Sorry about lack of updates. Been
travelling so much have had little time to be at home and the new way
to get pictures up seems to be very slow so pretty much need to leave
computer uploading them all night. Not sure why so slow.
On Monday I resumed traveling the Japan
with my JR pass(waste one want not). Goal was to go to see Myotsu-ji
temple located east of Tokyo. Unfortunately I was bit careless on my
way and thought I was supposed to disembark train on Yokohama when I
was supposed to drop off by Shin-Yokohama. Oops! Realized error right
away but by the time I had managed to get back it was too late to hop
into the Shinkansen I was supposed to take. Godama shinkansen I took
next turned out to be way too slow and missed train I was supposed to
take on Maibara. Looking at the time table I realized to my horror I
would need to wait way too long for next one. I would not be able to
make it to Tokyo in time if I wait that long(schedule was already
tight as it was). Pondering what I would do I considered staying in
Hotel(problem: Wasn't carrying that much cash with me!), going to
Kyoto that was nearby(problem: Didn't have idea where to really go
there and there's the Kyoto trip planned later anyway) or returning
to Tokyo. Eventually I decided to abandon the trip and maybe go enjoy
the sights in Yoyogi park or something instead.
However things changed when we stopped
at Nagoya. First didn't pay much attention to it but it suddenly
flashed to me that wasn't there castle I was supposed to check out at
the Nagoya? Thinking moment longer I quickly grabbed my belongings
and rushed out of the Shinkansen just before the doors closed. After
this I verified from my trip plans from my laptop that there indeed
castle here and I didn't just jump out of train for nothing(with no
idea when next train leaves anyway). Luckily I had remembered
correctly so would get to see one place I was supposed to go after
all! But now I was completely improvizing. I had no idea where the
castle is, no idea how to get there, no maps and no time tables for
return trip.
Good thing I have been here for over a
month now plus can speak Japanese to at least some level so didn't
feel particularly uncomfortable. If this had happened early in the
trip I would have been lot more overwhelmed.
What I lacked was information and what
better place to get that than at tadaa! Information point ;) So I
started to search for it figuring I can ask staff there. But as it
turns out it was not even needed as said information point(if you go
to Japan and need help look for 案内
sign) happened to have very nice map showing interesting
places nearby and what's more train lines that take there! So after
bit of checking the colour codes I found out which line I should
take, where I should get off and to what line I should take and where
to take off. Then it was just two quick train trips. I also got to
try out how the procedure is if you put too little money(I had
thought I would need to buy new ticket during the change. Nope. Same
ticket). Gate simply says to go balance it up. Doesn't show remaining
money. That you see by putting the ticket to the vending machine
nearby. Then just insert money and go to the gate. Easy.
Arriving to the station next thing was
find the castle. Luckily the exit I chose(based simply that there was
toilet nearby) happened to come out pretty much next to the castle. I
could have SEEN the walls if my gaze wouldn't have been caught by
sight of yet another map. When lost you got to love the maps!
The castle itself is one of the most
modernized ones I have yet to visit. This one even had elevator to
get up the levels. Seems one of the towers and some sort of palace or
something are undergoing restoration process. Luckily photographic
wasn't forbidden(flash photographing however was) so was able to get
some pictures this time.
(Pictures unfortunately aren't in any specific order)
Sure would hate pulling that huge stone with somebody standing top of that...
After the castle I walked through the
park next to it. Pretty flowers aplenty as usual. Then I decided to
head for home hoping to at least get to sleep at decent time rather
than original schedule which would give me 23.15 or so time to return
to nearest station from home...
Dinner I ate during the train trip back to Tokyo.
Next day travel continued toward Kegon
falls located at Nikko. This time no bumps in the road to Nikko
station. After that I got another newish experience. Bus ride! Well I
had taken bus from airport to Shinjuku but that was quite long time
ago and I was bit of shell shocked at that time(plus tired after
little sleep in the plane). Got myself round-trip to where the falls
was located(btw I was following guideline from little web site that
deals with water falls around the world. Very nice page if you want
to visit water falls!) that cost me 2000 yens. Not sure how
cheap/expensive that is compared to Finnish bus lines.
Think I have mentioned it before but I just love the mountain views here.
Trip to desired destination took me
through one of the craziest roads I have had experience to be in.
There might have been similar roads in Norway but since I was there
as a child long long time ago can't remember it clearly. This one had
ridiculous tightg curves(48 of them. There was actually number of
each curve located somewhere along the curve!). I think road is one
way actually. Didn't see any traffic coming to opposite direction and
the way road was good thing too. We were switching between left and
right lanes all the time as bus needed space to do the 180 degree
curves. Also the road was constantly rising steeply(well we were
going up a mountain...) giving some spectacular sights to enjoy.
That's postcard I bought showing the curvy road!
Mid way I started to ponder that this
feels oddly familiar. ”Nikko, ridiculously curved road on a bus
train. Feels like I have encountered this before”. But since I have
never before gone this that felt weird. Then it hit me. Last year I
read first manga series in Japanese. It was called Hourou Musuko and
in one of the volumes class took school trip to Nikko(and boys took
advantage of the swinging by faking losing their footing falling top
of girls much to their annoyance). No wonder this felt familiar.
First time I was in same location as any of the Mangas I have
read(well apart from very generic ones like ”In Tokyo” :D).
Once off the bus I wasn't quite sure
where to go so picked one direction where I ran into this huge lake
and gate that told me there's shrine ahead. But I spotted map and
from it didn't find Kegon falls. Think I took turn to wrong
direction! Turning back I headed to bus station and went to opposite
direction quickly spotting ”Kegon falls” sign. Yup. Wrong
direction.
Finding the falls rather than take the
free viewing platform(that I took later) I headed straight to
elevator(560 yen I think it was) that took me 100 meter below where
the view was quite stunning. Not sure have I seen as tall water falls
before(this one was tad short of 100 meters). Obviously the rushing
water sound was quite loud.
Eventually I returned up and took view
from the free platform(which did give me some sight to upside of the
fall). Then I headed back to town. Though first I went to souvenir
shop and got reminder again to mind what you buy here. Things can be
more than a bit weird here :D I was looking at towel with anime girl
in it. Nothing spectacular. Was wondering if anybody I knew would
like one. Then the shop staff came in and started explaining in
Japanese. Word ”nude” was very obvious one though. I rechecked
the labels and sure enough if you put the towel into water(hey it's
towel so that's what you are SUPPOSED to do :D) the picture changes
into one of a nude girl. Wtf? Towel with picture that changes when
wet? That's something I have not heard before and I'm pretty sure at
least one receiver candinate and parents of both to whom I considered
to give would not be particularly pleased about THIS present :lol:
Sure hope none of the souvenirs I have
bought have no similar surprises :D
After that experience I went for
lunch(curry and rice again. Haven't eaten that for a while), took
view from view platform and then headed for the temple. After this
back to Nikko station.
On my way saw statue I considered to go take
pictures but decided I won't jump out of bus midway not even knowing
how far until the station. On station I considered what to do since I
still had some hours so went for search of a map. On it I found there
was world heritage shrines and temples about 2 kilometers away.
That's nice! Looking at directions I let out some curses as the area
was WHERE I HAD JUST COME with a bus. Haha! So that was 2 kilometer
walk back the same way with all the way being uphill climb. School
kids here who take this trip every morning must have no trouble
staying fit(I figure there are such school kids as on my way back I
saw several going down so probably they go up as well. Unless they
all were there to enjoy sights with their school bags and uniforms of
course). Well sure is good exercise for me as well. Arriving to the
place where the temples and shrines would be I found out the stature
I had wanted to photograph was right next to it...Couldn't help but laugh at this. Ah well. Good exercise.
That's souvenir store.
Unfortunately the heritage place was
big and quite a maze and time was running short so I didn't get to
see them all but at least a little. Ah well. The trip to falls took
bit too much time and not jumping out of the bus was bad.
Something that struct me here was the rushing water I heard everywhere. Either there were something like this or VERY strong currents were going just beneath your feet which you could see from several spots where are access ways to where the water was running. Quite a strong current which caused quite a loud roar. Was very relaxing walking in the shade with the sound of water.
After this I finally returned back to
Tokyo.
Original plan was for me to stay in
Tokyo for Wednesday for some rest and continue travelling on Thursday
but after checking weather report it seems Thursday is at least in
Tokyo rainy while Wednesday is fine weather(well some rain was
predicted for around noon but at least light and not heavy like
Thursday). Albeit just Tokyo but figured I'll went with that and
switched days. So waking up 5.50 again(like on Monday) I started
operation Myotsu-ji Take 2. I had missed that on Monday so I would
try to see if I can't get there. I also easened up my plan by
avoiding the Shin-Yokohama and instead went to Shinagawa for the
train. Also less train changing this way and more time to relax in
Shinkansen! Hats off to Hyperdia web site by the way. You can not
only say where you want to go and from where but also several
stations you want to pass. So I just put Shinagawa to one and it gave
me nice route and it seems it wasn't even that much slower if at all.
This time trip was less problematic.
Unfortunately I had to wait 50 minutes for the final train which I
used to walk around the town I was in for a bit(Tsuruga). Didn't see
much of anything of note there though. After sitting in another train
for hour I arrived at my destination, Shin-Hirano. And boy was I in
for a surprise. I had almost literally arrived at the middle of
nowhere. I think the place might be even smaller than Hanko!
”Station” was just one rail, small waiting room with vending
machine(several drinks showing ”sold out” signs), one toilet(so
no men/women separate toilets here) and buildings were old wooden
buildings. Felt like stepping into another era actually.
Well I had map from here to the Temple
but not having idea of which direction I was what that didn't do much
of help so I started to look for SOME shop, cafe or some random
passerby from whom I could ask for directions. No shop in sight. No
cafe in sight. Maybe there are those but if so there's no big kanji's
to identify them. Maybe locals would know but no locals in sight
either. I was starting to suspect all the buildings are living houses
and was considering knocking door for help but then I spotted post
office. Saved! Got there not only idea of which way was north but
also detailed describition of how to get there. So time to start
walking. And the walk was seriously long. Took about 50 minutes one
way though I did stop periodically to take pictures as the view was
positively stunning. Thankfully the google map was showing gas
station just next to the corner I was supposed to turn which proved
to be very good land mark. Then it was just a loooooooooooooong walk
straight. Along the way I passed lots of rice fields and lots of
small clusters of buildings but no cafe etc sign. There was family
mart restaurant that I spotted and also spotted swimming pool with
football field with some kids there so I figured that might be
school(correct. Elementary school. On my way out of here I found out
that junior high school and/or high school students use train to go
to school as just as I was boarding train that would take me out of
here small army of uniform clad kids disembarked the train).
Eventually I found the Myoutsu-ji temple I had come to see. Still had
nice Sakura tree next to it and the building itself was definitely
old. For a while I walked the outer area starting to wonder is the
place empty with nobody else but finally I ran into ticket counter
and got myself ticket and priest came soon to show me the inside
building(alas no photographs allowed inside).
"In the ancient times of Enryaku, there lived a mysterious old man. This old man was a practicing Buddhist layman, but he was different from most people, and lived under a great camphor tree here in these mountains. According to legend, it so happened that one night by chance Lord Tamuramaro Sakanoue encountered this man in a prophetic dream. In the dream, Lord Sakanoue was instructed to establish temple here, in the first year of Daido(806), for the sake of peace and tranquility for all people throughout the land..." and "...Since then, for 1200 years, Myotsuji Temple has always been a place of prayer for the sake of all people and the world, and the light of Buddhism has not died out."
Now that's Temple whose principle I can agree with full heart! Peace!
Picture from street of one group of buildings. Could have gone through the road and not go here(I bypassed this on my way in) but on return trip figured it doesn't slow me and allows sight to some traditional Japanese houses.
Overall you could definitely get the
feeling this is NOT hugely popular tourist attraction but lot smaller
one(but nevertheless interesting). I have suspicion not many
foreigners come here. Small place, not much else to see and long way
from...Well anything! And if you don't know Japanese you might be in
bit of a trouble. As it is in Myotsu-ji they couldn't speak
English(at least according to themselves) though you do get English
written pamphlet with history of the Temple. Think I might have got
one sight not many non-Japanese(or even Japanese for that matter!)
see. That or I came just in an unusually quiet season ;)
On my way back dropped by the Family mart I had seen before getting couple Nikuman's for quick meal I could eat while on my way to the station. My left ankle was starting to show some sign of pain also. Guess 3 days of traveling and lots of walking(including the 2 km walk uphill yesterday) was starting to take it's toll. I wonder if either my posture or walking manner is bad as it's pretty much always the left leg that starts to hurt?
On station I looked at the time table(I was actually ahead schedule which I had made pretty cautious as the distance looked even longer on the map. Though 50 minute walk is pretty long as it is!) so couldn't rely on my time table. Turns out next would come in 30 minutes and next after that over hour later(that's the one I had planned to leave). Okay got to avoid not getting on next one. I made quick tour on the area(there was map of the vicinity...But only in Japanese! Foreigners definitely rare sight here!). Didn't have much time but spotted quickly the two kanji's that make up word ”shrine” so headed there since it was nearby. Spotted two middle aged women wearing Kimono's(which weren't as flashy as I had seen before so I think these are actually pretty regular clothing for them. Probably pretty old Kimono's handed down to them by their mothers. Seeing price of Kimono's that's pretty common habit here). Again felt like I had arrived in different era of Japan. The shrine too was pretty modest one. Felt more like local shrine than tourist attraction shrine. Next to it was also some nice looking Japanese styled house which looked not that ordinary but I was running out of time so had to leave.
Did I already say I love the mountain sights here?
And around this time rain came so the
umbrella I had carried in case the predicted light rain would come
became useful! Didn't carry it with me all the way from Tokyo for
nothing!
And with that the troublesome Myotsu-ji
trip came to end leaving only the trip back(in which my dvd player
ran out of battery for the first time. That has been one handy
purchase!). Overall I found that while the Temple was interesting
best parts of the trip were actually the awesome scenery and the old
fashioned village(town?) I saw there. I have seen Temples here now
before but not such a small old fashioned village. I have READ of
them but not seen one before and it's quite different to read about
them and then walk in place that looks even smaller than the little
town you live yourself. So overall worth the travel though if I had
less time at hands for travelling I would not have come here
probably. But with 2 month vacation and 4 weeks of JR pass to use I
could afford to spend day coming here(Monday doesn't count as day
really as I ended up going to Nagoya so didn't spend day going
there).
Plans for Thursday: Take a day off! Not
only do I need some sleep(waking up between 5:50 and 6:20 and getting
to sleep 23.00-01.00 takes it's toll! Though I could get some sleep
on trains which helps), walking long distances and carrying heck of a
load with me(standard load when I leave is pc, portable dvd player, 3
manga's, 2-3 dvd's, 2 liter tea bottle and lunchbox which at least
gets eaten on train. Plus the camera. That's surprisingly heavy
packet and puts some strain on my neck to carry it around). Also the
left ankle is definitely in need of a slight pause. Aaand I need to
do laundry or I'm out of clean clothes! So tomorrow it's Tokyo and
planning where to go on Friday. Saturday it's trip to Onsen with
Japanese persons. GULP! That's bit embarrassing prospect for me but
hopefully I can get over that feeling! Then it's somewhere again on
Sunday.
BTW note about JR pass. I have now used
the 3 week pass for one week and eventhough I was in Tokyo for the
weekend it has pretty much paid itself by now. And I haven't counted
inside Tokyo trips for the weekend. So basically I'm now freerolling
next two weeks! Total outside Tokyo travel km count is now 7789 so
I'm definitely going to break 10k limit. My guess is I'll end up
travelling somewhere between 12k-15k kilometers by the time I'm done.
And that's just outside Tokyo trips...
BTW now it's decided. I'll be going to Kyoto on 17th day and come back on 19th. Should give decent time to enjoy the Kyoto.
No comments:
Post a Comment