Why Visiting Hiroshima Will Change Your Opinion of Japan
Alun returns from a trip to Hiroshima that has changed his opinion of Japan! Taking time away from Tokyo in order to reconnect with his inner backpacker, Alun travelled to the modern city of Hiroshima. The recent history and museum exhibitions, regional cuisine, sports events and traditional Japanese theatre will have you falling in love with Japan all over again!
Support the show and access the Lost & Found section, as Adam reveals a full-circle moment and an exciting opportunity that he's wanted for years.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro: Alun returns from Hiroshima!
02:05 - From Tokyo to Hiroshima by Shinkansen
04:18 - Japan's Amazing Train Food: The Ekiben
08:04 - How Hiroshima Rekindled Our Love of Backpacking
10:46 - Miyajima Island & Hiroshima Carp Baseball
15:21 - Why You NEED to See Hiroshima's Peace Memorial
17:54 - Inside the Hiroshima Peace Museum
26:27 - Traditional Japanese Theatre
30:02 - The Shimanami Kaido teaser
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Welcome to Tripology
Alun:
[0:02] Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology Podcast. It's a backpacking podcast where two backpacking friends talk about backpacking. I'm Alan and I'm here with the ever-emulated Adam. Tokyo to Hiroshima Trip
Adam:
[0:16] Alan, mate, it's so good to see you for another week. How you been? Where you been?
Alun:
[0:22] I've been all over the country of japan i called you emulated because of the places where i've been a little bit like some of the places you've been when you was here.
Adam:
[0:34] Amazing i'm looking forward to it i'm sure you're going to tell us all about it and then i will look after the patreon section the lost and found this week because i've got a little story to tell you about a full circle moment that happened to me just this morning it was confirmed this morning uh, and it involves me lots of olives and italy so i look.
Alun:
[0:53] Forward to sharing that okay well i hate to bring in a load of capitalist bullshit to the start of the episode but adam's just told you he's going to talk to you about olives in the patreon section and if you aren't on patreon yet, see that as a sign from a sort of ancient italian deity perhaps one of the roman gods that you should pay a little bit of money and go and visit us over in the patreon section it's incredibly easy to access you'll find a link under this episode wherever you consume it you just click that give all your credit card details to us and then we use those details to make content for you exclusively.
Adam:
[1:31] Yes i love that very comprehensive and encouraging so guys we.
Alun:
[1:36] Really go and sign up and if you get to the end of this episode and you think i enjoyed these two human beings and would like to hear more of them there is more available is what we're trying to say but for money. Yeah.
Adam:
[1:51] I love that, mate. I love that. I've missed you a lot because you've been gallivanting all over the gaff, all over the Japanese gaff. And we haven't spoken that much apart from some positive messages from you saying you're having the time of your life.
Alun:
[2:05] Yeah, exactly. Because the job that I do here in Tokyo is inexplicably given me time off. And I've been sitting here thinking, I want to feel like I've used that time off to the fullest. I was looking at a map of Tokyo. I went to Nikko very briefly, enjoyed some hiking there. Nikko, a place that regardless of how I pronounce it, it gets the same reaction from Japanese people. Huh?
Adam:
[2:34] Have you heard Japanese people say it?
Alun:
[2:37] No, it's one of those words that they tweak ever so slightly, and then it makes sense. I'll go, I've been to Nico. They'll go, huh? I'll say, Nico. They'll go, oh, Nico. And I'll go, oh, okay, what you needed there was a slight pause in between ni and ko. And now you understand. Nico.
Adam:
[2:58] Fair enough. And now you're saying it like that, I assume, to Japanese people.
Alun:
[3:01] Sometimes I say it like that, but I quite enjoy the interaction. So I usually go, oh, I've been to Nico yesterday and just to see what happens every time. Do you know what I mean?
Adam:
[3:11] Yeah. Well, that's like speaking to French people, isn't it? For a lot of people who don't speak French, they go to Paris and they want to order a croissant. And the person behind the till goes, I've got literally no idea what you're saying. Whereas even if you were in that scenario, you're in a boulangerie, right? You're working behind the counter. What are they going to be asking for other than something that's in the shop? Realistically.
Alun:
[3:33] For me, it would have to be quite different for me not to understand at all. Like if someone said to me, oh, I just went to Manchester. I'd be like, oh, they must mean Manchester. I wouldn't go, oh, you mean Manchester. So for me, it's a little bit much all that reaction stuff. But I got back from Nico, Nico, and I didn't feel like I'd had enough of a time away. Yeah, exactly, man. Um i didn't feel like i'd had enough of a time away so where do you think i should have gone i was in tokyo that's my base went to nikko and then i wanted more of a trip where do you think i headed.
Adam:
[4:14] Uh to the train station to get on a shinkansen i reckon. Shinkansen Snack Discovery
Alun:
[4:18] You're so right because i'd never had ekki ben got to get the shinkansen paid some money got on the train got an ekki ben and, It's got to make you think, when you tuck into that Ekiben, train food, for those of you who don't speak fluent Japanese, you realize that Japan is a country that really is ahead in many areas. Because the three pound meal deal is the most widely consumed train food in the uk, whereas in japan these little boxes that you can buy at the train station contain a plethora of nutritious healthy and wonderful foodstuffs in the one i had on the way to hiroshima there was, fried squid with rice in one, parcel pocket of the Eki Ben. Compartment would be a beautiful word if I'd chosen to use it. In another compartment, there's maybe some egg fried rice, another compartment, some pickled vegetables. There's just a plethora of really good stuff in there. It's beautiful to whiz by at many many many kilometers an hour teleporting you across japan at breakneck speed whilst eating that food.
Adam:
[5:34] I couldn't agree more it's one of my favorite feelings is sitting down in your seat in the shinkansen before you've even opened it and then pulling down that little tray you pop open the top of your ekiben you got your chopsticks there and you're just looking at all of the things you're about to eat i usually go for the mackerel uh, i like to go for the plain rice or the sushi rice, the mackerel maybe the pickled vegetables like you said and they tend to be about 6 quid, 10 quid something like that, you can get a premium version if you like, it's just a done thing man i'm glad you enjoyed it.
Alun:
[6:05] And you can also snoop around because it's essentially becomes an open plan dining car you can really snoop at other people's ecchi bens and see what did this person get look over the seat in front of you oh he got the plain rice and mackerel look over to the right oh you saucy little devil, um he's got, i will tell you what he that's a surprise for the Patreon section yeah I was looking all over, exactly so I really enjoyed the Shinkansen ride and it got me all the way to drumroll please Hiroshima.
Adam:
[6:41] Wicked it's a city I like, a city I like a lot it's a city that a lot of people who go to Japan also really like, I don't think it's up for debate I think it's just a really cool city with obviously a pretty tragic history but an interesting one nonetheless and you can eat some amazing food there it's in quite a cool part of Japan as well.
Alun:
[7:00] My preconceptions about Hiroshima were limited to the preconceptions that everyone has of Hiroshima before they go. They know about one piece of its historical past. And of course, it is the location of the atomic bomb dome and subsequent next door peace museum. And that is a big part of what people do in Hiroshima. But other than that, I had very few expectations or thoughts about the place I just knew it was one of the places that I should go to in Japan and it was convenient to get to and that's why I chose it I feel like in recent weeks on topology I've been somewhat critical about backpacking at large for several reasons I've been, inundated with feelings of dismay about people, taking so many photos in places being disconnected I've been inundated with messages and emails from people talking about travel in a specific way. I've been seeing Instagram reels where people seem to be having a very content first approach to travel.
Alun:
[8:04] My experience in Hiroshima became, it was one of my favorite backpacking trips of all time. Not only as it made me fall absolutely in love with Japan as a tourist destination and a travel destination it's re-enlivened my long-standing love and enthusiasm of backpacking in general and backpackers in general, and it I mean I've done some crazy cool stuff over the 10 years I've been traveling around this trip was one of my favorites ever from the moment I arrived in Hiroshima and checked into my hostel, I met an amazing Japanese woman called Amika who checked me in. She was actually going, she was at that hostel just to, oversee some new staff members. She actually runs the hostel in Kyoto of the same name. And we instantly just became friends. You know, you meet some people and immediately you're just like, you're brilliant. You're amazing. She recommended me a bunch of stuff to do. She told me about a cool place to have traditional Hiroshima Okinomi Yaki. Okonomiyaki and New Friends
Alun:
[9:14] Which you can describe to people when we get around to it, because it's a really cool food stuff i then went upstairs to my dorm beautiful dorm room immediately made friends with a kiwi traveler, the two of us we're heading out of the hostel we say to amiko we're gonna go get that okonomiyaki that you recommended, she says i'm gonna come with you cool she, leaves the post of the hostel comes and gets an amazing traditional okonomiyaki with us old woman on a slab describe okonomiyaki adam in a rice for breakfast style summary.
Adam:
[9:49] So i think it translates to everything fried you're mentioning a lot of fried foods on this episode alan i'm um, maybe in the patreon section i'll just make sure you are eating some vegetables and some fresh goods but it is essentially something that's cooked on a hot plate, can be kind of like a cabbage pancake with a few other bits and bobs i think the hiroshima version includes noodles correct me if I'm wrong.
Alun:
[10:12] you're so right exactly that the Hiroshima version has either udon or soba noodles
Adam:
[10:17] And uh yeah there's kind of like a teriyaki sauce and a bit of mayonnaise on top and then the bonito flakes are kind of shaved um fish dried fish so yeah it's.
Alun:
[10:26] Pretty tasty as well because it's served on the hot plate in front of you you slice it up with a kind of shovel and then eat it with chopsticks we then the three of us became such good friends that amico was like, i'm going to buy baseball tickets for tomorrow i'm going to take you guys to a hiroshima carps game.
Adam:
[10:44] So good so good.
Alun:
[10:46] Isn't it great when you just meet someone and like a group of people you're immediately fast friends and it's like great we're going to go to baseball tomorrow, The next day, made some more friends at the hostel. All of us went to Miyajima Island, which is kind of a short way away from Hiroshima. It's a beautiful island with some Shinto shrines. And there's a hike or a cable car up to a viewpoint. It's very, very beautiful. Very, very picturesque.
Adam:
[11:12] I saw a double rainbow when I was there, mate.
Alun:
[11:14] Did you? Yeah. All the way across the sky.
Adam:
[11:16] Oh, yeah. It's amazing. Double rainbow. We couldn't believe it. Me and the Dutch couple I was standing next to. Yeah, here. Stunning.
Alun:
[11:23] Amazing. Yeah, it's a really beautiful island, Miyajima, and definitely worth visiting. But because now there was like friends, like there was someone who just checked into the hostel, they'd missed out on the Okonomiyaki, but we invited them to come. So now we've got a little team of backpackers traveling around, we score them a baseball ticket as well. By the time it came around to the baseball we'd assembled a group of six of us all really good friends and we went to this hiroshima carps game what an atmosphere mate.
Adam:
[11:56] Oh yeah big stadium was it because i know baseball is obviously japan's is it the number one sport potentially.
Alun:
[12:03] I think it goes baseball and soccer the two most popular maybe baseball soccer basketball.
Adam:
[12:12] Yeah right so it is a big thing to do and it is definitely worth doing where did i meet that guy i met a guy once who, who goes to japan often to watch baseball games he's like a fan of a specific team and all of his japan trips have got that kind of baseball focus so not something that i've done because i don't think I've ever been to Japan, in baseball season, but what was the atmosphere like because baseball is a game that gets a bit of a bad rap because some people think it's boring and too long.
Alun:
[12:41] It's really fun and exciting I think actually it's really technical there's a lot going on and even if you think oh it takes ages for them to pitch and bat it's actually there's stuff going on because one of the, someone might be trying to steal base and I really enjoyed watching it And there's downtime where obviously people are drinking and there's a good atmosphere. There's someone coming and refilling people's drinks. I won't hesitate to say that even though I live in Tokyo, I'm now quite a large Hiroshima Carp fan.
Adam:
[13:12] Oh, right. A glory hunter. Are they good?
Alun:
[13:15] Not, well, I think they're great. Yeah. But they're not as good as a team, you know, other teams in Japan might, score more runs, but Hiroshima Carp, you know, they, the whole baseball league has a bit of a cross promotion with Pokemon and the Magikarp is the perfect Pokemon for the Hiroshima Carp. And magikarp of course one of the best pokemon in the evolves to a gyarados adam one of the strongest pokemon but in and of itself very humble pokemon indeed and the hiroshima carp chant i really like it goes carpool carpool carpool hiroshima hiroshima carpool, and i think that's a fun thing to shout yeah that goes toe to, toe with any football chant exactly when we win we fill up a, balloon and everyone releases them into the crowd which is fun as well, when we win what else can i tell you about them they have a chant for every single player for example when mochi maru was stepping up to bat we go mochi mochi mochi maru mochi maru mochi maru it was a fun time.
Adam:
[14:26] Maybe slightly less imaginative than football chants in general, but I'm glad you had a good time.
Alun:
[14:32] Well, it's all very respectful, so you can't just go like, that kind of thing. It has to be a bit more. In fact, I got a bit too into it, and we were playing the Nagoya Dragons, and I got a bit into it. I was like, F for the Nagoya Dragons. F off, you dragons. And Amiko was like, Alan, please calm down.
Adam:
[14:52] There was no love lost then, because Nagoya was where you watched the sumo, the bashi, wasn’t it.
Alun:
[14:57] I was sick of Nagoya at that carp game. Those damn Nagoyans coming to Hiroshima thinking they couldn't have a piece of us. Well, let me tell you this for a fact. Never.
Adam:
[15:09] That's so funny. So you recommend it even as a tourist. I know you're obviously a lifelong fan now. But even as a tourist, if you can get your hand on a couple of ticks, you would recommend it?
Alun:
[15:18] You've got to go to the baseball. You've got to go to the baseball.
Alun:
[15:21] And then you'll obviously be on quite a high after the baseball. And indeed, if you've made a bunch of friends, you've gone to Miyajima, you've been playing pool, you've been drinking some soju, you've been going to the baseball game, I do recommend that you try and blunt that high before it gets too extreme and the next day perhaps visit the Peace Museum.
Adam:
[15:42] Uh-huh yeah yeah i i do i mean it's one of the things you have to do isn't it when you go to Hiroshima.
Alun:
[15:47] Hiroshima for sure you have to do that yeah um the the hiroshima of course known very specifically for, being the first place ever on planet earth which an atomic bomb was dropped, uh in 1945 thus you know then another one was dropped on nagasaki thus ending the second world war And of course, you know, the case study for that, the number of places you can go that have had that experience is limited to just two in the history of human beings. And Hiroshima has a peace memorial and park and building and a surviving, the only surviving building dedicated to that. It's sombering to talk about, but I think important to talk about too. Wouldn't you agree?
Adam:
[16:39] Yeah, yeah, completely. I mean, a lot of people would go to Hiroshima only for that reason and then maybe discover how good the city is and then do some of the things maybe you've done or some of the things there are to do around that area. So it maybe could be described as kind of dark tourism, I suppose, from one angle. But it is very important because it's incredibly eye-opening. And the Atomic Dome, which is a building that's been left there since the explosion, is a visual representation of the damage. I mean, it's pretty confronting stuff. Yeah, I would highly recommend going to Hiroshima for that reason, but also then discover that it is actually a really cool place as well.
Alun:
[17:18] Yeah, which I think, you know, being a bit glib saying, oh, you should have a really good time and then go to the stuff that you've heard of. I think it's actually a good way around to do it. I think that witnessing Hiroshima and experiencing Hiroshima for the beautiful aspects of it, and then going and being reminded about it's history i think if i had my time again i would still do it that way around as opposed to what many people do which is arrive in hiroshima, visit the peace memorial and then see what else the city has to offer i think the peace memorial itself it like.
Alun:
[17:54] It's such a specific incident and point in time and the peace museum itself was very full and busy, and intense and i struggled more than other museums to viscerally connect with the exhibits, and i think that's partially a me problem because i i felt like i was in a huge queue and swathe of people and it felt like, we were just shuffling through and people were taking pictures of irradiated burnt clothing and it very much stopped me from being able to, sit with those objects and relate to the idea that these belonged to individuals who were affected by a terrible thing that happened, Whereas, you know, the Titanic Museum in Belfast.
Alun:
[18:55] Obviously a cataclysmically different incident than... With far fewer extending consequences just a completely different like uncomparable thing, but the titanic museum in belfast like i sat with a suitcase that belonged to a passenger and i was able to sit with that and be like oh wow imagine how freezing that water must have been and what they were going through, because of the way that the museum was set up whereas in the peace museum in Hiroshima I didn't have a moment to do that really.
Adam:
[19:33] Okay so it's.
Alun:
[19:33] Like I was shown pictures and stories and then was moved through because of how many people there were and so, in order to viscerally relate to it I ended up going to a talk given by a friend of one of the survivors and that it was only then that i sort of was able to feel, like i knew the historical facts of of world war ii fairly well, but um obviously in schools we're taught a very euro centric view of world war ii a lot of people growing up in the uk really they think of world war ii and they think of, allies and axis and nazi germany's and and the holocaust and very rarely do we think of Pearl Harbor and the atomic bombs, really.
Alun:
[20:24] So hearing the perspective of this Japanese schoolgirl as she experienced the bombing, a bombing that reached 4,000 degrees Celsius and caused widespread mayhem and destruction and lasting effects from the radiation, It really was important to hear and then go on to consider just the toll of war and the cost of conflict and, And how it affects innocent people as collaterally.
Adam:
[21:06] Yeah, totally. It's absolutely worth doing. There are other examples of these awful moments in history where there are now monuments and, commemorations, memorials and museums and stuff that are absolutely worth paying attention to and giving time to if you happen to be in those regions. Correct me if I'm wrong. Two things. The bomb was detonated 600 meters above ground level and it was fairly central um is it wasn't close to what now is yeah a bridge or something the hyper center.
Alun:
[21:39] Is very very close to the peace museum it's just a short like maybe 300 meters away.
Adam:
[21:44] Yeah and then the the exhibition that is at the end i think it's is it upstairs and just before the exit about the bombs themselves but also So the, I guess the strategy behind choosing Nagasaki and Hiroshima as places to drop the bombs, I found that information incredibly interesting because it was premeditated and they were chosen on purpose. I think they were going to choose Kyoto to drop one of the bombs on, but I think one of the American officers had recently been there on holiday with his wife and he really liked it. So they chose a different city, but they are, you know, when you drop a bomb, especially an atomic bomb, and you are in war against the country, you're trying to do maximum damage. And I think once you put yourself in that mindset to try and imagine what these people were going through is... It's frightening stuff, man. It really is.
Alun:
[22:38] And war is terribly frightening. And you're right. Yeah, they chose those locations to cause the maximal damage in order to try and force the surrender. And the idea is that, you know, first Hiroshima and then Nagasaki in order to instill this idea of like this will continue to happen until a surrender is given. And the bombs were, the final assembly of the bombs took place on the planes because they couldn't risk an issue with the plane resulting in an early destination. And the story given by the survivor, the account that was told to me by the friend of the survivor, of just, a horror unlike anything you can imagine, really.
Adam:
[23:25] Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Alun:
[23:28] And, um, it's impossible for, so yeah, I think it's good though. It's important. I think to, if, if what's served up, to you in a museum or a monument doesn't quite make you connect with something in the way that you want to, like, I wanted to feel, like I'd had some intrinsic emotional experience of like understanding a perspective, because i could read about the history and see pictures anywhere, but i was in hiroshima and i wanted to sort of connect to as confronting as it may be i wanted to feel connected to you know how horrible, war and conflict can be and and let that inform my perspective so i think it was good to get that go to that talk we were the only people that were at the talk no one else showed up.
Adam:
[24:29] Oh wow was the talk itself in the museum or was it outside by the monument.
Alun:
[24:34] Monument yes it's monthly english talk and yeah no one showed up just just us there was four of us.
Adam:
[24:42] Yeah wow well it is incredible stuff and And I don't think there's any way I can add more to what you've said about that sort of thing.
Alun:
[24:51] No, but I want to go on. I do want to carry on talking about my time in Hiroshima because I want to instill most of all that this was one part of the trip, you know?
Adam:
[25:02] No, no, completely.
Alun:
[25:02] I went to Hiroshima for many, many reasons. And historically, it being historically interesting is but one of them.
Adam:
[25:09] Yeah i was just going to say i guess kind of from a tourist backpacker perspective and my memory of that museum was that i befriended an american guy, just outside the on the way actually i'm not even sure he was staying at the same hostel uh to the museum, and i think he took there's a there's a point isn't there where you can take a photo where you've got the flame of the monument and there's something behind there's like a line of vision or a camera angle where you can get quite an interesting photo outside the Atomic Dome.
Adam:
[25:41] Yeah and i think he was doing that and i wonder whether he asked me to take a photo of him or something anyway uh and then we decided to go to the museum together and it was really refreshing when we walked in he said, I'm going to be much slower than you because I'm going to read a lot of information and take time to think about it. And this is one of the main reasons I've come to this part of Japan. So you just do your thing, mate. Walk around, take as long as you need. I don't know which order you're going to do stuff in, but maybe we'll just exchange numbers here and then hang out afterwards. And I was like.
Alun:
[26:11] That's cool.
Adam:
[26:12] Wow, that's wicked. Because then you don't have that kind of, am I taking too long at this exhibit? And I just love the way how open and communicative it was. and we exchanged numbers and then hung out afterwards as well. So that was pretty cool.
Alun:
[26:27] I was refreshed by how many backpackers, like every single backpacker I met was taking the time to do that. No one was in Hiroshima and not trying to engage with that part of history.
Alun:
[26:40] So definitely worth doing. I want to end on a lighter note. So another really cool thing I did in Hiroshima was go to traditional Japanese theater.
Adam:
[26:48] Whoa, that's cool.
Alun:
[26:50] Is that something you've done before?
Adam:
[26:53] No no the closest i've done to that is been to a very small intimate private, music event in a jazz bar where there were some, japanese traditional dancers kind of interpretation and all that sort of stuff but it seemed quite theatrical and traditional and uh you know but apart but not like kabuki.
Alun:
[27:16] Theater or anything like.
Adam:
[27:17] That masks and dancing.
Alun:
screen.
[27:19] And music I went to see this theater production, and it was actually subtitled in English with a
Adam:
[27:26] Oh, wow.
Alun:
[27:27] Which was really cool. I wasn't expecting that. None of us were. It was just money on the door paid to go to this theater. It was the story of Watanabe no Tsuna, who was a great samurai, a great warrior. And this demon is terrorizing the town. I believe off the top of my head the demon was called Ibanaki Doji. Or Ibaraki Doji, maybe?
Adam:
[27:56] We're all incredibly impressed by your pronunciation. I'm sure any Japanese listeners will have grasped that immediately.
Alun:
[28:01] They'll go, oh, Ibaraki Doji. Hi, hi, hi. So Watanabe no Tsuna is he's trying to stop this demon and he slices off the left arm in combat. And then the demon tries to steal back that left arm by disguising himself. By describing himself. I am this thing. He disguises himself. He disguises himself as Watanabe's grandmother.
Adam:
[28:34] Oh, okay.
Alun:
[28:35] He's like, just imagine this, but wrinkly, mate, and let me in, baby.
Adam:
[28:39] Little Red Riding Hood kind of vibes.
Alun:
[28:41] Very Little Red Riding Hood, yeah. So there's dancing and music as this story is told and subtitles as they speak Japanese. But some of the mask work mate when the demon turned into the grandma it, it was amazing it was almost like cgi he kind of flailed around a bit and then suddenly, you i imagine he starts off the production with a heavy layer of mask and he's slowly stripping them off one by one because he did it in an instant and then sore enough he was what and i'll be, no sooner's grandmother and he got the arm back quick as you like but and then there was a conflict that happened when, you know, Watanabe finds him stealing the arm and he's like, oh, not you again, and they have a battle. Good, if anything, to see Japanese theatre.
Adam:
[29:28] Yeah, wicked. Is this with the same group that you went to the basketball, beg your pardon, the Carps game, the baseball game with?
Alun:
[29:35] Same group, mate. We formed ever such an allegiance and we just became really fast friends. And indeed, some of them are going to visit me in Tokyo. And it was amazing. So I'd recommend anyone who goes to Hiroshima, go to a baseball game, go to Miyajima Island, go to the Peace Memorial, go to Peace Museum, go to a traditional Japanese theater production. And that's just like in Japan in general. I think those are things that you should do.
Alun:
[30:02] On my last day in Hiroshima I was going to leave, and Amiko said to me you've really got to do this cycle trail it's like a really important thing I think you would love it I'd not heard of it before she just recommended it to me she said do the Shimanami Kaido, there was a guy at the hostel who was there going all my group had sort of disbanded one of them went to Korea one of them went to, Fukuoka everyone had left and this guy said I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow I have no idea I said, come with me let's do the Shimanami Kaido together it's a huge 70km cycle trail that I know that you've done.
Alun:
[30:49] We've got to talk about it on the next episode of Tripology though I think the next episode of Tripology should be me and you both talking about our experiences on the Shimanami Kaido comparing notes going through it it was, just one of the best trips of my life both the shimanami kaido the cycle trip plus all the stuff we've talked about in today's episode you might see that the my hands uh, pretty sunburned because of that cycle trail a bit brulee cycling 70 kilometers in 35 degree heat it's a story not to be missed on the next episode of topology now though i want to hear about those olives in the patreon section so we've got to go there we'll see you all next time.
Adam:
[31:29] Love to hear it cheers guys all the best ciao.
Alun:
[31:32] Bye.
