May 17

Nagasaki - Rest Day


First up - open the bike boxes and reassemble the bikes.  Mine went very smoothly.  Everything appears to be in working order.  Judging by the activity in the reassembly area, I think everyone's bike survived the flight.  And - after watching someone else reassemble it in Seoul I was able to put it together myself here in Nagasaki.  

We had a few tourist sites on the agenda today - the Nagasaki Hypocenter Park (ground zero for the atomic bomb), the Peace Park, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, and the Dejima waterfront area.  If time allowed, there were a few more places I would have liked to have seen but it was not to be.

Hypocenter Park:




 The Peace Park:











The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.  It's hard to imagine what the people of Nagasaki went through; a very sobering place to visit.  It's also interesting to have visited Los Alamos (home of the Manhattan Project), and now to visit the place and people on the receiving end of that development.  Not a lot of pictures taken, but a lot of reading and looking at pictures.   






We mastered riding both a bus and a tram today.  The cars here are so different from those at home or even in South Korea.  Here's a pretty typical car.


We went down to the Dejima Wharf area for a late lunch/early dinner.  Found a really nice restaurant right on the waterfront.  






And now - I think I'll go check out the spa...................






Population:  400,000

AI summary:  Nagasaki is a historic port city on Japan's Kyushu Island, known for its unique blend of Japanese, Chinese, and European influence due to centuries of international trade.  As the second city destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945, it is a centre for peace education.  Major attractions include the Peace Park, Glover Garden, and the Dejima district.  During Japan's 214-year period of isolation (1639-1853), Nagasaki was the sole port allowed for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch.  






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction

Image
Here I go again.  After taking last year off from big bike trips, I thought this one looked interesting.  A totally new part of the world for me.  A new (to me) company, although I know a few people who have been repeat guests with them.   The company is TDA Global Cycling.  It's a Canadian company but they do epic tours all over the world.  Their flagship ride is the Tour d'Afrique.  The trip I'm doing is called "Journey to the East", and is one of their easier trips.     We cycle the length of South Korea from north to south and then fly over to Japan to cycle south to north through that country.  Big miles and lots of climbing, although a few more rest/tourist days than I've had on some tours.  I'm looking forward to being able to experience some of the culture along the way.  I'm always a bit nervous about whether I've bitten off too much, but so far I always manage.  I think I've reached the point in life wh...
Read more

May 2 & 3

Woke up to a notification that my flight was delayed until 5:30 pm.  No problem - time for a long walk, laundry, and a few last minute things. Thanks to Ursula for the ride to the airport. I was there really early, as planned, and beat any rush. The check-in agent hadn’t processed a bike before but with a bit of help I think it got through ok. As the boarding is about to begin, the AirTag shows it in close proximity to the plane. I ate my fill in the lounge and probably don’t need to eat again until sometime tomorrow. Next up - nearly 12 hours on a plane - ugh!  Last I looked, the seat beside me was empty. Fingers crossed….. Once on the flight, they were clear to announce that the flight would be 11 hours and 59 minutes.  Maybe some different regulations are required for a 12 hours flight?  In any case, it was all good.  Well, except for the screaming child directly behind me.  Couldn't listen to audiobooks/podcasts for a few hours at the start of the fligh...
Read more

May 4

Image
Seoul Seoul (according to Wikipedia):  Seoul is the capital and largest city of South Korea.  The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, emerged as the world's sixth largest metropolitan economy in 2022, behind New York, Tokyo, LA, Paris, and London, and hosts more than half of South Korea's population.  The population of the metropolitan area is over 25 million. Seoul's history traces back to 18 BC.  In the early 20th century, Seoul was occupied by the Empire of Japan.  The city was liberated by U.S. forces at the end of WWII.  The Korean War (1950-1953) brought fierce battles, with Seoul changing hands four times and leaving the city mostly in ruins.  One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins.  Nevertheless, the city has since undergone significant reconstruction and rapid urbanization.  After a numb...
Read more