Norikura
Well I am going to keep the story somewhat concise this morning. We took a bus in the morning from matsumoto after a buffet style breakfast, and then made about a one hour journey to Norikura kogen. The accomodations we had arranged were in a ryokan, or a traditional japanese hotel. Sliding paper windows, no shoes on the floor, communal hot spring bathing, and outdoor rotenburo were all a part of our experience there.
We took off for a walk around mid-morning just around the local trails, and viewed all the fall colors that in this region were just starting to turn in most cases. There are ferns here that grow in a perfect circle, and some of the leaves get progressively larger as you get toward the end of the branch. I have photos of this phenomenon…somewhere. There was a waterfall, and a nice pond, a really weirdly grown tree and just a nice setting to go for a hike in.
We went for lunch at a local resort-type restaurant, as I recall I had…food. Something like that… Afterward we walked through a nice little parcel of pasturland where the fall colors contrasted nicely with still green feilds. It was almost like a swamp/grassland setting. We walked down a trail and observed two men making semi or charcoal. We didnt know what they were making it for.
Well we made our way back to the ryokan and arrived in time for a bath before dinner. It is a tradition at a ryokan to take this pre-dinner bath, and then come down in your yukata (summer version of kimono) for dinner. The meal was EXTREMELY elaborately laid out, and was quite delicious. For conpactedednesses…es…the dinner the following night was just as elaborate. It included a sampling of the most exotic food I have had in my life. Basashi is raw horse…but that wasnt it. Bee…larvea. Yeah you heard right. We thought they were nuts at first…but no. Bee larvea.
The following day we took a bus to the peak area of Norikura-san, and hiked the peak. We had lunch up in a restaurant in the parking lot, curry and rice which was a nice change of pace from just japanese quisine. The fog was in and it was quite chilly at the top of the mountain, and this made it hard to get any pictures of what I am sure is a uniquely picturesque mountainside.
All in all it was a great place to spend two days, and I am really enthralled with my experience there! Especially the ryokan, the lady gave us a bunch of stuff and worried about us being warm enough. People here are so concerned for eachothers well being here! Ok the best is yet to come…more fall colors, mountainous splendor and clear sunny skies in Kamikochi… Ta ta!
Tags: Travel
D-roe
I hope you are having a good time and I miss you. The pictures are really neat.
Thank you so much, Dylan, for this wonderful log of your experiences in Japan….some bring back lots of memories of our own “trekking the Nippon Highway”…. your Grandpa would be so proud of what you are doing, I think. It will get more familiar to me when you get into the Osaka, Kyoto, Moriguchi, etc., leg of your trip. The food comments are VERY familiar.
Your pictures of fall color reminded me that we are about the same lattitude as Japan so our fall leaves are really coming on, too…..I love brilliant sun and fall leaves….they will be a lot of work in a week or so, tho. Keep on sending these messages about your trip….this is so great! Love you, Gramma Joanne
Dylan~
wow. I’m sorry I haven’t made it to the blog until now these pictures are really great. I hope you are having an amazing time. You’ll have to call me when you get back and well figure out a time to get together agian. Until then
Heidi