Matsumoto

One of the benefits of working in an International School is the fact that we get quite a few three day weekends. Another benefit is that we actually GO somewhere on those three day weekends. On the down side…when it coincides with a Japanese Holiday…so does everyone else. However, unlike in America, we can travel almost anywhere on public transportation, meaning that when you wait in the inevitable lines and traffic jams, someone else is driving and you can all talk, visit, sleep or read while you're getting there – all of which were used during the trip.

We actually spent the first night in a moderate sized town called Matsumoto, located at the foot of the mountain leading to Kamikochi. Coincidentally, it is also the train stop closest to the bus to KamiKochi. It is a wonderful mix of the old nestled between the new...this book shop is a wonderful example.

Matsumoto Castle is one of the most complete "original" castles left in Japan – castles have a very short life expectancy here. It's called a hirijiro castle, one that is built out on a plain rather than up on the top of a hill or mountain – they like climbing hills here – all of the shrines are on top hills also. The castle has a wonderful open room for moon viewing – a very pleasurable place with wide opening windows overlooking both the garden and the moat. Now moats in Japan, at least these days, aren't the dank, murky things pictured in European picture books. These are wonderful, open, clean and full of koi (well….sometimes). This one even sports a floating garden!

Kamikochi

On to Kamikochi. After a delightful Japanese style breakfast – complete with breakfast fish, interesting vegetables (I love some of the pickled choices they have) , rice and tea, we took indulge in a Starbucks – yes, they've even made it to the train station in Matsumoto (McDonalds, not to be outdone, is across the street- and open 24hours - unheard of in Japan). A short train ride took us to the bus station for our trip up the mountain. It was at this point I was truly happy we were NOT driving our own car. First, the road is very windy and VERY narrow and EVERYONE is in a big hurry to get up the mountain. As we snaked around the severely meandering road we met hundreds of cars, all navigating the same path. There were also a large number of buses and trucks on the road, requiring very tight maneuvering every time they passed each other. To add to this, the Japanese realized much sooner than we ever did that certain places should be closed to cars because there are just too many of the required to get all the people up into the valley (it's similar to Yosemite – a smallish, closed area). So…roughly 20 minutes from where we started on the bus, all of these cars are sitting in lines on the road, attempting to enter the rather packed parking lots – also necessitating some more creative passing on the part of the buses (remember, this is the land of the tire wide, foot deep drainage ditches). At this point I was VERY happy to be merrily watching the scenery go by….

We took off for a hike around the lower area, hoping to spot changing leaves – they were indeed elusive but there were plenty of great things to see along the way. My favorite place was Myojin Pond – a relatively small pond with a meandering path that took you to scenic lookouts around the water. The paths were so convoluted you could even have moments when you were the only person in sight (though not many). We found our best shots of fall colors there – it would be wonderful to go up again in a few weeks…..

Kamikochi Ryokan

Our ryokan in Kamikochi was very modern and quite nice. Since it was a holiday for everyone, we were quite lucky to get this pretty expensive place up here in the valley – this is one of the first places in Japan that really had raised the prices. The 2 rooms were SO different – one western style, one Japanese. It really was interesting how the space was so totally different…the western style one was just the 2 beds with a small sitting area and no view to speak of out the window – you had to stand on the bed to see it. Right next door, it was Japanese style with the seating area right in the window - a delightful place to sit and enjoy a cup of tea and read a book!!!!

It included dinner in its rather steep price. It was, of course, completely Japanese surprise. We had NO idea of what we were eating and the young girl who was waiting on us spoke some English and tried to help us out. They have a bowl, filled with broth, vegetables and meat (which I quickly donated to Jeff). They light a sterno type thing under it and then you let it cook. I think we were supposed to stir it a bit more frequently than we did but, oh well…. They also had fish (of course), some sushi, and then bowls of various kinds of veggies – we tried guessing and identified, others are still in the surprise category. Breakfast in the morning was much the same – and still fun to explore (glad I had so many tasters to let me know what wasn't meat).

That night as we slept on our futons, we noticed a regular pitter patter coming from outside…very pleasant as you're snuggled up in bed, warm, cozy, comfy. Running water is just so pleasant…until you have to go out in it. Oh my gosh…it rained and rained and rained and rained. I had my rain jacket and my umbrella and I was soaked before we got to the plaza. It poured and poured while we tried to change our bus time. It poured while we went back to get our suitcases, it poured while we waited for the bus. We were drenched!!! Fortunately, the bus was warm and once again we could let someone else worry about the traffic, the weather, the rain, the passing etc.

Stay tuned…next week we're heading for another adventure -and if I knew where it was, I'd give you a preview but….it'll just have to be Japanese Surprise!!!

Rafting on the Nagara River

White Water Rafting!!! YEAH!!! I had a great trip on the Nagara Gawa! There were a dozen of us who took off from school to head out to the Nagara River for the day. All would have gone well EXCEPT – the lead car was FAST! We arrived just fine at the toll booth to get on the toll-way. Well, the driver hadn’t ever used it so I had to tell her what to do. When we got through – he was GONE!! And to make it worse, we had NO idea which way, north or south. Naturally, we chose the wrong way! Now, in the states it’s no big deal, go to the next exit, turn around and head back. Well….not so easy here. The next exit was like 10 miles down the road. Plus, just getting off and back on again going the opposite direction is NOT so easy. We navigated our way BACK to where we started and tried again, this time heading south.
The Nagara Gaway has many uses – not just river-rafting. We were quite surprised at how many fishermen were lined up along its banks. Now these men take their fishing quite seriously. They have bamboo poles that are roughly 10 feet long – and cost thousands of dollars. They frequently have woven, conical hats though we noted quite a few in more modern attire. I don’t they truly appreciated the antics of the rafters, though we did work at being a bit more quiet as we passed the.
The rafting was a lot of fun. It’s actually more difficult earlier in the season when the run-off is at its height. Right now the water was lower (late September) – they actually stop running late October/early November. There were actually 4 boats in our group – 2 with all Japanese and 2 for our group. You’d never have believed these were all “serious” teachers in these boats….absolutely crazy people. Our guide was from Costa Rica so we had a great mixture of Spanish, English and Japanese as we headed down the river. Check-out the pictures – we had a terrific time!