Monet's Pond, which I had mentioned in an article two years ago as a place I wanted to visit.I finally went.
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Monet's Pond
previous dayThe following is a continuation of the story. I had set my alarm clock for 5:00 a.m. at my hotel in Gifu ...... I woke up at 5:30. I woke up at 5:30am, which is pretty good for me.
We checked out of the hotel at 6:00am. We checked out of the hotel at 6:00 a.m. and set off on the rickety early morning road toward the Monet Pond, which would be the highlight of the tour.
It's about 30km from the hotel, and it's a smooth ride, but as we get closer to Monet's Pond, the road starts to get crowded with several cars with license plates from other prefectures...... I arrived at the site thinking, "Is it too late at 6 o'clock? I arrived at the site thinking, "Is it too late at 6 o'clock? There are already a good number of cars in the parking lot. I quickly parked my bike and walked to my destination, which was only a few minutes away.
What is this? It's amazing.
Picturesque .... The only way to describe it is as a volume.
I heard it's muddier than usual because it rained the two days before......... That's not the problem.
I heard that the trick is to take pictures so that the light doesn't reflect off the surface of the water, but I don't care about that. But I don't care. It's already as beautiful as a picture with the naked eye: ......
By the way, here is one of Monet's original series of paintings, "Water Lilies".
（From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository）
I think the scenery in front of you is more beautiful than the original painting, depending on where you are..........
......... But unfortunately, after 10 minutes of looking at it alone, you'll get bored.......
And this crowd of people around the pond: ....... If you come here at any time other than first thing in the morning, you'll probably find it hard to relax.
The number of people seemed to be increasing, so we took a look at the surrounding countryside and left Monet's Pond.
Running fast in Gifu
North from Monet's Pond. The road along the canyon is a nice road with little traffic. We drove smoothly in the direction of Gero Onsen, which we had given up on yesterday.
There were a few more cars on the way, so we retreated to a narrow mountain road......... I actually like this kind of road. Unfortunately, this was the only time I took a time-lapse video, so you can't see it in the video, but I also encountered a pheasant in the mountains.
We took a restroom and hydration break at Gujo Hachiman Station on the Nagaragawa Railway.
Let's go to Takayama and buy some Sarubobo....... I've been to Shirakawa-go a few times, so I guess I'll pass..... We continued to drive while thinking about this. It was on the way.Roadside Station WaraI had a light breakfast.
It was still past 9:30 at this point. We were still running along the mountain stream, thinking that we can run a lot when we start running early in the morning.......
And then the incident happens: .....
That's right.If you've been looking at the river from the road for a long time, it's human nature to want to go down to the riverbank, isn't it?However, there are almost no roads that go down to the riverbank from the national highway, which is well-banked. Even if there were, it seemed that the Nagara River had just been opened to sweetfish fishing the day before, and it was packed with anglers and cars......
That's when I found this place.
I looked around and saw that there were no people at all on the riverbank. I wondered where I would go to play in the river if I didn't touch the water here.
Now let's see what I did after this, as it was posted on Facebook that day...
You're an idiot.
By the way, I didn't notice anything until I stopped on the way and took this picture.
Even after you realize it.It was quite a downward slope, so there was no way I could fall back.........
This is what the tire looked like after the escape: .......
After driving for a while, I checked the tires again to see if there were any scratches, and this is what I saw.
Gero Onsen and Tsumagojuku, Southern Kiso
We regained our composure and continued on. We arrive at Gero Onsen, which we gave up on yesterday, but it is a much bigger hot spring resort than I had imagined. I had imagined a more remote hot spring resort, but I was completely betrayed. Nishi-Izu, which we entered last weekAkaihama open-air bath at Unmi OnsenI was looking for a hot spring, so I ended up at the footbath with only soft ice cream.
The next stop was at Minamikiso Station. I've been taking more and more breaks at real stations instead of roadside stations lately. I like the sparsely populated stations in the countryside. There are usually toilets and vending machines.
While taking a break, I looked at the map on my phone and thought about the route to take. Normally I would go back the way I came yesterday, but I don't like to take the same road while touring, so I chose a different route that is a bit farther. I'll take a look at the Nakasendo Tsumagojuku that I passed on the way.
Hmmm. It's not fun to come here alone: ..... If only there was a buckwheat noodle restaurant for lunch: .... I thought about it, but I don't feel like it, so let's move on.
Let's try driving without a smartphone navigation system.
Well, no pictures for a while to come. It seems that the USB power supply is not working properly, and I can't charge my phone anymore. By the time I realized it, I had no battery left.
Without navigation.I started to head back home with the help of a blue sign......... I'm not familiar with the area, so I don't know where I'm going.These mountain roads are winding, so you can't use the sun's direction .... You can't even use a strategy like ....
Ah! Finally, a place name I know!
80km to Toyohashi: ......... That's in Aichi Prefecture........orz
It seems I've taken a wrong turn. I was wondering whyMore and more cars are coming from the Tokai region.That's how I feel.....
You're on your way! And as I continued on, I found ..... I found the Chuo Expressway interchange! I had no choice but to get on the highway and head towards Tokyo (Okaya Junction to be exact).
Charging is finished.
I managed to get on the route home, but it would be better to charge my phone, right? So I entered the service area and asked the concierge lady, "Is there a place here where I can charge my phone? She smiled and replied, "I can charge your phone if you want.
A real goddess!
"Just give me 30 minutes at ....." I asked, and in the meantime I took a break on a bench in SA to watch the clouds (the photo was taken after charging)
At this point, it was 5 pm. Considering our remaining energy and distance, we thought it would be better to go home on the highway. I mistakenly ordered a curry with pork cutlet at Suwako SA on the way.Curry Ramen with Pork CutletAfter eating, I went home.
End of touring
This time, I rode about 970km in two days, a little short of my goal of 1,000km due to my poor health the day before, but I guess 500km a day is the right distance for a medium-sized bike with my physical strength.
I have a souvenir!
Clearcut Symbol ........
Riders. Let's ride in compliance with the law......orz
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