Two Days of Fun at the Kamikochi Mountain Range
Heyyyyy ya'll.
On October 26th, Chris and I woke up at 6:30AM...not exactly sure where we were going, but we did know it required us to pack two days worth of clothing and that we it was going to be samui (cold). The trip's participants were Coz, Katsue (Coz' daughter), Chris, and myself.
We finally start inquiring where we're going and how long the trip will be. We find out that we need to pick up Matsamura Son (Mr.) and his daughter Hatchen in Nagoya before we continue on our journey. Before we pick them up, we stop at a Circle K for some breakfast. I picked up some delectable danishes. Forrest Gump would say that danishes (it seems like they usually refer to it as pan...similar to Spain) in Japan are like a box of chocolates. I can't read Japanese (except for a few random symbols I've picked up without knowing their meaning) so I don't have the slightest idea what's in the danish unless there's a bit of the filling poking out the side. Even then, making a guess is risky business because the sweet red bean stuff looks inconveniently similar to chocolate. I've made that error several times (nothing against the red bean stuff...but when you're expecting to bite into something chocolatey and it's...well...red beans...it catches you off guard). Anyways...I've been pleasantly surprised with cream cheese, danish cheese, cheddar cheese, "other" cheese, chocolate, hot dog, sausage, tomato, pepper, egg, red beans (of course), and miscellaneous (which will be anything I do not have the tools to identify. But...I digress...
Enter Mr. Matsamura and Hatsue. The rest of the journey takes about three to four hours. I took a bunch of pictures during the trip (lots of mountains and towns tucked away in those mountains) and slept the rest of the way. We were told we were going to the prefecture (a "State" in the U.S.) of Nagano. The Winter Olympics were actually held in Nagano at some point during the 90's, though I can't remember exactly when. We would be visiting the Kamikochi Mountain Range.
I wake up, look around, and we are surrounded by peak after peak of beautiful mountains. We're in a quiet, little town that is enjoying the peak of their foliage. Red, yellow, green, brown, orange, etc etc right in front of me, behind me, and all over the mountains around me.
I've got SO many beautiful pictures from this trip, but unfortunately I can only put five of them on each blog entry. I'll try to add some more tonight. The weather was incredible...not cold at all...maybe somewhere between 60 and 65 farenheit.
We eat some lunch in the town. This restaurant was the first place I encountered where we sat with our legs crossed on the floor while we ate. I didn't mind it too much while I was eating (though I couldn't fit my knees under the table, so they just kind of hung out the bottom...earning me a few laughs at my expense). Getting up was a little difficult, but it was worth the food. I lucked out on picking some great food during this trip. I had some fried pork and rice here...SO GOOD.
Ok, I've got to get to a soccer match in about eight minutes, so I'm going to give you the quicker version.
After lunch we took a lift up to the top of the mountain! I thought the fear of heights thing would make this a challenge...but no problems! The view up top was incredible...360 degrees of mountains, sun, sky, clouds, mountains poking out of clouds, etc. I wish I could have stayed up their all day.
Here's one of the pictures from the top viewing platform. It was so beautiful just sitting and watching the clouds move up, over, around, or through the mountain peaks. They moved slow...but not so slow that you couldn't tell they were moving.
We spent a few hours poking around up there. Ate some snack (my first Curry experience). OH MY GOD!!!! Curry, where have you been all my life? This might be my new favorite food of all time. Better than ribs, better than bacon cheeseburgers, better than peanut butter and chocolate. I LOVE IT SO MUCH and eat it as often as possible (they make it at Aichiyo from time to time). This particular meal had fried pork and curry which made it all the better!
Next we made our way to the hotel. Beautiful place with amazing views of streams and, of course, mountains. What made this place even better was that it had Hot Springs on site! For those that don't know, hot springs are found in volcanic areas. They're like an all-natural jacuzzi. The water is really hot...ALMOST too hot to sit in...and you pretty much just get in, sit there and relax...get out for awhile and watch some tv...go back in...eat some food...go back in, etc etc.
At first, Chris and I were a little nervous about the whole hot spring thing. Nobody with us spoke English incredibly well...and we weren't exactly on the comfort level we should be to ask the questions we had. But away we asked...
Matt and Chris: "What do you wear in the Hot Springs?"
Coz: "Naked."
Ok...naked...this brought up MANY more questions. Like...how do we get from our hotel room to the public use Hot Spring naked?? Are the hot springs coed??
Here are the garments you wear while traveling from your hotel room to the hot springs. This actually comes in about four pieces...Chris and I looked at them and had no idea how to put them together. Finally I sucked it up and asked Coz when he came in to see if we were ready. In the coming days, I'll show you step by step how we made it through this incredibly confusing and awkward process. Picture examples will be provided.
Much to our dismay (and, though they didn't know it, the dismay of those poor women that didn't get to see Chris and I in the nude), there were two hot springs...one male and one female. Thankfully they had signs...one in pink and one in blue. Blue obviously meant male...right??? RIGHT???? Thankfully yes.
So we go into the hot spring and noticed that each guy puts a very small towel in front of his penis and he moves from place to place outside the hot tub. The towel was doing nothing...but..."When in Rome..." So my towel and I paraded outside and into the hot tub.
It was actually REALLY relaxing once you get over the fact that you're sitting naked in a natural spring with five other naked men you've never met before. I got over it...you can too.
After I couldn't breathe anymore because of the heat and steam, it was time for dinner! We thought we were going out for dinner and Coz told us to be at his room for 7:30. We get there and, lo and behold, an entire spread of food (a japanese feast) sitting on a table just above the floor. Back to sitting on the ground, legs crossed, for me.
Beef, white fish, sushimi, sushi, soup, egg plant, squash, salad, more soup, salmon (I tried it and didn't break out into hives this time), tuna, fruit, and lots more I can't remember. Oh yeah...beer and sake as well! The sake was actually even better than the beer! So we ate and watched the Nagoya Dragons (our hometeam) play (and lose) the Japanese Championship Series. First the Yankees, next the Mets, NOW the Dragons...I'm a curse.
Ok, I've really got to go! We spent much of that night in the Hot Springs. We probably went in two or three more times. Other than that, we watched a movie, watched some tv, and slept!
The next morning we were up early for breakast, went hiking for about four hours (lots more incredible pictures...too many to post) and, at about 4:30 PM...it was back to Handa City!
During the hike we encountered lots of wildlife. My favorite was this wild monkey we just happened to come across. He was just hanging out in a tree. He eventually climbed to the ground and strolled away. Awesome.
And...here's Kutsue, myself, and Coz next to one of the more famous bridges in the area. We're at the front of the bridge, on your right.
Have a great day, thanks for reading!! Leave a comment.
On October 26th, Chris and I woke up at 6:30AM...not exactly sure where we were going, but we did know it required us to pack two days worth of clothing and that we it was going to be samui (cold). The trip's participants were Coz, Katsue (Coz' daughter), Chris, and myself.
We finally start inquiring where we're going and how long the trip will be. We find out that we need to pick up Matsamura Son (Mr.) and his daughter Hatchen in Nagoya before we continue on our journey. Before we pick them up, we stop at a Circle K for some breakfast. I picked up some delectable danishes. Forrest Gump would say that danishes (it seems like they usually refer to it as pan...similar to Spain) in Japan are like a box of chocolates. I can't read Japanese (except for a few random symbols I've picked up without knowing their meaning) so I don't have the slightest idea what's in the danish unless there's a bit of the filling poking out the side. Even then, making a guess is risky business because the sweet red bean stuff looks inconveniently similar to chocolate. I've made that error several times (nothing against the red bean stuff...but when you're expecting to bite into something chocolatey and it's...well...red beans...it catches you off guard). Anyways...I've been pleasantly surprised with cream cheese, danish cheese, cheddar cheese, "other" cheese, chocolate, hot dog, sausage, tomato, pepper, egg, red beans (of course), and miscellaneous (which will be anything I do not have the tools to identify. But...I digress...
Enter Mr. Matsamura and Hatsue. The rest of the journey takes about three to four hours. I took a bunch of pictures during the trip (lots of mountains and towns tucked away in those mountains) and slept the rest of the way. We were told we were going to the prefecture (a "State" in the U.S.) of Nagano. The Winter Olympics were actually held in Nagano at some point during the 90's, though I can't remember exactly when. We would be visiting the Kamikochi Mountain Range.
I wake up, look around, and we are surrounded by peak after peak of beautiful mountains. We're in a quiet, little town that is enjoying the peak of their foliage. Red, yellow, green, brown, orange, etc etc right in front of me, behind me, and all over the mountains around me.
I've got SO many beautiful pictures from this trip, but unfortunately I can only put five of them on each blog entry. I'll try to add some more tonight. The weather was incredible...not cold at all...maybe somewhere between 60 and 65 farenheit.
We eat some lunch in the town. This restaurant was the first place I encountered where we sat with our legs crossed on the floor while we ate. I didn't mind it too much while I was eating (though I couldn't fit my knees under the table, so they just kind of hung out the bottom...earning me a few laughs at my expense). Getting up was a little difficult, but it was worth the food. I lucked out on picking some great food during this trip. I had some fried pork and rice here...SO GOOD.
Ok, I've got to get to a soccer match in about eight minutes, so I'm going to give you the quicker version.
After lunch we took a lift up to the top of the mountain! I thought the fear of heights thing would make this a challenge...but no problems! The view up top was incredible...360 degrees of mountains, sun, sky, clouds, mountains poking out of clouds, etc. I wish I could have stayed up their all day.
Here's one of the pictures from the top viewing platform. It was so beautiful just sitting and watching the clouds move up, over, around, or through the mountain peaks. They moved slow...but not so slow that you couldn't tell they were moving.
We spent a few hours poking around up there. Ate some snack (my first Curry experience). OH MY GOD!!!! Curry, where have you been all my life? This might be my new favorite food of all time. Better than ribs, better than bacon cheeseburgers, better than peanut butter and chocolate. I LOVE IT SO MUCH and eat it as often as possible (they make it at Aichiyo from time to time). This particular meal had fried pork and curry which made it all the better!
Next we made our way to the hotel. Beautiful place with amazing views of streams and, of course, mountains. What made this place even better was that it had Hot Springs on site! For those that don't know, hot springs are found in volcanic areas. They're like an all-natural jacuzzi. The water is really hot...ALMOST too hot to sit in...and you pretty much just get in, sit there and relax...get out for awhile and watch some tv...go back in...eat some food...go back in, etc etc.
At first, Chris and I were a little nervous about the whole hot spring thing. Nobody with us spoke English incredibly well...and we weren't exactly on the comfort level we should be to ask the questions we had. But away we asked...
Matt and Chris: "What do you wear in the Hot Springs?"
Coz: "Naked."
Ok...naked...this brought up MANY more questions. Like...how do we get from our hotel room to the public use Hot Spring naked?? Are the hot springs coed??
Here are the garments you wear while traveling from your hotel room to the hot springs. This actually comes in about four pieces...Chris and I looked at them and had no idea how to put them together. Finally I sucked it up and asked Coz when he came in to see if we were ready. In the coming days, I'll show you step by step how we made it through this incredibly confusing and awkward process. Picture examples will be provided.
Much to our dismay (and, though they didn't know it, the dismay of those poor women that didn't get to see Chris and I in the nude), there were two hot springs...one male and one female. Thankfully they had signs...one in pink and one in blue. Blue obviously meant male...right??? RIGHT???? Thankfully yes.
So we go into the hot spring and noticed that each guy puts a very small towel in front of his penis and he moves from place to place outside the hot tub. The towel was doing nothing...but..."When in Rome..." So my towel and I paraded outside and into the hot tub.
It was actually REALLY relaxing once you get over the fact that you're sitting naked in a natural spring with five other naked men you've never met before. I got over it...you can too.
After I couldn't breathe anymore because of the heat and steam, it was time for dinner! We thought we were going out for dinner and Coz told us to be at his room for 7:30. We get there and, lo and behold, an entire spread of food (a japanese feast) sitting on a table just above the floor. Back to sitting on the ground, legs crossed, for me.
Beef, white fish, sushimi, sushi, soup, egg plant, squash, salad, more soup, salmon (I tried it and didn't break out into hives this time), tuna, fruit, and lots more I can't remember. Oh yeah...beer and sake as well! The sake was actually even better than the beer! So we ate and watched the Nagoya Dragons (our hometeam) play (and lose) the Japanese Championship Series. First the Yankees, next the Mets, NOW the Dragons...I'm a curse.
Ok, I've really got to go! We spent much of that night in the Hot Springs. We probably went in two or three more times. Other than that, we watched a movie, watched some tv, and slept!
The next morning we were up early for breakast, went hiking for about four hours (lots more incredible pictures...too many to post) and, at about 4:30 PM...it was back to Handa City!
During the hike we encountered lots of wildlife. My favorite was this wild monkey we just happened to come across. He was just hanging out in a tree. He eventually climbed to the ground and strolled away. Awesome.
And...here's Kutsue, myself, and Coz next to one of the more famous bridges in the area. We're at the front of the bridge, on your right.
Have a great day, thanks for reading!! Leave a comment.
posted by Matt at 3:14 AM
1 Comments:
Hey Matt, it's Aaron Barnes. I talked to Chris before you guys left and briefly entertained the idea of going, but it really wasn't an option. Looks like you're having a blast, I'm quite jealous. Say hi to Takeshi and Chris for me. My e-mail is AaronRBarnes@gmail.com if you want to get in touch.
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