My bike was again where I left it, however this time there was a note on it telling me that parking here was not permitted and that I should please contact the local police station. (I double checked and still couldn't find a 'no parking' sign, also I was not possibly in anybody's way... as I wrote earlier, I just think that parking is basically prohibited in whole Japan and only allowed there signs explicitly tell you, what is basically nowhere expect on parking lots that usually demand a fee.)
If I get a ticket I will pay it (at least they didn't tow my bike) but I didn't intend to do the going there to apologize and being told why everybody has to park on proper parking lots etc. Also, today's trip was quite far so I didn't have that much time to amuse myself with local police officers who are more scared of me (because they deliberately think they have to talk English to foreigners like me) than I am of them.
Just when I was preparing to leave, a local approached me.
- "So this is your bike. It's not allowed to park here.
- "I'm sorry, there aren't any signs and I'm not in the way of anybody, so I thought it's ok to park here. I'll remove the bike immediately.
- "Within the city, you can't park on the street" he stated, confirming my theory about not being allowed to park anywhere in Japan at all. One long growing out of the tip of his nose began to bug me. It must be really lonely for a hair to grow on such a spot...
- "The bike was where for a whole week." he continued (wow, what a long time, a whole week!) "I was worried about that bike. I thought maybe it's stolen and somebody just dumped it here; or maybe somebody came here to go hiking and had an accident so he didn't come back to his bike." (Actually a valid point, I guess you would really appreciate that attention if you were in the forest with a broken leg. On the other hand, it doesn't help you at all if somebody's worried but doesn't send the cavalry.)
I told him that I arrived late and preferred to go home with the train instead continue to drive as it was dark and it would have been dangerous.
- "I see. Also I can see that it really is your bike as you have the keys for it. But as I already informed the police about this bike, can you just shortly drive there and tell them it's your bike and that there are no problems?"
That was actually exactly what I didn't want to do.
- "Thank you very much for your concerns and I am really sorry to have worried you. Unfortunately, I am on a very busy schedule today and if I don't leave right away, I will again not make it home with the bike." I tried to sneak my way out of the situation.
Finally I convinced him that it would be much better if he informed the police again as he started the whole thing in the first place.
At last starting my tour, I thought back about Germany. Instead of worries, some folks would be upset about somebody doing something that is not allowed and they would try to get him a hard time about that no matter if they would be effected by that or not. Also the discussion with the miscreant (me). once they would get hold of him, would have been different. I like Japan.
I headed away from Tokyo again, back to mountains. First, I was driving along lake Okutama with it's scenic shores. Autumn was now much closer to winter, so the beautiful colors of the turning leaves were about to be gone and grey and brown were the dominating colors.
Leaving the lake behind, I entered the mountains. Climbing up, the view was incredible. But the time of the year demanded its toll, not only was it pretty cold, also the street was covered with fallen leaves, half rotten and wet - in one word: slippery. I decided that it would be better if this were the last trip for the year.
Something warm after a cold day on the bike
tan tan men and gyoza :)
Last mountain pass for this year!
