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.