RECAP: Trip 1 Day 4

4.45am: Time to get up and watch the sunrise over Kamikochi. Shower, breakfast, packing up. My fourth day on the Japanese road started early and painful. The 25kg on my back started to feel a bit uncomfortable, but I was determined to make it to Hiranoyu, a famous spa resort in the Japanese Alps. The early morning air was fresh and almost humidity free, which allowed me to take better pictures than the day before. The mountains surrounding me looked even more impressive and the sky showed off its best blue. I wasted far more time photographing the scenery than I had thought and was a bit late when I finally headed my way.



When I arrived in Hiranoyu, it became immediately apparent this was not the spot I wanted to see. Albeit a small village, it resembled the typical Japanese concrete wasteland. I will never understand why they love to carve into their beautiful nature with such ugly buildings. The nice smell of sulphur was hanging in the air, typical of many natural Japanese spa resorts. After consulting my Lonely Planet, I set off to Shinhotaka, which has natural hot springs as well as a cableway up the mountains.



Yet again, I arrived later than I had hoped - here the sulphuric stench was hanging even more heavily in the air. I made my way to the cableway and forked out far too much money to go up. On top of that, it was one of the bumpiest rides of my life. It was an extremely windy day and the double decker gondola kept swinging back and forth. Since I am terrified of heights, the dangling did not make me feel very happy. Luckily for me, the gondola was packed and I was sure I would be able to land safely on top of another person, if we were to fall down. I waited anxiously to finally arrive at the top.



The view from the top was fantastic. I could see all of the surrounding mountains and the valley below me. A strong wind blew in my face, but the scenery made me completely forget about the freezing cold and the weight on my back. I went to a small well on top of the mountain and drank the tastiest water I had ever tried. I wished I had had a tent to stay up there and not only see the view during the day, but the starry skies at night, too. Sadly, I had to head down the mountains far too early to go to a hot spring and catch a bus.



Back at the base of the mountain, I found a small kiosk that sold real onsen tamago. These are eggs that are boiled in natural hot spring water. Two for 100 yen? I could not resist. In the end of course, even the most pompous onsen tamago are nothing but normal eggs, but it just feels like you are eating something very special when mother nature herself has boiled an egg for you. I grabbed some salt off the counter, sat on the edge of the kiosk that overlooked the river running through the valley and munched down on what felt like the most delicious eggs of my life.



After that I headed off to a spa. I decided to choose one with an outside bath so I could enjoy all the greenery around me. The water was milky white which made it beautiful, but odd looking. It was so nice to dip myself into the hot water. I decided to lie on the edge of the bath with only one leg in the water and immediately fell asleep only to wake up just in time to get dressed and on to the bus to Takayama.



Takayama itself is nothing special. Just your average traditional Japanese culture city. It is, however, famous for ramen. I decided to go to a very well-known ramen restaurant. The noodles were indeed very, very good, but what made the visit worth it was the Shimanto chestnut spirit that I had yuwari - with hot water - to bring out its taste. It was delicious to say the least. If it hadn't cost a fortune, I could've stayed in that restaurant all night, drinking kuri shochu...

All photos from Kamikochi can be found here.

RECAP: Trip 1 Day 3

Day 3 started very, very early to get to Kamikochi in the Japanese Alps as quickly as possible. I was in a hiking mood and felt a strong urge to breathe the clear and clean mountain air. Sadly, this also meant I had to say goodbye to Yuka. Because we won't see each other for a considerable amount of time, it was indeed very upsetting.



As luck would have it, I was able to experience something very rare in Japan: late trains. I only had a two minute window at Nagoya central station, but due to the rush hour induced delay, I had to wait around for roughly one hour before being able to get on the next train.



My destination was Matsumoto, which functions as a hub to the Japanese Alps. The trip to the little town was beautiful. Deep blue rivers running through deep ravines far below the train tracks and gorgeous forest valleys, some small bits of civilization wedged in between. Very popular in this part of Japan are blue, shiny rooftops that seemed somewhat out of place and gave the small villages a toy-ish look. After about six hours and several changes to smaller and smaller trains, I arrived in Matsumoto.



Although still quite far away, the view of the mountains in the distance was impressive and magnificent. The planes stretched on forever and then, suddenly, in the distance the Japanese Alps' mountain range. They are renowned for their beauty and I couldn't wait to finally see them up close for myself. I got on an old, rusty local train. Waiting for the train to depart, I had a short, but very interesting chat with an old Japanese guy, who addressed me in both fluent English and impeccable German. He had just come back from a town near Kamikochi and couldn't stop praising the beauty that awaited me. At some point he jumped up, thanked me in very formal German and ran out of the train which, with an unbelievably loud rattle, slowly left the station.



The train slowly wound its way across the planes. The sound of railroad crossings was our constant companion. The tracks' sides were lined with flower beds, which are maintained by local neighbourhood associations as several signs told me. In Shinshimashima the train line ended and we were brought to our busses. It is hard to convey how beautiful the bus ride was. It etched its way to Kamikochi through serpentine roads. The higher we came, the more beautiful the view became. At times massive dams deep down in the gorges marred the sight, but their massive, cobalt-blue reservoirs made up for this. The last bit led through a small forest where I saw a monkey stuffing his face busily, sitting on a branch bending across the road. And then I arrived at Kamikochi...



I went to the tourist office, booked some accommodation, prepared my tripod and camera and set off for a 5 hour hike. It was far more beautiful than I had imagined. The rivers are incredibly clear and slightly turquoise. The larger rivers' beds are covered in massive white boulders that form a stark contrast to the colour of the water. The mountains rise up left and right of the river and one cannot but stand in awe of them. I knew right there and then, that Kamikochi would be the highlight of my first trip. More than once, I stopped just to look up at the mountains. This is what I had come to see! I breathed in the fresh mountain air and felt incredibly happy. I had escaped the concrete hell that is Japanese cities. No mobiles, no cars, no worries - only natural beauty.

All photos from Kamikochi can be found here.