Heading north

At breakfast time this morning on the 10 th floor of the hotel Diana pointed out a big box next to the window. In the front of the box was a sign and some instructions in Japanese. 

Diana said it was a rescue  apparatus you use to lower yourself from the 10 th floor of the hotel (where we were) down to the ground in the case of an emergency. Would have to be some emergency I thought to myself!  I still did not quite understood how the device worked and asked Diana to interpret the instructions and to both explain and show me  how the device worked. 

I am going to really miss Diana! 

Anyway life has to move on sometimes so I composed in my head a  Situations Vacant advertisement for a new replacement pillion passenger. It went like this 

                                                                                           HELP  WANTED 

                                   A vacancy exists for an age compatible female pillion rider Applicants must be prepared 

                                   to sit on the back of a motorbike for up to 10 hours a day, day after day. Must be able 

                                   to endure sizzling heat, freezing cold, rain, hail and sunshine. Must be able to handle  

                                  foreign countries, foreign languages, foreign cultures and strange customs, rough roads and 

                                  strange road rules. Must have good sense of humour. Must be able to read a map upside down. 

                                  Must only need 5 kg of clothes . Must supply own set of pearls. A halo would help. 

  I  submit the advertisement on line. It is rejected. They don’t accept  impossible advertisements I am told 

 Suddenly I awake with a start out of the nightmare. But my dream is answered. There is Diana and the brief could have been written specifically for her. The perfect candidate right in front of my nose  ! 

And having got that out of the way we are on the way again. . I multitask as the luggage boy 

Then off we ride past paddy fields and mountain vistas 

As we ride I compose my first Haiku. It goes thus 

                                                    

                                                                           On a bike 

                                                                   The wheels go round 

                                                                     The bike stays up 

                                                                        We are happy 

I think I will submit it to the foreign haiku writers competition 

Then we arrive at our hotel for the night.  Scandinavian flare in the middle of a rice paddy 

And now I am off for a nice Asahi beer as the sun sets over the rice fields somewhere in Tsurouka which is somewhere in Japan!