slivka.com > Trips > Japan 2010 > Wed May-12
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Wed May-12 B & R Day 1: HND->NTQ, 32.4 bike miles, Fukushoji Temple, Shiroyone Senmaida, Noto No Sho Ryokan
We had a lovely breakfast at the Grand Hyatt (great fresh fruit) then met our Butterfield & Robinson leaders Anthony and Cindy and our fellow riders in the lobby. We took a short bus ride to Haneda Airport (HND) and left on ANA flight #747 at 10:15 a.m. for the 1 hour flight to Noto Airport (NTQ) We configured our bicycles and girded ourselves for the cool, drizzly weather and set off at just about noon for our ride through the verdant hills abundant with abundant rice paddies, azaleas, and black tiled roofs.

At about 1:30 p.m. (13.7 miles) we stopped for an arranged lunch at the ~500 year old (and very ornate) Buddhist Fukushoji Temple where we had a traditional vegetarian Japanse meal. Everyone was cold and wet, so we spent a lot of time huddled around kerosene space heaters to dry off and warm up!

We set out after lunch and braved headwinds as we arrived at the coast -- beautiful and blustery -- a bit like the coast of Oregon. We stopped to admire the terraced rice paddies at Shiroyone Senmaida and then rode the last ~4 miles to our home for the next two evenings:

Noto No Sho Ryokan
Nebuta Onsen
Ono-machi, Wajima-shi, Ishikawa-ken
928-0005, Japan
+81.76.822.0213

We had a traditional Japanese-style room overlooking the ocean, and our hostess explained all the intracacies of traditional Japanese dress and served us a tiny snack of sweets and green tea.
Then it was time to dress in our yukata (informal kimono) and went to the onsen (baths fed by volcanic hot springs and segregated by gender) to wash. This onsen is supposed to have the most alkaline waters in all Japan.

Then it was back to our rooms for a bit and then over to the banquet room for dinner (everyone still dressed in their yukata). We had a lovely long Kaiseki dinner accompanied by simple beer and sake. It was fun to

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