The next morning, some determined surfers are already in the water by the time we go for our breakfast. Surfing really is serious business around these parts. After a nice meal, we head out on the bikes again, to continue our drive along the coast.
Soon it becomes clear why we saw so many surfers together on the beach, as the rest of the coast quickly turns far more rugged, and instead of sandy beaches, impressive rocks rise out of the water, breaking the waves. It is clear that places to go to the beach are few and far between in this part of Japan, but it makes the view from the bikes all the more spectacular.
We drive up into the hills at one point, as the GPS points us to a place where we can see wild monkeys. We park in a large parking lot, and after getting a entrance ticket, a small tour bus drives us down to the beach, where many monkeys have found that being in a place where tourists come, means you're able to get an easy meal.
Wild is perhaps a bit of an overstatement for these monkeys, as they seem to know quite well that feed is being sold in the shop at the beach, and they flock around the building in hopes of tourists buying them their next meal. Still, their behaviour has not really changed, and it is interesting to see how the interaction between the monkeys indicates the leader, but also his challengers in this pack.
We continue on our way again, towards Heda town. As interesting as the coastal landscape is on the way there, as unimpressive is Heda town. It is perhaps a really authentic fishing village, but that just means that they have a large processing plant, and a lot of fishing ships manoeuvring in the harbor. We get a quick bite to eat at the local convenience store, then continue our way as it slowly begins to rain.
We arrive in the pouring rain, and immediately someone from the ryokan with a couple of umbrellas guides us to the parking spot for the motorbikes. When we come into the ryokan, we are almost jumped by the staff with towels, as they try to dry our clothes and the side-cases. Here you feel why the word customer is pronounced in Japanese with almost the highest honorific, and after a soak in the onsen, the rain is entirely forgotten.