This time Tom and I made it to the terminal 2 hours early and the nice security guys allowed us on the ferry. We spent our time on the crossing with Alex, Ben and Dan, mainly playing poker and watching pirate DVDs. We avoided the Australian guy and his really annoying, whingy girlfriend.
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We had arranged to stay with a couch surfer, Woody, in Osaka. Alex is also a cycle-tourist and had passed through Japan earlier this year (and speaks Japanese) so he offered to guide us there. I had expected a 5 minute ride from the ferry but Osaka is a huge city and it was actually nearer 2 hours - without Alex I doubt we would have made it.
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Japan`s another crazy place, where Lorry drivers cover their vehicles in chrome and the books open up the wrong way. It is also an incredibly polite place - at metro stations passengers always let people off first and also queue up to get on, when you expect someone is just about to push you out the way they just wait there until you`ve gone. That comes as a real surprise having come from China - in a lot of ways Japan reminds me of China, only it`s done better.
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Alex had planned on staying at a hostel but Woody invited him to join us here. For Japan, this is a huge flat, and while there are only 2 people living here it`s always filled with people. Tom and I have stayed here 2 days and loved it but today we are heading out, on the bikes once more. Today`s destination is Kyoto and from there it`s another 500km to Yokohama.