28th DAY: More of the Same

The room wasn't quite what we wanted for its price so we went searching for another guesthouse. There were few on the list. The one near the park and zoo seemed like a good choice until we got to the park. We followed the directions but there was no guesthouse to be found. Did I mention, it was raining the whole time we were searching? Well, that made me done of Nagoya already. We just kept driving onwards to Osaka. It looked easy. Follow Route 1, change to 25 all the way to Tennoji Station where we're supposed to call Sara of the Banana House Hostel and get directions. Sounds simple doesn't it?

We were doing great following 1 but 25 was a different question. There were 2 of them which we already knew about but we ending up finding the wrong one. They started in different places. One was for normal traffic and the other was an expressway which we've been avoiding the whole time because we aren't allowed on them. Problem was, we were heading directly towards the expressway and there was no turning back, unless we wanted to backtrack who knows how many km's. I had a closer look at the sign. Apparently, according to the congi, it said 125cc and below cannot go on there. I saw it from the positive perspective and read nothing under 125cc. I was so wrong but I was glad to make that mistake, otherwise the police would never have found us.

It was excellent! There were no traffic lights, the limit was 60km/hr which we were the only ones following, except for 1 truck that we trailed. That made me feel better about going so slow in comparison. I was feeling a bit tired and I had some coffee in my bag so I signaled to stop and take a break. When we started up again, a few km's down the road we saw the police. We kept going but they were behind us. Eventually, they called on the loudspeaker for us to pull over. We obliged. They talked to us for a brief moment but we didn't fully understand what they wanted. What we got out of it was they wanted us to stay on the shoulder, so we did. Then they called us again telling us to go into the off ramp, so we did. That was when they seemed more forceful in their voice. But then they realized that we were baka gaijin (stupid foreigners) and their faces changed immediately. They didn't even ask us for license and registration at all. This is when you apologize profusely and say, "sumimasen" and "gomenasai." That is when I found out that you need a 250cc to be on there. They were not intimidating whatsoever. They shockingly were willing to escort us to the Route 25 we were supposed to be on. We followed behind them through farm fields and small back roads until they stopped and left us on our way. Unbelievable! The best thing about it was we drove about 60km on the expressway and made great time although we still arrived at Tennoji Station at 9pm.

I called Sara as soon as we arrived. She asked me, "Where are you?" Dumbass! I told her I'd call her as soon as we got there. I asked for directions. She said she'd call me back because she wasn't sure. Dumbass! Within the 8 hours, she didn't even prepare a way to get to her own hostel she manages. 15 minutes later, no call so I called her back. She asks me, "Where are you?" Dumbass! I just told her I didn't know where to go. She finally tells me it's still 30 minutes from Tennoji so Nigel decides against it and we'd look for another place. We search frantically but nothing. We had some brochures of Osaka so he pulls them out. I found Nagai Youth Hostel which was in the Lonely Planet but again he said it was too far. It was half the distance. Then he found the Nagai Youth Hostel on his youth hostel map and it was okay. It was 10:30pm and they were open until 11. They were our last hope. So in the end, we got there just on time and it was a blessing. Boy was I relieved. The cool thing about it was it was inside a big park in an actual soccer stadium, and baseball stadiums, outdoor swimming park, track, etc... Unfortunately, the next day was fully booked so we still had to move and find that crappy in comparison Banana House in Sakai City.

Boy was I glad to get that day over with. I took a bath in the onsen and went straight to bed.