mandag den 23. juli 2007

Wednesday Oct. 18 - Threewheelers And Hiroshima




The roads on this sunny say are a mix of the best in the gorges, a few normal ones, and some over the mountains. I absolutely love it, even the ones where the engine grinds along in second gear. Going uphill there’s the expectation of the soon-to-come semi-scary downhill race. Bumpy and a few meters wide, or three lanes with perfect asphalt, it is changing back and forth. There are trucks here too, of course, so I really lean to appreciate the mirrors found at the more hopeless turns.

And the place is just so green and beautiful, clear up close, but with a haze further on so one sees the mountains in 6-7 steps onwards (if you know what I mean). My only worry is that one may have a finite life-ration of mountain roads, and that I now may use up my allowance a bit early.

At some point I stumble over a collection of old three-wheeled trucks. I saw one in Greece ages ago, in another life, and have been looking for such a Mazda ever since. These trucks are further developments of the large Harleys and Indians, which were brought to Japan in the 1930’s and fitted with truck-like rear ends. The Mazda version even has a H-D front end, albeit in 1½ times the motorcycle size.

The vegetation changes again, I see more and new types of bamboo and palm trees, and there are herons in the air. Not as many falcons today, but junk cars appear, and I see more farmland, with old ‘bent over’ people out there harvesting. Then Hiroshima appears, and thus a hotel, and a much needed internet café, both located with the aid of the Lonely Planet guide book. Old tramways clank along the concrete slab city roads, but I already like the place.

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