Our two inaugural Journey to the East cycling tours arrived at the finish line in Sapporo, Japan just over 2 months ago and it would appear that the riders had a wonderful experience.

The 2024 Journey to the East is sold out but we are accepting names for a waitlist. The 2025 Journey to the East and 2026 Journey to the East tours still have some spaces available at this time.

Traditional drumming performancs at the Nikko Shrine in Honshu

“Great cycling, mostly on wonderful remote routes in the countryside of the two countries with a fascinating culture and beautiful landscapes. Inspiring rest days in interesting cities like Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagasaki, Busan, Hakkodate, etc. Good hotels, often with a very relaxing onsen, wonderful meals (breakfast and dinner!).” – Walter Ott (Switzerland)

Onsen, a natural hot spring bath

“It is very exhilarating to hope on a bike and experience a new country. The incredible bike route infrastructures were an absolute delight to pedal along. The routes through Japans hills as challenging as they were did not disappoint in providing beautiful views. The many historical sights, the experience sleeping in Ryokan, soaking a weary body in Onsens and the food were all delightful.” – Ursula Simpson (Canada)

“I love cycling, I love Japan, so this was a wonderful opportunity to blend the two loves. Everything about this tour was exceptional. I took 5 weeks out of my really busy life to take a boot-camp within the sensory overload of beautiful Japan. It was entering the natural beauty of Japan unseen, a wild Japan of forests, mountains, glacial lakes, volcanoes, villages and rice paddies.” – Heather Sia (Australia)

Photo: Rae Simpson

“Korea was a surprise. The biking infrastructure was superb, the food excellent, the scenery wonderful. I loved it. Where else do you find tunnels for cyclists only, road crews cutting grass with two individuals holding a protective screen, so the detritus doesn’t hit the riders and end up on the cycling path. I would go again in a minute.” – TDA Founder Henry Gold (Canada)

“Spending 4 weeks in Japan – much of it in rural areas that are seldom visited by tourists gives you a genuine experience of the culture and insights into Japanese life. The staff team were tremendous – helpful, engaging and highly professional and the group of riders were super friendly and made the trip so enjoyable.” – Paul Holbrook (United Kingdom)

Streets of Kyoto

“An incredible experience that has changed the way I perceive other cultures and the way of living of people in other countries. Beautiful landscapes, fantastic food, some challenging climbing up the volcanos. Highly recommended!” – Joanna Jaworska (Poland)

Mt Fuji

“This was another great tour. The route took us through so many scenic areas, with great variety of terrain. Everything from dedicated bike paths to flat straights to twisty up, down and around mountains. From dense damp magical forests to open rice paddies and agricultural fields. From remote countryside to dense urban areas. And who will ever forget cycling towards the iconic Mt Fuji?” – Maggie Williamson (Canada)

A traditional Ryokan room

“This tour has it all- Incredible scenery, challenging climbs, ancient history, fantastic accommodations, unique cuisine. Sign up today- you can’t go wrong!” – Chris Wille (Canada)

“This was a fantastic tour in 2 very interesting and different countries. Beautiful scenery, some challenging riding, some very special hotels, and the best staff ever!” – Eve Holland (USA)

“Absolutely fabulous, all my expectations were more than met. The routes, the staff, the hotels, the food, all in all, a fantastic combination.” – Lykke Thingmann Stead (Denmark)

“Travelling by bike through South Korea and Japan is a study in contrasts: rural/urban, cultivated/wild, traditional/contemporary, spiritual/secular.” – Andrew Freeman (USA)

“Kudos to TdA Global Cycling for making the Journey to the East one of the best cycling experiences of my life.” – Bob Peltzer (Canada)

Coke stop – Japanese style

“A wonderful mix of great nature and gigantic cities, Far Eastern culture and Western comfort.” – Freider Wolfart (Switzerland)

Group dinner

“Amazing tour in completely different countries and cultures. Incredible sceneries and cultural experiences. Excellent riding group with everybody getting along. Great staff, hotels, and riding stages.” – Michel Bee (USA)

“Japan was a fantastic destination, especially from the saddle of a bicycle. Every day brought new surprises, weather the scenery (Ahh! Mount Fuji is OUT), casual interactions with the people (Try a train at rush hour. What a rush!), the 27 course dinners (No forks!), or just the smell of flowers along the quiet roads. I’d advise anyone with even a tiny bit of adventurous spirit to experience Japan, and experience the it at the casual pace only possible with a bike so they don’t miss anything.” – Dan Kirby (USA)

“I have always been fascinated by Japan, and I love riding in the mountains and the tour offered me the opportunity to explore this beautiful country, ride it’s mountains, see its people, eat its yummy food and do that with a group of amazing people, and very lovely staff! All together a wonderful experience, exceeding my expectations.” – Mimi Jones (South Africa)

RELATED
TOUR

Journey to the East

While South Korea and Japan are close neighbors, their lands and cultures are completely unique. Cycling across these countries, one after the other...

“The spacious sky
spans serene and clear
so blue above
Oh, that our soul could grow
and become so open“

– Waka by Emperor Meiji

For five days in a row now, I have been roaming the streets of Tokyo. I have walked so much that, at one point, I even thought that the Guinness World Book of Records should have a category for walking the streets and alleys of this, the largest metropolis in the world. After all, the Tokyo metropolitan area covers ‘only’ 13,500 square kilometres. On one of my strolls, I went to an observatory in one of the tallest buildings in the city. From there, as far as I could see in every direction, were buildings of different sizes and shapes, interrupted here and there by large areas of parks, gardens, shrines and temples.

I first became conscious of a place called Tokyo when I was 12 years old. I was obsessed with everything to do with sports and the 1964 Olympics were to take place in that city. In particular, I was awaiting the outcome of the marathon, as I had previously met an Ethiopian runner, Abebe Bikila, who was then the most famous marathoner in the world.  In the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Bikila had shocked the world when he won the first ever Olympic gold medal for an African country.

To top it all off, he ran barefoot and, in the process, established an Olympic record. My face-to-face encounter with Bikila, occurred in Kosice, Slovakia where he had come to run in the oldest marathon in Europe. I was loitering at the back of the hotel, hoping that he would actually use the back exit, which, incredibly, he did. To my astonishment, decades later, telling this story in Ethiopia opened doors to ministerial meetings during the 1984 Ethiopian famine and help me get difficult to obtain permits, but that is another story. By that time, Bikila who died tragically after being paralyzed in a car accident, was a national hero.

In Tokyo Abebe Bikila, running four weeks after undergoing an appendicitis operation, shocked the world again and, for the first time in Olympic history, won a second consecutive Olympic marathon. This time he used running shoes. Ever since, I have wanted to come to Tokyo. It took only 59 years! I am finally here and am spending an extra three days in the city as I am joining our second Journey to the East cycling group which just arrived a couple of days ago.

Walking those many miles, I also thought of Anthony Bourdain and his love of Japan, in particular Tokyo. He had stated that,“If I had to agree to live in one country, or even one city, for the rest of my life, never leaving it, I’d pick Tokyo in a second.” Later in life, he added, “I love Tokyo. If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it.” It doesn’t take much effort to see why Bourdain loved Tokyo. In another quote he continued, “It’s that densely packed, impenetrable layer cake of the strange, wonderful and awful that thrills. It’s mesmerizing. Intimidating. Disorienting. Upsetting. Poignant. And yes, beautiful.”

Personally, not being a chef, I wouldn’t call Tokyo a layer cake, but it sure is a phenomenal place that one can’t help but admire. A city whose population is the size of the entire country of Canada. In five days of walking and encountering thousands and thousands of people, I saw, all together, two homeless people under one of the city’s many bridges, I saw patient drivers always giving pedestrians and cyclists the right of way, I saw no speeding cars and, in fact, I didn’t see one traffic jam on any of the streets I was on. The public transport system which moves 14 million people on a working day, showed a late departure for a train I was on – a delay of one minute!

The streets are spotless, public lavatories are always there when you need them. Restaurants by the thousands, entertainment galore, coffee shops everywhere. Leaving the main streets one finds quiet neighbourhoods, complete with wonderful small green spaces and children’s playgrounds. Museums are cheap and parking expensive. In other words, this is a city that works for its large population and the thousands of visitors. The infrastructure to support all of this is enormous and well maintained.

Having had the good luck of seeing a large chunk of the world and its many cities, I ask myself how one can explain this? What makes this place tick? Is it the Shinto-Buddhist approach to life? Is it the traditional Japanese aesthetics of wabi-sabi, defined by Wikipedia, “as a world view acceptance on transience and imperfections“? Frankly, I have no idea, but I sure wish that many people could see this and understand what is possible. I sure am happy that finally, I did.

RELATED
TOUR

Journey to the East

While South Korea and Japan are close neighbors, their lands and cultures are completely unique. Cycling across these countries, one after the other...

It was only six months ago that I wrote a blog – Florence – “I won’t have time, I won’t have time”. The quote is from a song by Michel Fugain and it dealt with how one can spend a very long time in Florence and still have more things to see. I am now writing from Kyoto and after having walked many miles yesterday and today trying to catch the ‘essence’ of this city, I can only think of Fugain’s, “even in a hundred years, I will not have the time to do it all.”

My Rough Guide to Japan has this to say about Kyoto – “The capital of Japan for more than thousand years, the city is endowed with an almost overwhelming legacy of ancient Buddhist temples, majestic palaces and gardens of every size and description, not to mention some of the country’s most important works of art, its richest culture and most refined cuisine.”

A few decades ago, I attended a retreat given by an exiled Buddhist Vietnamese monk and Zen master, Thich Naht Hanh, who at that time was teaching walking meditations, mindfulness and compassion. Today, as I walked and visited some wonderful quiet temples with exquisite Zen gardens, I could sit silently, enjoy the surroundings and meditate – breathe in, breathe out. It felt really good. I was exalted.

At other points when I happened to come across masses of people taking selfies at renown temples like Golden Pavilion Kinkakuji, the Kiyomizu-dera, or the photogenic Fushimi – Inari Taisha, I had to practice mindfulness to focus on what I wanted to see which, considering where I was, shouldn’t have been a problem. But as I much as I tried being mindful, I also had to practice compassion for all of those people who just needed another angle of being photographed in front, behind or to the side of the temple and to get just the right pose. After all, they too needed to validate why they were here.

To be frank I wasn’t the best of Thich Naht Hanh’s students, as much as I tried, which wasn’t very hard. We, TDA riders, are a spoiled bunch. We mostly cycle and visit places where there are no tourists, so when we arrive in a city like Kyoto, it overwhelms us. We are simply not used to crowds and having to compete with others for the best view.

When my view was blocked, I thought of the celebrated Haiku master, Bashu, who left Kyoto to wonder around and wrote, “In Kyoto, hearing the cuckoo, I long for Kyoto.” In case you are wondering what Haiku is, I found a website which gave a definition which I like – “Haiku is a form of poetry that celebrates the small lifeforms that fill nature, such as flowers, birds, and insects. With cherry blossoms in spring, fresh green leaves in summer, bright foliage in autumn, and light rains in winter, seasonal natural beauty and traditional events in Kyoto have always attracted many composers of haiku.”

And it was the small things that gave me the most pleasure in Kyoto. It was seeing seven or eight year old kids going home from school without any adult supervision. In Toronto, where I live, the parents allowing their children to walk home on their own would be at risk of having their children taken away for irresponsible parenting. It was watching a mother picking up two children from kindergarten behind one of the quiet temples I visited, putting the smaller on the front seat of her bike and the older on the back seat behind her and then pedalling off. In Toronto, where car culture rules, this would be considered foolish behaviour at the best of times.

It was catching sight of the flowers and carefully manicured trees and bushes in front and behind people’s houses as I wandered the narrow streets, where even a small Japanese car would have a hard time getting through. It was watching an old man moving tiny little pebbles or simply cleaning them away from in front of his house that made me smile. It is with these images that I will remember this magical city of temples, shrines, Zen gardens, little shops and wonderful people.

Now, if only I could write a Haiku about it.

RELATED
TOUR

Journey to the East

While South Korea and Japan are close neighbors, their lands and cultures are completely unique. Cycling across these countries, one after the other...

“The horror, the horror,” whispers Joseph Conrad’s protagonist Kurtz, reflecting on his life, his actions and on humankind in general towards the end of his novella – The Heart of Darkness. These words came to mind as I walked numbly through the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum the day before the start of the second section of the 2023 Journey to the East.

Atomic Bomb Museum, Nagasaki

Whenever something gets me down, I have two ways that help me to get through the pain and sadness. One is physical activity, a subject I covered in a blog ten years ago, Seek Discomfort.  The other is spending time in nature. I had plenty of opportunities for both during the 4 days of cycling from Nagasaki to Matsuyama.

The physical activity was cycling up and down the less populated mountainous sections of Kyushu, the third largest island of Japan. In fact, our local support staffer, Kazu, informed us that 70% of Japan is mountains and forests. The leftover 30 % is not much space for the 125 million Japanese citizens! As a result, the flat areas are very busy and crowded, with a lot of traffic. Which brings me back to spending time in nature and healing.

The Japanese even have a term for it – shinrin-yoku. Forest bathing, or rather taking in the forest with all of one’s senses. According to the website One Science, the Japanese government realized how beneficial it was to spend time in nature, so it created 62 forest bathing clinics throughout the country. I can’t say that I saw any of these clinics while cycling the last four days but what I can say is that there were parts of the route where I felt like I was in a magical forest and, subsequently, forgot all about the ‘horror’.

The fact is, I love trees. One of my earliest childhood memories is climbing a tree and pretending I was a cosmonaut flying a rocket into space. I was a child of five when the first satellite Sputnik flew into orbit and shook the world. In the back of our home in Slovakia we had a fruit orchard and I spent most of my time in the trees eating apples, pears, plums, cherries and apricots. During my tenure as the Executive Director of CPAR, the charity I helped to establish, we planted over 65 million of trees in Africa. So, you could say I have a predilection for trees.

It is no wonder that my favourite part of the rest day in Matsuyama was was walking through the forest on the way up to the city’s  famous Matsuyama-jo castle, built in the early 17th century. Right at the beginning of the path was the inscription, “When Kato Yoshiaki began building the castle in 1602 the hill was treeless but after red pine was planted, it became a pine covered hill. At present the pine trees are few in number having been surpassed by Japanese chinquapin, camphor, blue Japanese oak, Chinese Cork oak, Japanese Laurel, Japanese cinnamon, ferns, etc.” Nature at its very best.

It is not just the forests that catch my attention. In Japan, gardens and nature play an important role in the culture and one can enjoy and soak it all in just about anywhere one goes. I would venture to guess that it is this penchant for nature, the forest bathing and the actual hot spring soaking, of which we have had the pleasure of partaking several times already, is what helped the Japanese to recover from ‘the horror’ and to build a vibrant, modern society.

RELATED
TOUR

Journey to the East

While South Korea and Japan are close neighbors, their lands and cultures are completely unique. Cycling across these countries, one after the other...

“Hamechaye,” said my mother as she dipped her head in some hot springs on one of my many trips with her. She was a great traveller who actually scouted China with me for the inaugural Silk Route Cycling Expedition. She was always eager to see and experience something new, even in that late stage of her life.

‘Hamechaye’ – meaning pleasure, enjoyment and real joy – popped into my mind as I was dipping my body into the hot springs here in Korea. It was the second day of our Journey to the East Cycling Tour and we were in a town called Suanbo, which apparently means, ‘Fort Where the Water is Peaceful’. The pleasure and enjoyment were not only from the wonderful hot water enveloping my body. It was the whole experience of cycling in Korea. In all my travels around the world, I have yet to experience three days of riding with such excellent cycling infrastructure and impeccably smooth and clean surfaces.

Bike tunnel

Ninety percent of our journey so far has been on dedicated bike paths and though we had two rainy days, the wonderful joy of cycling this country, known as the ‘Land of the Morning Calm,’ have been, ‘hamechaye’. On the first day cycling out of Seoul along the Han River, there was a work crew cutting the grass near the cycling path. One person was cutting, another was holding a barrier to make sure that none of the dust and cuttings would bother the cyclists. Further down the route, we came across a tunnel for cyclists only. This was one of several we biked through on our first day. No need for red flashing lights, warning of coming vehicular traffic. To continue with my cycling culture shock, every few kilometres, we would come across clean, modern toilets where you can happily go in and reapply your butt cream. Not to mention coffee shops, which seem to be everywhere one turns in Korea.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park

Cycling infrastructure is not the only thing I am impressed with. While in Seoul I decided to check out one of famed architect Zaha Hadid works, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park. I spent a couple of hours walking around, admiring her work. It is definitely worth seeing, even if one is not an architecture buff. From there, I wandered just a few blocks north and found another striking example of public works, undertaken, I assume, by the local government.

Years ago there was a stream running through the city from west to east, providing water for people living on its shores. As Seoul grew, the stream become a dumping ground. In fact, during the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945, it was nicknamed the ‘city’s cancer’. In 1958, the authorities decided to cover the polluted stream and built an elevated motorway over it. The project was finished in 1976 and pictures show a highway jam packed with traffic. Alongside it were factories and markets including, in 1970, Seoul’s first 31 story office building. The highway became a symbol of the country’s  industrialization and fifty years later Seoul has hundreds of buildings taller than the original.

Seoul’s Famous Cheonggyecheon Stream

The stream was concealed for 25 years. Then in 2003 the mayor of Seoul realized that building that highway was the wrong thing to do and work began to remove it and rehabilitate the stream. It was along that rehabilitated stream that I took a long walk, enjoying the calm amidst all the bustle of modern Seoul. The before and after pictures show what really can be done all over the world, if only the will was there.

Singin’ in the rain!

And it is with the idea of ‘will’ that I want to finish this blog. What makes TDA tours special? Yesterday, our third day on the tour, was a long one with close to 1500 metres of climbing. What made the day particularly difficult was the head wind and the continuous rain. It was just for such occasions that we have support vehicles so that any of the riders who decide that they have had enough can get a ride to the finish. Yet one rider after another declined and declined, finally arriving at the hotel tired and soaked but smiling nevertheless . What a bunch! What will power!

RELATED
TOUR

Journey to the East

While South Korea and Japan are close neighbors, their lands and cultures are completely unique. Cycling across these countries, one after the other...

Scouting our upcoming tour in Korea and Japan, The Journey to the East, took place earlier this year. It was a real eye-opener to the amazing scenery and diversity of people and places along the route. The contrast between urban and rural is probably one of the most striking experiences from our scout and for the upcoming tour. That in such populated countries, with mega cities, there exists as well so much forest and quietude was a wonderful discovery for us.

Below are a few photos from along the route during our scouting experience. We are sure for those participating on the tour you will end up with hundreds of your own photos, as you cycle across the Far East.

Looking out towards downtown Seoul along the city bike path, which is closer to a bike highway. We’ll be riding along the path for a few days to start our trip!

Monastery by Yeoju on our first night of the tour.

A roadside wonder in southern interior of Korea.

One of the tombs of the ancient capital of Gyeong-ju in Korea. This “living” museum provides a look back in time to the Korean past.

Not a bad spot for a rest day. One of the beaches in Busan.

The fish market of Busan. Be sure to spend some time exploring there, and eating there of course. It’s the largest fish market in Korea, and you are certain to discover some species you never knew existed.

Parking Towers of Korea!

Arrival to Japan! The streets of Nagasaki.

RELATED
TOUR

One of the roads departing Nagasaki. A slightly flatter section of a very steep climb☺!

Our Scout team taking one of the inter-island ferries of Japan.

Japan has no shortage of roads like these☺!

Get ready for a selfie with the famous “peeing boy” in the Iya Valley.

When you need road side assistance in Japan, you may find your tow truck driver has brought some friends along for the ride.

One of the incredible lakes of the Aomori region.

It really is the “Wild Japan” section!

The water lilies of Fukushima District.

Welcome to Hokkaido!

The End!:)

It all started in January 2003 with the Tour d’Afrique. Truth be told, I was not an avid cyclist. When I was a boy in rural Slovakia I had a bike and used it all the time. Later on, when I lived in Banff, Alberta for a year, I used my bike on day trips into the National Park. When I brought the bike back to Montreal, it was not long before it was stolen. After that, my use of a bike was sporadic, at best.

For me to attempt to cycle from the top to the bottom of Africa was, to say the least, one hell of a stretch and really, a crazy idea. Yet, here we are 15 years later, announcing another wonderful cycling tour in a wonderful part of the world. The tour is called – what else? – Journey to the East – as we in the office not only love to cycle but also love to read good books.

As with all of our tours, the route is an original approach, joining two very interesting modern countries – Korea and Japan. They have a long and distinct histories but also many similarities. This trip will give participants a unique perspective – to see, experience and enjoy the two cultures. The trip will begin in Seoul, South Korea – well known for many things but also for hosting the 1988 Summer Olympics and end in Sapporo on the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the location of the 1972 Winter Olympics. While on the subject of the Olympics, this tour will also take us to Tokyo the site of the 1964 summer Olympics and the future host of the 2020 summer Olympics.

RELATED
TOUR

Journey to the East

While South Korea and Japan are close neighbors, their lands and cultures are completely unique. Cycling across these countries, one after the other...

In between these Olympic cities, the tour will visit many other well known places, such as Busan, the second largest city in Korea, Nagasaki, famous for one of the most tragic events in human history, and Kyoto, the former capital of Japan. There will be plenty of time to visit several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, to meditate on the current state of affairs in the seemingly endless number of temples and many opportunities to enjoy the famed Japanese baths.

I, for one, am particularly looking forward to practicing a bit of ‘Shinrin-yoku‘. You may ask, what esoteric thing is Henry into now? Well, I started this blog writing about being a boy in Eastern Slovakia and one of the benefits of living in rural Slovakia was, and still is, some amazing and wonderful forests. I and my friends spent endless hours amongst the trees, playing at being the famous Slovak highwayman, Jánošík and his band, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, finding empty bullet shells used by the partisans (including my uncle) in WII and picking mushroom for my mom to cook. Shirin- yoku or ‘forest bathing’ is the art and science of how trees can promote health and happiness. So, while I did not know it when I was a child, I was practicing a version of Shirin – yoku and I certainly plan to do much more of it on the Journey to the East.

I hope that you will join me on another wonderful cycling adventure from TDA Global Cycling.