BootsnAll Travel Network



The Big One

Buna-ga-take
This hike was an all-dayer. Buna-ga-take is listed among Japan’s Top 200 mountains… which is nice. I took and hour’s bus ride from Kyoto to somewhere in the sticks called Bomura, a sort of hamlet at the foot of the mountains.

Bomura to the rightBomura to the leftThatched house in Bomura

The first climb, that is, when I eventually found the starting point, was hell. It was about an hour and a half of a hellish gradient and I strongly questioned the guide’s ‘medium’ difficulty rating!

There was a Japanese-woman climber in front, that I tried to pace myself on. She must have been over fifty, and set and incredible pace. She had all the mod-cons as well, including a bear-bell, which put me mildly off-ease. Thankfully, sitings are rare, although that would have been a story and a half!

After the intitial slog, things started to ease off and I started to enjoy myself. The big surprise was that there was still snow about. It was a sight and. sad as it sounds, enjoyed making snowballs in the end of April! Again, it was such a clear day and I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of Biwa-ko, Japan’s largest lake. I hope you can make it out from the photo. Did you know that if all the people of the world were to gather in one place they could all stand on this lake… if it was frozen that is. Same goes for the Isle of Wight too. Imagine – I thought there were more of us than that!

The 3rd peak is Buna-ga-takeSkiing anyone?Camera on timer, almost made the summit, Rocky-styleMountain deitiesBiwa-ko - can you see it?

I descended the Buna-ga-take peak via the course of a stream. It was still full of snow and I went sown most of the way on my bum. It was all melting and I often put my foot right through up to thigh-level… I did laugh the first couple of times but, the joke wore thin after the 5th and 6th and 7th time as my feet got soaked and frozen. There was a helicopter circling above at the time, and I thought perhaps they were telling me to head back, but later as I past a pair of hikers, I asked and they said that the helicopter was just telling hikers to be careful in the snowy bits. Phew, I thought I was going AWOL for a minute there.

Thigh-deep in placesSnow still?Winter-wonderland

At last I came out of the snow and oddly as it sounds, hit a ski resort. There was no snow here though ironically, It was baron and not too pretty. I soon turned the corner though and came to the Yakumo-ga-hara swamp where I stopped for a spot of lunch. The water was not only iron rich (giving it a nice red colour), but salamander rich too. No giant salamanders (growing up to 1.4 m in length!) though unfortunately. I’d have to go further south for that though, perhaps another time. Plenty of the little brothers though…

Ski pisteYakumo-ga-hara swampSalamander extravaganzaLunch break

I followed the river fromn the swamp pretty much all the way, stopping often to double check the map. Didn’t stop me from getting lost a couple of times though. There were plenty of sights along the way, including some… ‘deposits’… if there are any dropping experts out there I would appreciate your opinions. The second photo, I’m pretty sure is rabbit or hare, or even deer, but the 1st is a mystery. I would like to think it was bear but I can’t confirm it. Any thoughts, leave a message.

Truffle anyone?Couldn't resist... brr!Scales in blue...how about an olive?

I left the river at one point as it continued down the valley. I continued on into the forest. What forests they have here! Special ones that you could perhaps only dream about. There is a Japanese animation by a famous director Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Gibli) that made a film called Princess Mononoke. If you get the chance to see it then you’ll get an idea. No kidding, places like that do exist!!

Nature's architectureHill-side blossom

The going eased a lot as I hit a mountain road and folloowed it right back down to Bomura for the bus back. A really good day and glad I did this one.

The next day I took a stroll along the Philosopher’s walk on the East side of town. Thanks for the tip Alan. I said to myself, no maps and no cameras. I just walked along the small river/canal there and took it all in. The people walking their dogs. The big, big black Koy carp, the contemplators and the deliborators. The gentle pace of this wonderful city.

The day I left Kyoto I had a long wait at the station for a night bus. 10 hours!!!. There’s not much that can be done with the amount of luggage I had, so I sat down to some reading and people watching until it was time to find my transport to Tokyo, where I can finally reduce my load.

Kyoto tower at night One of the last sites of the old capital – Kyoto Tower.



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