14-17.8 Houousanzan of the Minami Alps
14th Relaxing day just getting to Nirasaki. We went to an onsen, and stayed at
this funky handcrafted guesthouse called Kuboshuku. The owner has this
Rastafarian-style beard and wears Japanese pullovers that say「男」meaning “man”.
15th It was a 04:40 morning start with loads of up. We gained over 1300m in elevation. This upward trail was mostly in the
forest. We were a little worried about the rumblings of thunder in the distance, but we arrived at Yakushi Mountain Hut early afternoon
just before the rain set in. Everyone else in my group had ordered dinner at the
hut, so while they had oden – fish dumplings, eggs, white radish and konjac
cooked in a broth – I enjoyed my avocado and tinned mackerel English muffin
sandwiches with a nashi pear for dessert. Heavy food I know to bring on a hike,
but as it was just for a few days, and we weren’t hiking for speed, I didn’t
mind carrying it. My companions reassured me that I hadn’t missed much, not that I particularly like oden anyway.
16th We got
up at 04:00 in order to catch the sunrise and headed to the summit of
Yakushi-dake. It wasn’t a very clear day, the 雲海 aka. “a sea of cloud” was marvelous to see though, and we could make out
Mt. Fuji in the distance. From here, we hiked the rest of the peaks of
Houousanzan, including Jizo-dake and Takane. The views were absolutely
gorgeous, and after the rain of the previous day, we were fortunate to have such
great clear weather for the second day of the hike.
We
arrived back in civilization around midday, and after a dip in an onsen – which
is the best feeling in the world after a hike – we went and had houtou, a
Yamanashi speciality. Afterwards, we headed to the local park to watch Nirasaki’s
firework display which happened to coincide with the end of our hike (or maybe
the organizer had planned it that way). It was my first time watching fireworks
in such a dark, open space, where the fireworks were not obstructed by
buildings or lights. After crunching my way through a mango-flavoured snow
cone, I just laid back and watched ;)
For the
night, we set up camp at a free camping ground, and even though I was sharing
with a couple of people (including a snorer), I was out like a light, and slept
like a log until morning.
17th After a quick brekky of me own mix of oatmeal (with choccy bits) mixed with
powdered milk and water. I caught the train back to Tokyo.
18.8 JP EXP
I can’t
seem to get away from Yamanashi. This time I went by car with a friend, her son
and her friend’s family and friends. This must of have been the most Japanese
trip that I’ve been on, it was what I envisioned a typical Japanese trip to be
like, it was just so Japanese! All I need to do after this, is to have a
Japanese ryokan experience complete with onsen, yukatas and ping-pong, and I’d be beyond
happy.
We went
pear-picking. It was 1000yen for all you could eat, but I could only manage
two! They taught me how to properly peel a pear with a knife, since they don’t
have any peelers.
After gorging on pears, we had a BBQ with grilled riceballs, veggies, prawns and scallops, sausages, and these seriously beautiful cuts of beef. I wish I could have eaten more, but the belly just wouldn’t allow it!
With uncomfortably full tummies, we went
for a drive around Yamanashi, and checked out Shosen Gorge and Takeda Shrine. Then, we watched the sunset whilst soaking in Hottarakashi Onsen. I went to Acchi-no-Yu, the newer bath
of the two available. I grabbed a grape-flavoured snow cone afterwards.
The last
activity of the day before heading back to Tokyo, was fireworks by the river.
We played around with mini fireworks and sparklers, I haven’t played with
sparklers since I was a kid! They introduced me to the senko hanabi, a tiny
cute version of the standard sparkler that requires patience and a steady hand.
If lucky, your efforts are paid off with a little globe of molten on the end of
your stick that fizzes and splutters as the sparks fly! The aim is to try and keep the lightning ball at the end of your stick for as long as possible.
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