Well, that almost week staying in hostels and meeting new people was a much needed break. Thank you Mum, Dad, Sarah and Ben for the birthday money that allowed me to do that! I really appreciate it. I knew I wanted to go see Lake Biwa, but I knew I wouldn't make it in a day. I found a cheap campsite with no reservations required to the east, so that's where I headed. The first mountain outside of Osaka was gonna be challenging, but it's a main road I thought. Can't be any different to any other road I've been. Oh how wrong I was. It was 40% incline. At least that's what the other cyclist couple told me. 40%. 13% is crazy hard. 40% guys. That's insane. I cycled it for about 50m as a joke, just to see if I could. I then rested for 20 minutes to catch my breath. After that, I walked. I walked for a long time. The road wasn't even tarmac, it was this concrete pattern thing. It's probably so steep that tarmac doesn't work, or something. Anyway, I actually didn't mind the walk. I got to the top and stopped at the only cafe there, where the cycle couple had also stopped. The owner and I discussed what I could possibly eat, and we worked out a dish with sausages, rice, salad, miso soup and coffee. The I also gave the couple (btw I don't actually think they're a couple, she introduced him as a friend) my YouTube channel. Better get posting then! After the mountains I descended into Nara, and then left Nara just as quickly. At one point I had to wait at a train crossing, and I swear it took 10 minutes because every time a train passed a new one was coming the other way. I got to the campsite just before sunset. At 7pm. The reception had left at 5pm, and there were signs saying no entry after 5pm. There were warnings of CCTV and calling the police. That put me into a panic, so I cycled around trying to find anywhere else but I had no luck. I tried calling them, no answer. I tried DMing on Instagram, no answer. I decided to just do it anyway and went in and camped. In the morning the patrol woman came over to me and I just payed then with no issues. Talk about dramatic for no reason! Having issues and panicking about where I'm sleeping for the night is always a terrible feeling. But sometimes, there's nothing you can do to avoid those situations!