Truth be told, I'm writing these entries in the future so I'll have to go off my limited memory. For this ride I had a choice. I wanted to go into the countryside, but I wanted to make sure I had bear spray before I did. So, I waited until 10am when Montbell opened in Himeji, but they were out of stock. That made my decision for me, I would go to Kobe and try another store on the way between Akashi and Kobe To be honest, I don't remember the ride that well. I think it was mainly a lot of main road. The outdoor store I checked for bear spray didn't have any either. I do remember it was a pain in the ass to get there, I had cycled up some huge elevation and afterwards I went through even more mountains. They weren't nature mountains, more like suburbia amongst some radically steep streets. It was tough but I wasn't really gutted, it's just how things be sometimes! I was so confident cycling there because it said on their website that this specific store had it in stock, but I guess not. I got to Kobe at about 7pm, where I checked into my hostel for the night. At the hostel they had a guitar so I tried to learn a Bon Iver song for a bit of fun. That's when Johanna walked in, a woman from Germany who is in Japan on a pottery internship. This is her 3rd unpaid internship after completing her masters in pottery. It's a tough world out there. She is vegetarian so we found a gluten free + vegetarian ramen place nearby for dinner. Apparently she's considering moving to Barcelona, because she's a bit fed up with life in Germany and wants to try something different. I hope she gets the courage to do it! She also told me how she learned English by living in the Isle of Man for a year, which is a wild way to do that! After dinner she was going to go out for some drinks so I decided to tag along. We ended up at a crowded international bar, but there were a bit too many American accents there for my liking. After that we searched for a more popping bar, and found one on the fourth floor in some random alley. It was another international bar, but this one was basically like a club. We stayed and I danced for hours, as they played so many songs that I liked. I can't say I met too many people, but I was happy to just dance! I decided I'd had enough at about 3am, I can only dance for so long before I get too bored lol. She agreed so we just went back, but ended up chatting for another hour at the hostel. Worth the lack of sleep though and I'm glad I made a new friend after being on the road alone for so long! Best wishes to her and the rest of her pottery adventure, although the potter and his wife sound a bit neurotic!