No no – you can’t go out to a restaurant – you can’t leave until you check out 🤷‍♀️

A lovely ride today – do we go the direct short way (30km) or around the coastline … coastline got the thumbs up despite a 30% chance of rain.

We had a good night’s sleep … John was happy in a proper bed with mattress. However, he had booked us into a ‘Love Hotel’ I don’t know who got the biggest shock – us or the ladies showing us the room. They were laughing at how many bags we had … then we asked where a restaurant was … haha they said you can’t leave here until you check out in the morning … ummm they had food we could to order in the room.

For us the room was 2 levels and we couldn’t go up the stairs they said … we had to go via the circular/rotating bed … haha. Mirrors adorned the walls and ceiling, the decor was lavish, a bath big enough for 2+. Everything provided that can be imagined for 2 people while awake in bed, or rented on request.

Oh well that was a little more Japanese culture – google ‘Love Hotels Youtube’ a lot of Japanese live with the family and the walls are very thin – it apparently is common to spend a night for privacy in a ‘Love Hotel’ sadly John has booked 2 more nights in one (before we knew what they are) … haha.

Back to our ride today … leaving Karatsu and heading to the coastal road Route 204 – spectacular scenery of the coast and nearby islands. The cherry blossoms are just part of the landscape now all in full bloom.

Lovely little fishing villages are prevalent, we have a few climbs – well worth it for the views.

We veer from the coast for a while and do a bit of climbing – farming land with green houses and plastic covered ploughed rows with what looks like lettuce or something similar sprouting up, onions are a popular crop. A lot of the hills are terraced and ploughed ready for crop planting.

After the climbing we head back to the coast – pass the bridge to Fukushima and hug the coast to Imari. Our accommodation is a traditional guesthouse – thin mattresses on the floor – John is very thankful for the normal pillow not rice.

A nice restaurant for dinner recommended by our host washed down with a beer. It was 4.2km of which we rode and thankful for our lights as it was dark on our return. Also thankful for our puffer jackets as it gets quite cold in the late afternoon/evening.

We did not get any rain today … yay!!