This morning I got up early and went out for a cycle towards the seaside. I was all ready for it, in full cycling mode about 15 minutes in when I felt the first raindrops. Dark clouds were approaching and it only got worse and worse, so I returned to the hotel in sad defeat. I spent most of the day indoors but finally around 5 o'clock it cleared up again, and I decided to venture out again. To the mountains this time.
And behold my luck: the weather was great. It cooled down quite nicely after the rain, and sunlight peeked through the thin layer of remaining clouds. Climbing up the hills on my little pony bicycle turned out to be less of a challenge than I'd feared, and soon I found myself going down my usual road. The gradual uphill culminates into a beautiful downhill slope that opens up into a valley in-between several mountains, and it always brings a big smile on my face to go down that road.
As I cycled along after the downhill I spotted a girl wearing a yukata. Then, a while later, another one. Soon I found the reason: there's a festival! My Japanese summer experience wouldn't be complete if I didn't at least randomly encounter a festival :D. So I went and took some photos, enjoyed the atmosphere and then cycled homewards along the riverside. What a great day.
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