I just had a wonderful hike up Mt. Tenjo, The beautiful ancient volcano looking over the island of Kozushima where I'm staying for these days. This Island is known as one of the Tokyo islands and is 180 Km away from Tokyo. A jetfoil took me here in 2 1/2 hours.
This Island is a beautiful mixture of beaches, rocks, a Hot Springs that spills right down into the ocean, quaint little town, and a big mountain to climb.
This island mainly lives off of the fishing industry.
It is very remote and has had some struggles economically over the past 10 years. Check out this abandoned resort.
The pool looks good but it's completely full of algae.
Chopsticks are scattered all over the floor.
Very strange.
But the rest of the island is lovely.
Yesterday I had a swim in the ocean. I took a selfie to prove it.
And came home to another lovely fish meal. Six different kinds of fishes last night. Notice also the tatami mats we had dinner on. There was basically no chairs at all in the house. You can see the position the other family is sitting in. At the top of the picture. They somehow grow up being able to sit on their knees. Not me… It was a pretty squirmy mail and short-lived because of a sore back. :)
The next day was a beautiful scramble/hike up to the top of Mount Taijo The main mountain hovering over the island.
Based on this experience I have a couple of recommendations to make for the trail builders and the Kootenays:
1. We should be building stairs right up to the top of our mountains.
2. Where you can't put stairs, we should be marking every rock and boulder with a yellow stripe so we know exactly where to place our feet. Today I felt guilty placing my foot somewhere else then the yellow marking.
3. We need to sprinkle more shrines and temples along our trails. Considering that this mom has been claimed for the last 2000 years every nook and cranny has special significance. Check out some of these sweet little temples and shrines.
4. If people are going to write graffiti near the top, we need to train to have them chisel calligraphy into the rock. Here's some several hundreds year old calligraphy graffiti.
5. and finally we need to do something about those rock cairns at the top of our peaks. Just a simple rock keep? Won't do it all! Check out the peak top pillar with its Decor on top. Can't miss the fact that you're at the top. Who's going to get on this for Mt. Loki?
I finished the day today in the pouring rain soaking in the hot springs. These hot springs are made into pools that look right over the ocean. Then there is always the private male and female section where you go in naked, you scrub yourself, and you have a wonderful relaxing time. This Hot Springs had a sauna, A cold pool, A whirlpool, and a very hot pool.
I had several interesting conversations with a doctor from Tokyo and an international aid worker from Kanazawa. Find me some people who spoke enough English to have a real conversation with.
My Japanese conversations are still pretty short: hello, how are you, I am Canadian, I am so sorry, I understand a little Japanese, this is beautiful, this is delicious. And then I run out of things to say.
Back at the bed-and-breakfast for another sumptuous meal of seven different fish this time.
The next day was a steep grind on my bicycle up an overpass and to a whole Other bay called Tako bay. I celebrated making it up to the pass without getting off my bike. Grunt grunt.
Then went swooping down through the deep rain forest woods with beautiful clumps of azaleas nestled in the woods all over the place. You can see the road in the second photo.
Here was another long windswept beache with towering cliffs above. I scrambled on the beach to a series of ocean caves.
That evening, as I tried to walk off all the fish protein I ate that dinner, I took a shortcut through an alley. I have come to trust alleys in Japan as going to interesting places. Sure enough I stumbled into a mysterious old Temple compound surrounded by massive hundreds of years old trees and statues. I was the only person there in the setting sun and it was very dramatic as I felt the hovering presence of the gods.
I took the slow boat back to Tokyo ( 8 hours as compared to 2!) because the jetfoil was all booked. As we took off from the dock the crew hands were there waiving until we disappeared from sight. This happened at every single port we stopped at. Part of the Japanese culture. They do this at train stations also.
The boat was packed full of families and students who had been out camping for the holidays. It was interesting to see that the boat had almost no chairs at all. Every room was set up with tatami mats and every person had a slot to lay on. People were just laying all over the boat comfortably.
So now it's back to the big city, Tokyo, and to work. My mind is full of thoughts of my family all over North America... And me in Asia!
This country still continues to amaze me with all the new discoveries I make on a daily basis.
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