Japan for the 9th time - Oct and Nov 2019 - Page 6

The bus leaves from platform 1 at Yamagata station. It is more of a coach than a bus. 1000 yen each way. I had no issue getting a seat as you can see. Nearly everyone else likes to sit right at the front. This bus has the fold down aisle seats in case they have a lot of passengers.

The drive from the city to the Onsen town is quite spectacular. Here is a big Torii gate a restaurant has built to attract tourists.

I was in town too early for much to be open. The Lawson convenience store was open, I stocked up on calorie mate and pocari sweat from there.

The town is quite large, this is not really the main hot springs bit, its more the main skiing bit.

My hiking course started from about here. Today I followed a map using the Japanese social hiking app thing, Yamap. It caches a jpg to your phone so that it still works while out of data range.

Sulphur gas was rising out of the ground in many places. Some times strange gases come out of the ground and people die.

I was actually a bit surprised my path was a secluded forest path. They have left a strip of forest between the ski runs. Although it has been well maintained, I saw no one else at all until above the top cable car station. Lazy bastards! It was only about 90 minutes and really not that steep.

This fallen tree branch appears to have collapsed under the weight of sea shells. I pulled a heap of them off and gave them to a little girl and now she sells sea shells as shes coming round the mountain.

If you squint you can see an ice covered peak with a ropeway station. Thats a different mountain though.

My feet got wet! There were a few streams to cross. I also saw a huge Serow, much bigger than the last two I saw on previous trips. Unfortunately he ran off before I could take a photo.

Nice path. I clapped a few times to alert the bears I was on my way and that they should take up a strategic attack position.

The forest hiking path crossed a few ski runs. They looked interesting. So interesting I ran down them later as you shall see.

Still below the cloud here, there is the town of Zao Onsen below. At this point I was still thinking when I got up to the summit area there would be blue sky. Wrong.

Sometimes the path became boulders. It was just after this photo that it was fortunate there were no other people, as I somehow dislodged a boulder that tumbled down the hill. That would have been really bad news for anyone behind me.

Here is the usual, required proof that I avoided the cable car. I am far too cheap for that. And actually it is not a particularly strenuous hike. Certainly not compared to Mount Tanigawa.

Time to cross another ski run. Almost in the cloud.

The path in places at this point became very developed. Probably for people to descend from the cable car and see the snow monsters. 'Snow monsters' is what becomes of these trees when they get completely covered in snow and ice. That only happens late in the season, probably March / April.

Ice was coming.

I realised that it was soon going to be cold, so I messed about taking silly head shots at this point rather than later when it would be too cold.

Getting quite icy, but you can still see the path is dirt at this point.

Further up the mountain, lots of ice. But I was still in for a surprise once I got to the summit ridge area.

The path became icy, but like I said earlier, it was never slippery.

It was just as well it was not slippery, as this part of the path was a very narrow trail along a steep hill. I dont think I actually would have plummeted if I slid off, it would have been more a fun controlled slide down. Still, I did not want to find out. I suspect the real path had disappeared in a recent season in an avalanche.

Then I popped out onto the ridge to the summit. It was amazingly windy. This little person froze to death.

That is just a pole, with ice hanging off it. Very interesting. Such wind!

The poles were very useful in near white out conditions.

Very near the summit, the sun almost came out. It was too cold to hang around, and the actual lake is a few hundred metres below, and that direction was just a sea of fog. I think it probably still is. I hope it is. I hope it didnt clear up minutes after I left. I could not stand up properly on the actual summit to take a photo.

Time to start retracing my steps. Quickly. To warmth.

The cloud was higher than before on the way down, which afforded me a great view.

Here is one of the ski paths I crossed earlier. It was at this point I decided to run down all the ski paths rather than following the same forest trail I used on the way up.

There is a whole network of connected ski trails. Lots of ropeways but these were not operating yet. There was no one else at all on the side of the mountain. Quite surreal.

A view across the valley.

I was still quite high at this point, but warm again, allowing me to take too many photos while running down ski slopes.

Here, have another. Its certainly a great view from here, over half way down!

Still following ski trails, without much of a plan, I just generally headed down whichever one seemed to head closer to the town.

Almost there. That icy peak is not Zao. Mount Zao is to the right and behind that area. I was hoping it was still fogged in!

And then I got back to the road, and this cat came over, and flopped onto my shoes and demanded I give him a good scratch.

His friend watched on with great envy.

Soon after I was back at Zao Onsen, these people are drying daikon on their balcony. They thought it was weird I was taking a photo of their window. They probably went and called the police.

It does not show up too well in the photo, but theres a lot of noxious sulphur gas coming up out of here. It was also coming out of grates in the roads. I still smell of sulphur now. More so than usual. Sorry spellchecker, I refuse to write SULFUR.

I had 30 minutes until the bus, time to run up the steps to the shrine.

Here is a view of the Onsen area. Best I could do with limited time.

There are lots of public spots to soak your feet. There is also apparently, A MIXED BATH!!!! Hidden in the mountains! Perverts from around the world travel to go there. There is talk of closing it because of this. People have been caught filming morally questionable movies in the outdoor mixed bath!

Last picture of the day, from the bus window. I was thrilled to find out I could open my bus window. The other people on the bus enjoying the 30+ celsius bus air conditioning were not thrilled.

Here is Yamagata station. It is not huge but it has a Shinkansen and 3 different local lines.

This is the inside of that big government building I photographed yesterday. There are a few restaurants and a cinema. I think there might also be an observation deck, perhaps I shall investigate tomorrow.

What is this! A train with an Onsen / hot spring / whatever ON THE TRAIN.

The station has a tunnel under it. It is not very popular as there are no escalators like there are to the overpass.

Now for a couple of exterior shots of little restaurants that were open on a Sunday night where I did not eat because it was mainly ramen (which I had too much of lately) or meat on sticks (which I dont consider a meal).

Many places that were open only seem to have a 'party plan' menu which involves a huge amount of food and all the beer you can drink in x hours.

The back alleys were dark and quiet.

And here is my pizza, sans cheese, but with olives capers and tomatoes. I dont eat much meat because not eating meat offsets the carbon from my half way around the world flights. Thats how offsetting works isnt it?

The light and leaves were not as good as the last time I visited on the 5th of November 2016. Last time was all day blazing sunshine and a week earlier in the season. Despite that, I still think the scenery was fantastic. As you can see, it was sunny when I started.

Beautiful blue sky to get me started.

I took note of the monkey warning, a nice difference from the usual bear warning.

Time to descend into the ravine and get going.

One of many waterfalls.

Quite colorful, but not as colorful as 3 years ago.

Rocks, water, leaves.

More rocks, water, leaves, I am going to run out of new things to type.

You can see the path on the right. It is narrow in places but never what I would call dangerous. I am however standing on a badly worn swaying wire and wood plank bridge to take this photo.

Thats a different bridge. Cloud is starting to set in.

Sometimes the water is a bit deeper and blue.

Another waterfall. This description is useful in case you had no concept of what a waterfall was before I told you.

Same same.

Rock with tree growing out of it. I think the best rock of my trip so far was the very green huge one I saw back on a hike near Tokyo a couple of weeks ago. I will keep you updated on my rock of the trip award.

Example of a bridge. The planks on this one look a bit newer.

A bit more of the path.

Getting darker. There were a few drops of rain, but somehow I escaped the rain all day, and right now outside hours later, blue sky again.

Nice path.

I wonder if a sudden down pour would cause me to drown?

Sometimes it was fun to stand in the water to take photos.

Nice.

Are there many more?

Time for me to say the word you read here more than you read anywhere else in your life, this one is SUPERFLUOUS.

I swear these are not all the same photo repeated.

Some more big rocks. Now last time I was here there were numerous people with tripods taking serious photos. Today, not a single other person. No one else got off at the Omoshiroyamakogen station with me.

Getting near the end now. But they should make it longer, I see no reason why it stops where it does. Probably to stop me from oversharing too many photos.

Pine trees mark the end.

You cross the stream / river about 10 times, sometimes bridges, sometimes rocks.

Exit, through the tunnel. The tunnel is very low, you cannot stand up straight.

OK, after exiting the canyon, its about a 5km walk to Yamadera, along a very picturesque, very quiet road. The only cars that came were Japan Rail mini vans. I was concerned the train was broken down? But occasionally a train did go past on the elevated bridges down in the ravine.

While sauntering along, I occasionally passed a red tree to gawk at.

Squint here and you can see a train going past. The timing of the train was not good, minutes later I had a good view of a rail bridge that would have been a much better photo.

Getting close to Yamadera, also getting very cloudy.

The little town of Yamadera is all for tourists. Lots of little restaurants, even a flash looking gelati cafe, which had a line of people.

I think this is the main shrine at Yamadera, its at the bottom of the cliff.

I knocked one over and they all tumbled like dominoes. I casually strolled off pretending not to be involved.

The bell tower marks the start of the staircase up the cliff.

About half way up the 500 or so steps you start to hit various buildings, and red leaves.

There is a bit of construction or more likely reconstruction going on. I recall this was also the case last time.

Here is the view we all came for. Note that old people with walking sticks can make it up the steps.

The view. Certainly not as good as last time, but different to last time due to the cloud. Still great.

Looking back towards the cliff face with all the little buildings clinging to it.

Windowed view.

Beyond the view spot you can go further up the cliff to the top shrine, but there is not much of a view from the top.

Local nazi party building.

I climbed up to where the priests and gift shop owners live. The power lines are unsightly, and all over the place. Everyone tries to take photos without them.

I had to run back down the stairs and get to the station. Trains are not frequent. By the way, buy a paper ticket to go to Omoshiroyamakogen, suica/icoca will not work, but it will work from Yamadera station. The maps in the stations at Sendai or Yamagata will show you which stations the electronic cards will and will not work at.

Once I got back down, I had time to fight this cat for this leaf. The cat won.

The walk to the station is also picturesque.

Last time I was here, I took a great photo from this bridge in the late afternoon sun, with lots of people playing in the blue water below. It is not as nice under cloudy skies.

The area around the station is also quite nice.

And finally, I was on the elevated platform, looking back up the cliff face at all the little buildings in Yamadera. If you made it to the end of all these photos, give yourself a pat on the back, or alternatively punch yourself in the face.

After diverting due to rain, I had to find things to photograph, why not convenience stores? Yamagata has the larger variety, with cafe seating and car parking.

There are 3 main brands, 7-eleven as shown above, Lawson as shown here, and Family Mart, not pictured. I thought of walking to the Family Mart to complete this series, but it was raining too much. Niigata also still had Daily Yamazaki, a brand I dont see as much lately?

This is the view from the station, down the main street, towards my hotel, in the rain.

ELVIS RAMEN! It was a huge serve, but mainly bean sprouts. Although I feel like I have eaten too much.

I have seen Filipinos a lot in Yamagata, this is where they work. All of them.

These things are my favourite snack lately. I think its a nut, coated in green, coated in sugar. The green seems to be flavourless. I am not sure I can eat them now after the huge bowl of Doki Doki See See Rider Ramen.

Somehow I took a lot of very ordinary photos today. Here is the early morning streets of Yamagata on my way for breakfast.

Starbucks is the only thing open as always. Every school kid in the world is in here, being an absolute asshole. Bro hugs all round!

The outside of the half of a Shinkansen.

The inside seemed very new. Only 4 abreast seating, very comfortable.

Now for some views from a moving train. The weather changed 3 times on my 200km journey.

Nice mountain, window reflections. There were bigger mountains on the other side, but the sun was on that side so the blinds had been shut.

I think this very flat looking city is called Akayu.

Here is the view just out of Fukushima station, towards the mountains I would like to climb tomorrow. They are in cloud right now. Actually as I type this in the late afternoon the sky is blue all around and it seems as though the very strong wind has stopped.

This building houses a giant suspicious orb.

Thats a lot of train tracks, and the orb building again. Beware the orb.

Shrine number 1 of 2 in Koriyama.

The streets here are not dead straight. A nice change.

Shrine number 2 of 2 in Koriyama.

Another bendy street. Looks mostly shut, but also looks like mostly restaurants that shut in the afternoon between lunch and dinner. Maybe. Maybe its just shut.

I was too early as ever, so I did a few laps of the Yodobashi. Japan still sells discmans. I had one once, advertised as a mobile cd player. If you even looked at it funny it would skip. Useless.

In Japan you can still try out in ear headphone / earbud things. Wax trading.

Behold the view out my hotel window. The window opens. It was damn hot in here.

A huge room, which even has a small table occupying the otherwise small amount of spare room available.

The nazi owner of APA is now up to volume 5 of his Theoretical modern history series. Volume 5 is very praising of Donald Trump. However my room is missing Volume 2. This is unacceptable! How will I properly understand that I am genetically inferior to pure bred Japanese type o negative blood type people?

When I arrived at Fukushima, I first exited the station on the wrong side. Actually there is still quite a bit to see on the wrong side, including this 7-eleven owned mall, however the map suggested I needed to be on the other side.

A lonely tunnel was all that stood between me and the correct side of the station.

Here is the main street leading away from the station. It was very colorful.

An enticing blue tower awaited. I was drawn to it.

There is a whole network of streets to explore.

This looks like the boutique shopping street. Very orange lighting. Very dug up brick paving.

So if fry is fly what is french not flench? I ask the real questions.

Its a full moon tonight. Tonight is the super blue double blood dragon wolf moon. Every full moon now has an idiotic name. Despite my best attempts to out idiot the names that they are given lately, I think I still have not quite nailed it.

I have wanted hot soba for days now. I gave up and had cold soba. It was still good, but it would have been better if the soba was in a bowl of hot soup!