And so we started the final riding day of our Wabi Sabi tour in the land ofthe rising sun Unfortunately the rising sun didnt show himself very much today. We started with a beautiful mountain ride in the morning on our way to the Twin Ring racetrack of Montegi. After a 7-eleven coffeestop ( great coffee!) we entered the racetrack around noon. After riding around, buying souvenirs we had a short lunch before we paid a visit to the Honda collection hall. A astonishing collection of motorcycles, automobiles and other stuff made by Honda. Then it was time to immerse ourselves in the  rush hour traffic of greater Tokyo. But in the late afternoon all customers arrived safe at the rental shop for the bike  handover. Then it was time for reviewing the tour , drinking some beers and have a great farewell dinner. And unfortunately also to say goodbye to this lovely group of great riders, who were with us on the Secrets of Japan motorcycle tour of Edelweiss Bike travel. 

It was a pleasure for us , tourguides to guide this group through this beautiful country with its fabulous roads, amazing scenery and friendly people! Hope to see you all on another Edelweiss Motorcycle tour, somewhere, sometime!! 

Best regards

Ted & Angela

And how lucky we were again today: of the predicted precipitation nothing came down. Although a bit cloudy here and there, overall the temeprature was very nice to ride and so we had a beautiful riding day. Endless curves and switchbacks: a genuine motorcycle paradise here in the Far East!. Had a our lunch and morning coffeestop in between two vulcano's and in the afternoon we even had some time to visit shortly the Toshogu temple in Nikko which had just been re-opened after a renovation period. Arriving in a super nice hotel in Nikko followed by a great dinner, it made it all together a fantastic riding day

 Couldn’t believe our eyes when we opened the curtains this morning. The first real rainy day of this tour.  But no problem  for this great group of riders, they hopped in there rain gear and on the bikes and off we went. The mornong coffeestop we spent in a real Good donut shop and our l lunch in a nice Japanese restaurant. Afternoon We pais  a visit at the snow monkeys in Hell valley  The last part we rode up to 7000 feet where atill 6-10 feet snow waa lying at the roadsides. Altgough rhe weather didnt cooperate too much we had a nice day

And it continues: brautiful weather afain , even up to 28 degrees celsius, stunning mountain views and mountain roads..... How much beauty can a human being handle on one  day!!

We visited the fish market in Himi in the morning, a real Japanese style lunch (sitting on the ground) and more super nice roads

coming into out mountain hotel , everybody rushed to their rooms because all the rooms are equipped with a private ‘onsen’ 

Great day on this amazing motorcycle trip through Japan with Edelweiss bike travel!

Today was a well earned rest day however....there is of course always a part of the group who wants to ride....and that is what we did. While a part of the group stayed in the hotel and enjoyed the beautiful ocean-faced wellness and did some other activities such as a workshop Japanese calligraphy, about 11 bikes were out to make a roundtrip along the stunning coastline if this wonderful and unique peninsula. Full of sweepets and switchbacks, enchanting fishermens villages, we found ourselves in motorcycle oaradise. Weather was outstanding, so what could we simply more ask for?

What an absolute fantastic riding day we had!. Riding out of Himeji under a bright blue sky was already great but the rest of the day the weather was absolute great and that made the visits to the several viewing points outstanding! a Beautiful coastal ride with as the highlight the Rainbow line toll road took us to the top of the pass, where we got a short chairlift ride to one of the best viewing points of Japan. 360 degrees stunning views coudlnt be better than this

A last scenic ride along the Japanese sea made this day unforgettable!

Today for most of the group is a short riding day planned since we are visiting one of the most famous astles/fortresses of Japan: the Himeji castle. This world famous UNESCO heritage site is really one of the big highlights on our tour and so we need some time to visit it. After a fairly short ride we arrived around 1 pm in our hotel in Himeji where we quickly changed clothes and walkex towards the castle premises. A quick bite in a smal fancy bakery/burger joint on the way and the rest of the afternoon everybody was spread out at the castle area to enjoy this beautiful building and its gardens. 

Today will be all about the great culture in Japan and especially in Kyoto. On this Secrets of Japan motorcycle tour, we will try to unveil some of the secrets of the culture of this very special country. After a very nice dinner last evening in our top hotel, everybody took more or less a little sleep in. 

With a big part of the group we went out with the tram up to the bamboo forest wheere we had a very nice walk and a nice green tea at the teahouse in the bonsai garden

Another tram ride took us up to the kinkakuji temple or the 'Golden temple" .. A nice stroll and time to buy an icecream and some souvenirs

The weather was again very cooperative today, so really a relaxed day. The rest of the 'rest day" the group spent on their own and payed visits to several sites and geisha shows or just visited some area s of interest

All together a very pleasant and relaxed rest day!

What a great riding day we had today! Rain was predicted in the afternoon but only a couple of raindrops we had, but that didin't spoil this day. Fantastic roads, almost no traffic, unbeatable views. We are in motorcyclists paradise!. On our way to Kyoto we first rode through the beautiful Ryujin -Koay skyline with an aboslute hihgligt Koyasan. This smal Buddhist community hidden in the mountains of Koya, is for a lot of people the 'real' Japan: impressive temple sites, clean air, silence. Some buildings were here already since the 9th century. After this we hopped on the expressway for the last part through Osaka towards Kyoto to avoid stop and go traffic. A very smooth ride thanks to the great riding skills of our group. Well done. Tomorrow our first rest day in the cultural capitol of Japan: Kyoto

An early rise this morning , because we had to take a ferry across the bay from cape Irago. Again a very sunny day, so everybody in a good mood and ready to roll! Arrivd at the Shima peninsula, we splittted in two groups and stared the ride on this beautiful peninsula. Riding the Ise shima skyline, followed by a very scenic ride along the PLearl road with their pearl and oyster fishermen villages was a blast!

After the lunch we continued south through the Yoshino Kumano national park and arrived safe again in an idyllic hotel at a small bay in Nachi Katsura

Great day again with this fine group of riders!

Absolute the hammer today! What a perfect conditions: great roads, great weather, great people.

A long riding day , but worth every penny. Leaving the mount Fuji area to leave for the twisty and super nice roads in the mountains . A very nice lunch outside, a lot of picture opportunities, good company and in the end a nice dinner 

What else can you wish for on this Secrest of Japan tour?

Let the photo's speak for themselves!

And how nice it is to wake up with a splendid view over Tokyo Bay from the 19th floor of our hotel and finding out that there is a clear blue sky and will be that throughout the whole day? That is fantatsic. And so it was, our first riding day! Leaving the big metropole of Tokyo we headed in southern direction and enjoyed the great architecture of Tokyo and surroundings. After a busy coastal road ride we had our first coffee stop at the island of Enoshima. A great atmosphere down here! Soon after this we left the busy traffic and got on the beautiful road, called the Mazda Turnpike. On this road are, beside the super curves and views, always groups of special cars or special brands showing off. Today it was a clug of amazing Lamborghini who came down the road while we were riding upward under the numerous blooming cherry blossom trees. After a lunch with a super view on mount Fuji we went down on the Izu skyline road towards the last highlight of the day: Mount Omuro. This extinct crater is also a very nice viewpoint and very worthwhile to go up with the chairlift. In the typical Japanese style hotel we had a absolute nice dinner where the group all showed up in the traditional Yukata dress. Great day on this Edelweiss Secrets of Japan tour with a great finish

While waiting in line for the chair lift up Mt. Omuro you can watch the cookies being produced... and of course you can also buy one to eat while waiting

And so all the group members arrived today at the starthotel in Tokyo! Today we prepared ourselves for the tourstart tomorrow. After our welcome briefing and handover of the motorcycles we had our first real Japanese dinner experience. A nice and relax evening where everyone could start to get to know eachother a bit more while in the meanwhile enjoying the tasteful Japanese food. Tomorrow we will leave Tokyo towards the south

Our best impression of a Japanese snow monkey

It is cherry-blossom-springtime again in Japan, which means that the Edelweiss Bike Travel - Secrets of Japan tour is about to take off . Today is a preparation day for tourguides Ted and Angela, but to warm everybody up, are here already some nice pictures from the Odaiba rea in Tokyo, where the tourstart will take place! Stay tuned for an supernice travel blog for the next two weeks!