we wouldn't have been able to continue this wonderful journey on our bikes.

Slideshow Print this entry Share Kochi hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry