Owwwwwwwww.

Went hiking/climbing on saturday. It was amazing. Now I can't move as I apparently pulled every single muscle in my body (including my liver, but that happened Sat. night). Before I elaborate, however, here are some pictures of the last two weeks:

My friends from Toronto stayed a couple of days. I showed them around Takayama, we went to an onsen and ate a fabulous dinner of Hida yaki-niku.

Lynn and Nate in what was actually a gift shop in the old section of Takayama

Me and Lynn on the 'Big Chair' on Kokubunji St. I've started doing the 'finger thing'. Japan is slowly creeping into my brain



Last Saturday I went to the town of Furukawa, about 15 mins north of Takayama, for their Kitsune-bi Matsuri (Fox fire festival). It was really, really cool, and had a very local, small-town feel to it which was nice. It's a harvest festival where people dress up as foxes and parade around the town, and then make their way to the base of the shrine -- right next to the local elementary school -- where a fox god marriage is reenacted. Oh, and it's all done by torchlight.

The approach to the temple

Me and my friend Katie in fox make-up.

The first-two torch bearers approach ...

... and light the various fire 'baskets' along the path to the temple.

The fox-god's procession (this was all done to taiko drums)

It's not a fire festival for nothing! We were standing right next to one of these things and nearly caught on fire ourselves.

The fox-bride approaches with her hand-maidens

The marriage ceremony begins, but...

... dragons interrupt! No really, these are dragons. I know it's hard to tell from my lousy photographs, but they were really cool. They're made from braided rice straw and are 'worked' by about 4 people who jump and snarl and have a great time. They were actually pretty scary!

So basically the dragons interrupt, a lot of fighting goes on, the dragons are set on fire and eventually give up, the party goes on and everyone dances around in celebration. In addition to the taiko drums, there was a whole group of foxes playing wooden flutes which was very nice to hear. Like I said, it was an amazing festival. And I got to eat festival food.


And finally, Becca and I climbed Nishi Hotaka on Saturday (I mean 'climb': a good part of the trail was vertical). To reach the trail-head we first had to take the longest cable car ride in Asia: the Shin Hotaka Ropeway

This is not my picture: there is no snow yet. But you get the idea. And yes, it's a double-decker gondola. The view of the Japanese Alps was spectacular.

We started hiking at 10am; the trail was a steep hike through beautiful and lush forest. We kept passing tour group after tour group (the Japanese really like to hike!) and by 10:45 had reached the lodge, situated right at the tree-line. It was quite large and apparently could sleep up to 300 people - crowded together on tatami mats, of course. Or you could pay a small fee and set up a tent. At 10:45 in the morning it was already swarming with people.

The view from the lodge


We stopped to use the washrooms and were soon on our way again. Instead of walking through dense forest we were now out in the open and walking through low, evergreen bushes (which were pleasantly soft to the touch!). The trail became steep and rocky, and before long we were carefully making our way up skree (loose rocks) to the ridgeline.

This picture was taken at the first 'stop', a flat part of the trail where many people stop to take a break. This is looking back down the path; the lodge is somewhere down there.

The path going up. See the skree!? It's not fun to walk on. If not for my really good hiking boots I would have twisted my ankle and/or fallen more times than I can count.

This is the view from the first 'fake' peak. This is also where parts of the trail became more vertical than horizontal, our poles were packed away, and we started using our arms as much as our legs.

Lunch! Just be careful where you put your onigiri.

Looking east

The trai (somewhere)

The trail goes up

The peak on the left is Nishi, another 15 mins or so away from where this picture was taken. Unfortunately I didn't quite make it thanks to my asthma and the altitude (2908 m). I was pretty angry, but figured I'd rather continue breathing than not, so Becca went on and I sat on the edge of a very, very high cliff. And just to make things interesting, as I was catching my breath I heard the sounds of falling rock and people on the peak all looking over the edge. To my horror, I saw something blue and white go tumbling and smashing down the mountain and disappear. For a second I thought it was a person, but it turned out to be a person's pack. *phew* He came racing down with a cell phone and no pack a little while later, but I have no idea how he'll get it back. A little while after that my heart finally stopped racing.


Me and Becca




Me and Becca back at the trailhead at about 4:30. Behind us is the peak of Nishi Hotaka-dake! It was an excellent hike, despite me not being able to move today. Oh, and we ended the day with a loooong, hot soak. I love Japan!