Cold...

Today the first winter wind blew through trees around stables. All the horses, even the black little fellow I have pictures with, are wearing special blankets. Not everyone is happy about it. Ribbon for example wanted to bite me and when that was not permitted due to obvious reasons, she demonstrated her misery walking in the most funny of ways.

I wasn't as lucky as the horses - for me there is no blanket and I have to relay on stuff that could be packed into my tiny bike panniers. As one can imagine, a jacket is not the kind of an item that would fit it. Yes, I'm bloody freezing. In my room there is 10 degrees but I promised myself to be tough and not turn the heater on. The heater stinks with gasoline. Luckily, only when on, so without it I'm freezing but at least not suffocating.

In three days I'll be heading to Tokyo. The month I spent in Kyoto was passing as slowly as never but the last month I've spent in Yamanashi seems to be gone in just a blink of an eye. It's quite fortunate it got so cold, otherwise I wouldn't want to leave this place at all.

After all, I didn't get to ride Orio. There was just no good occasion and I wasn't too pushy about it. We made it to a point where I can not only lead him on a rope but even scratch him behind the ear, so I guess we are almost friends. And that's good enough for me.

I've made friends also with a great Japanese girl named Maho, though there is no ear scratching involved. Maho is the opposite of a typical Japanese 24-year old woman, she doesn't make high pitch noises but she shouts like crazy when listening to music in her car. The only typical thing about her is that she doesn't drink alcohol, what is I guess good, cause in other case we would be drinking together and my healthy lifestyle would go through the window.

The only less typical Japanese woman I know is Miss Kumamoto. She looks like a guy (a very cute one), she has a tough hand on horses, she smokes. Only girlish thing about her is the way she speaks, using a very complicated honorific language. Luckily she does it only in front of customers and when they're gone, she also speaks like a guy. I will miss Maho and Miss Kumamoto a lot... But before that, we're all go together for the biggest roller coaster I've ever seen in my life! It's terrifying... I'm hoping for it tu cure my trauma from Spain and make my fear of highs go away.

Gosh, was this sentence really a rhyme?

Anyway, the conclusion of this post is: a) it's cold as hell b) I will miss Paddy Field c) it's time to get on my bike and head for Tokyo!

No, for anybody who suspects me of cycling to Tokyo - NO. I'm only cycling from Narusawa to the nearest train station.