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| - I woke up at 6am, because so did the sun, briefly wondering why I was in a tent instead of in bed. On a weeklong charity hitchhiking event where I planned to camp most nights, this shouldn't have been a surprise, except I was still in Taketa, a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Then I remembered my welcome enkai the night before, and how it had seemed a good idea when it ended at around 2am to start the event as I meant to go on, and camp in the small park in the centre of town. This was my 3rd year spending Golden Week hitchhiking around Kyushu, trying to reach each prefecture and undertake at least one of the cultural, sporting or digestive challenges which, as organiser of the event, I had chosen to represent the glory of Kyushu. Right now, it was a challenge just to stay conscious, and
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| abstract
| - I woke up at 6am, because so did the sun, briefly wondering why I was in a tent instead of in bed. On a weeklong charity hitchhiking event where I planned to camp most nights, this shouldn't have been a surprise, except I was still in Taketa, a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Then I remembered my welcome enkai the night before, and how it had seemed a good idea when it ended at around 2am to start the event as I meant to go on, and camp in the small park in the centre of town. This was my 3rd year spending Golden Week hitchhiking around Kyushu, trying to reach each prefecture and undertake at least one of the cultural, sporting or digestive challenges which, as organiser of the event, I had chosen to represent the glory of Kyushu. Right now, it was a challenge just to stay conscious, and I staggered up to the main road with my tent, sleeping bag and bag of essentials, (3 T-shirts, a camera and a 100 yen whiteboard and whiteboard marker), praying that hitching would be as easy as it had been the other 2 years. It was. After a mere 15 minute wait, I was whisked to Kuju by the Shibata family out for a day-trip in two giant Daihatsu Delta Wagons, and from there, after a mere 3 minute wait, I was hurtling West with Yuichi, a very cool young Canon employee from Northern Oita in an amazingly cool hatchback Daihatsu Copec sports car. The top could only be down if I carried by luggage on my lap, as the top filled the tiny trunk, but with the sun out, it was worth the minor inconvenience. One short hitch later, and by 10.30am I was at my first destination - Kurokawa onsen, just over the border in Kumamoto ken. Having stashed my luggage in a locker, I strolled the gorgeous streets of this hot spring village, picked one at random and, paying the extremely reasonable 500yen which every onsen charges, picked up my first points for completing my first challenge, knowing that the other 12 pairs across Kyushu were probably well into their second or third challenges, my enkai having forced me to miss the first day of hitching, (I had been to the Trinita football match in Oita the previous day, but having driven there I wasn't sure I could justify claiming the points for that challenge). Relaxed, refreshed and already glad not to be carrying my three bags, I plunged straight into my next challenge, and this one lived up to its name - participants were invited to enjoy a culinary speciality from each ken, and Kumamoto's was brought to me on a tiny plate: basashi, or raw horse. It was a little stringy, but tasted of little more than the sauce which accompanied it, and I found my biggest concern was that I'd paid over 1,000yen for 8 small pieces, leaving my stomach rumbling for the 4 rides which took me back through Oita, past water-skiers zipping along on lakes below impressively high bridges, via Fukuoka ken and, finally, all the way to Imari, Saga ken. There, I met up with two fellow Oitian hitchers and together we enjoyed a dinner of famous Imari beef, although my Imari-gyuu curry left me wondering, not for the first time, if this particular local delicacy wasn't just the town hall choosing a local food, adding the word special to it and charging too much to gullible tourists. Like me. As we set up camp between a school and a small factory, it felt good to be back on the road after 2 years, especially as the hitching had gone so smoothly. As a further omen of good luck, no-one snored that night.
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