Taoyuan to Taipei, Taiwan We're watched over by three security guards as we assemble the bikes in the arrivals hall of Taoyuan airport and then escorted to the nearest bus stop. We're now in Taiwan/Chinese Taipei/The Republic of China or even The People's Republic of China depending on your point of view. Our route into Taipei is on national cycle route 1 which initially turns out to be a hard shoulder of a dual carriageway. Passing massive ports and huge flyovers it eventually takes us to a much more pleasant riverside path into the city. It's a green oasis and we cross mangroves and rice paddies as the tower blocks get taller either side. Nearing the centre we meet Alain, a local with lots of cycle touring experience who takes it upon himself to help us find a few things we need before we arrive at our 'Sleepbox' hostel. If his spontaneous hospitality is anything to go by then we're going to enjoy this country. We spend a hot day exploring Taipei on a walking tour and try to understand its complicated history. Watching the prayers at the Taoist temples is fascinating and so is trying to work out what we're eating at a night market. Soon it's time to pack up and begin our lap of the island.  We're excited to see what it will throw at us!

Okinawa and Tokashiki, Japan Landing on Okinawa we arrive on route 58 which is dubbed as 'Paradise Road'. The sea is as blue as we've ever seen and made more vibrant by the sunshine. But behind the sandy beaches sit huge resorts, hotels and busy towns. Route 58 is a dual carriageway and not quite the image of paradise we were expecting. We make our way down to Kadena where we are hosted by Kirsty's friend Holly with her family. Her husband Kimball works on the air force base which is having an open day but they suggest we first visit a small museum that explains the friction between the local residents and their American neighbours. Okinawa was occupied by the US for 30 years after the 2nd world war and there are still a huge number of bases on the island. As we watch some traditional Okinawan musicians some fighter jets fly over and drown out the kazoos and drums. This deafening noise is one of the reasons why the locals are a bit fed up. Crossing the road we enter the air force base for AMERICA FEST! Rows of huge PLANES! GUNS! HELICOPTERS! There's a stage with loud ROCK music! We can buy BEER! And BURGERS! The only thing needed to complete the scene would be Uncle Sam flying in on a bald eagle. It's an annual PR stunt to let the residents of Kadena see all the American toys and seems to be popular enough for most people to forget the issues raised in the museum. We need a last dose of our kind of paradise, so find a ferry to one of the smaller islands to the west. Sitting in the Kerama islands, Tokashiki is just what we're after. We can't take the bikes on the hydrofoil though, so have to go over on foot, leaving the bikes locked on the dockside. After a stroll through forests, swimming and night on a platform overlooking the island we catch the ferry back and of course find our bikes and kit all intact and undisturbed. We wouldn't consider doing this in any country other than Japan. With a last day in the main city of Naha to get ourselves ready to leave, the streets are as busy as any we've seen since Tokyo. In the morning the bikes are wrapped and checked in without an issue. We climb on board the plane and get ready for our next country: Taiwan.

Amami, Japan The ferry drops us on the island of Amami at the ungodly hour of 5am. It's a mountainous island, so the engineers have been busy building tunnels through the hills. But we soon decide we didn't come all this way to see the inside of tunnels, and take an old road up and over the mountain. We pass an area of mangrove forest where they are offering kayaking trips. We're the only non-Japanese paddlers in the group and we get to see this incredible habitat up close and get a couple of kingfisher sightings.. We stop at the free campground at Yadorihama. The place is deserted and we have the amazing beach all to ourselves. Working our way around the coast with 50 shades of blue sea to our left, and 50 shades of green forest to our right - 51 shades of green if you count the matcha tea latte. There is little traffic, but what there is is about 75% cement mixers, on their way to or from concreting over some natural feature. Every river is lined with concrete, every beach has a concrete seawall, every slope that might conceivably result in a landslide is coated in concrete. It seems a shame to cover all this natural beauty, but in a country which is permanently on high alert for the next natural disaster it's understandable. These islands are the last remaining habitat of the Amami black rabbit. They're shy and nocturnal, so sadly our only sighting is of a stuffed one in the wildlife centre. Services are few and far between, so the cowboy themed Westerner's Cafe is a welcome sight with a petit owner standing half as tall as Marcus. We have a ferry to catch early the next morning, so spend the evening in the port of Naze, eating okinomiyaki. After paying the restaurant bill with the last of our cash we remember we have to pay the fee to get the bicycles on the ferry in cash. Every ATM spits our card straight out and we start to panic. Our salvation comes in the form of a group of teachers on a night out. One of them asks "How much do you need?". "About 4000 yen". Suddenly pockets are being rifled through and wallets pulled out. Five 1000 yen notes are produced and again were humbled by the generosity of strangers. We catch our next ferry bound for Okinawa.

Makurazaki to Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan Overnight the wind had picked up and there's a brief lull giving us time to pack up but it picks up again mid-morning with added rain for good measure. In a particularly exposed section the sideways gusts force us off the bikes. In front of us should be the perfect conical form of Mt. Kaimon but the clouds keep most of it hidden all day. After a cold, soggy day in the saddle there's nothing quite like being buried in hot sand to get some life back into the body. It's the main attraction in Ibusuki and it is perfectly timed today. We pull on flowery gowns and lie in a pit before the onsen staff shovel heaps of hot sand onto us. It's the weight of it that surprises us at first before the warmth kicks in. The next day is calmer and we catch a ferry to the Osumi peninsula and make our way down to Cape Sata. This is Japan's equivalent to Lands End being the most southerly point of the main islands. With no more road to ride we turn around, and on the way back up, Mt Kaimon finally takes it's cloudy hat off to reveal its full height. By the evening the wind is back with a vengeance and hits 35mph and even stronger gusts. The free campsite we aim for is deserted so we set ourselves up in the shower block for the night. I check the weather before we settle in and the wind snatches the door out of my hand like a spoilt toddler grabbing a sweet. It would have been a sleepless night in the tent. It's still strong in the morning and we're worried we might not get anywhere today. But we've got a boat to catch, so venture out regardless. Luckily it's not as bad as last night and we're soon approaching the smoking mass of Sakurajima, Japan's most active volcano. It used to sit on an island but a huge eruption in 1914 filled in the 400m gap to the mainland so we can cross onto the 'lava road' around its base without a ferry. We cross to Kagoshima, then head to the commercial port to catch a boat to try and get to more islands in the archipelago further south. Our boat is more of a cargo ship than a ferry and the accommodation is basic at best. It quickly gets rough and we hope to keep our dinner down for the 11hr journey.

Nagasaki to Makurazaki, Kyushu, Japan A well negotiated phone call by Mark had booked our bikes on to a hydrofoil that leaves just south of Nagasaki and avoids the need to retrace our steps from 2 days earlier. The Google reviews for the port make no mention of the boat but rave about the udon noodles in the terminal cafe so we have to try them. They deserve the 5🌟s! We're dropped off at Shimoshima Island and spend a couple of days working our way round the east coast on a road that sticks tightly to the shoreline. Mikan orange groves colour the hillsides and we find vending machines in even the most remote places. Another ferry takes us to Nagashima, an island that seems to be entirely devoted to growing potatoes. Then we're back on the mainland and heading south on to the Satsuma Peninsula. This stretch isn't the prettiest part of Japan with drab seaside villages blighted by huge concrete tsunami defenses. We're constantly reminded what height above sea level we are and the quickest route to get higher. After Hyoshicho we have the rare treat of a cycling road and enjoy 25km without traffic. The main road has been busy but the drivers are almost always patient and courteous. Cape Noma marks the south west corner of Kyushu and also the point where the road gets lumpy. Dense forest closes in around us as we climb and then reveals a beautiful coastline below us. Lines of sharp rocks strike out into the sea with larger islands in between. Bond fans will remember Sean Connery flying over this part of Japan in a gyrocopter in You Only Live Twice. The views have been hard won and we roll into our seaside campsite as the sun sets and tuck into a feast of discount sushi. A benefit of getting to the supermarket late. The waves crash a few metres from our tent but we're soon sound asleep. #japancycletouring #japancycling #kyushucycling #nagasaki #shimoshima #nagashima #youonlylivetwice #littlenellie

Nagasaki, Kyushu, Japan We decided to spend two nights in Nagasaki to give us a full day to explore the city. Founded by Portuguese traders, it's the only city in Japan which was open to foreigners during the Edo period and it retains a more European feel. But first, the other thing the city is famous for: the terrible events of 9th August 1945. We took the tram to the Peace Park and the hypocentre monument. It's chilling to think of the bomb exploding above this very spot, killing 75,000 and injuring another 75,000. A visit to the atomic bomb museum gave us an insight into the personal stories of the victims. As with Hiroshima which we visited on our last trip to Japan, the message here is one of peace. We then visited one of only a few Confucius shrines in the world. Many of his teachings are still relevant today - "Study the past if you would define the future." In the evening, Mark kindly treated us to a delicious dinner of tempura (another Portuguese import) and chawanmushi, which is a kind of fishy custard - nicer than it sounds! With the help of Mark we discovered that there's a boat we can take across the bay to save having to backtrack, so we'll be heading south, hopefully to warmer weather. #japancycletouring #japancycling #kyushucycling #nagasaki #cnd

Kitakyushu to Nagasaki, Kyushu, Japan After the long ferry ride we were keen to get the legs turning. Industrial towns gave way to quiet, rural villages and mountains. Huge cedar forests were releasing clouds of pollen as we wound our way through on barely used 'Rindo' tracks. We were a team of 3 having been joined by Mark who we'd first met on the Rohtang La in the Indian Himalaya 10 years ago. A resident of Japan for 30 years, he was the perfect guide and translator for this section. The temperature stayed in low single figures through the mountains with some chilly nights in the tent. Lunch times tended to be drawn out affairs while we warmed up and filled up. On a particularly indulgent day we found a hot spring to dip our feet into. The highest point came as we climbed over the rim of the huge caldera surrounding Mount Aso, Japan's largest active volcano. Kirsty's Garmin registered 666m. Unfortunately clouds heavy with snow meant we had to miss the hike to the crater. We then enjoyed a long descent past flooded rice fields and bamboo groves to a ferry that took us across to Nagasaki Prefecture and finally to warmer weather. A main road with long tunnels wasn't the best route into Nagasaki itself but at least there was a cycle path alongside it. It's impossible not to be moved by 'The City of Peace' with memorials and museums giving a graphic account of what happened on 9th August 1945. As a reminder, a one legged Tori gate stands defiant after the other half was destroyed by the bomb. It's always been a vibrant city with influences from Europe and China so we'll take some time to explore it before moving on to the south of Kyushu where we hope it will continue to get warmer. Mark will be heading home but it's been great to ride with him and learn a lot more about life in Japan. #cycletouringjapan #cyclingjapan #cyclingkyushu #mountaso #cyclingnagasaki #neveragain #cnd

There are a lot of places still to visit in the world so we rarely go back to the same place twice. But when I got a place for Tokyo marathon we were destined to return to one of our favourite countries. It's far too far to come just for a run around the city so we packed the bikes and have a journey planned through bits of Japan we haven't seen before, and beyond. With the race now done and medals won, we were shown round the city by a Tokyo Greeters guide. A great volunteer free walking tour programme. We were blessed by a shrine full of Maneki Neko lucky cats and kept the cat theme going with an apartment where everything had a cat picture on it (including the toilet seat). After a few days we packed the panniers and had a dash across the city in the dark and sleet to catch a train and then a ferry from south of Yokohama. A 20 hour ferry journey to Kyushu would be the perfect way to recover from the marathon with lots of rest and a hot bath and sauna on board. #biginjapan #tokyobound #tokyomarathon #6starfinisher #tokyogreeters #manekineko #japancycletouring #kyushuferry

Last time we visited Tokyo it took us 675 days to get there. This time it only took 16 hours! #tokyocycletouring #japancycling #ontheroadagain #tokyomarathon #planesarefast #cyclingismorefun

We're about to embark on another journey so it was high time I finished writing about our last trip! Part 3 of the blog about Uganda is now up on the website where you can also enjoy a completely revamped look and layout thanks to the ever talented Kirsty McGaul IT Services. https://shesnotpedallingontheback.com/blog/ #ugandacycling #transuganda #ugandacycletouring #roughroads #queenelizabethnationalpark #rwenzori #bwindiimpenetrableforest #mountaingorilla rillas #lakemburonationalpark #lakevictoria #kampala #newadventures #blogsarestillcool