Day 1: back over the highest pass in Japan - Norikura, at 2,700m
Day 2: over Utsukushigahara Kogen at 2,100m
Day 3: over the highest national highway pass in Japan - Yamada Toge, at 2,172m
More here.
31 August 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Ludwig -- Spectacular photos of what looks like a spectacular ride. I want to sneak in and out of Kamikochi sometime ... and to Utsukushigahara.
I thought Rte 158 outside Matsumoto was painfully crowded -- there were buses already at 7AM Sunday when I passed it on my Brevet in May.
I've never cycled long distances with my viola ... amazes me that you would have yours on a trip such as this.
Very impressive and left totally envious in 2D Bremen. I am also glad that you found with Mike a good and strong partner for your endeavours into the Japanese alps.
Not sure why, but I liked the photo with the red bridge and the cliffs best. The combination of Yukata and viola is priceless as well.
And, oh, Kosumosu is already blooming in high altitudes?
David, not sure you are joking, but just in case - I borrowed the viola of one of the music students. I just took her place in the quintet and you can see her watching in one of the photos. I used to cycle with the violin or viola on my back when in Germany, but this was only for short distances. My policy now is to minimize any luggage, so I didn't even have a rucksack with me for the three days. I washed my clothes every night in the ryokan, and hence I'm in yukata when I played music. Mike certainly didn't help his speed by being dragged down by his rucksack.
MOB, yes, cosmos is already flowering everywhere - I haven't seen it above 1,000m though. That photo is from the Nakatsugawa valley and taken at approximately 900m altitude.
I was really struck by how different Niigate looks from Nagano and Gunma. The style of the houses is very different, and rice farming is much more prevalent. There are fewer flowers, but the beauty of the rice paddies, trees in between, and the nice style of the farm houses more than makes up for their lack.
Spectacular Ludwig ! I'm jealous.
Ludwig...I bet it was the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, am I right?
Tom, did you zoom into the photo to look at the music? Yes, you are right, and that's why I could join. Later they played Brahms's quintet by sight, something that would have been completely impossible for me.
That whas an easy enough guess...there are not that many quintets written for clarinet and the Mozart one is by far the most popular. I too would need the musical score for most parts of the Brahms Quintet!
Anyways, I bet those musicians must have been really surprised to see a cyclist impromptu joining their rehearsal! Unforgettable for both sides!
Post a Comment