Sunny Shingu

It’s a bright, bright sunshine-y day!!

We start off the day at 8:15. This time, it’s an even more interesting morning for me. I chose sleep over a bath last night so I woke up to bathe this morning. The problem is I couldn’t find the bathing room with a ladies sign hanging. Well, there wasn’t any with the men’s sign either. So in I go to the only one I found and start bathing in the common area ?but there wasn’t anyone else. Yippee!! Of course I hurry. Haha! I asked if the bathing room I used was for women, but no one seems to know.

By 9 AM we are at Shingu Eki and driving past bright greens and low fenced split-level houses. I feel sooo welcome in this town.

9:20 AM Kamikura Jinja. Asada-San from Shingu meets us and promises our boys a special place in the festival that runs every February. It takes us an hour to go up and down the jinja. We pay our respects at the foot and go up the steps ?perhaps it was more than 500 steps carved into the mountain. Of course the scene is breath-taking, imagine this: the warm sea against the shore, and VERY VERY close to the shore are the houses ?all of the same height it seems. So from afar, all we see are gray roofs and the blue of the very warm sea.

That festival in February has men and women walking over burnt sesame TWICE. Asada-San has participated in this since he was a kid and grew up a farmer. He was so nice to teach us the proper way to cleanse before entering the jinja. Take the washing cup with your right hand and get water to cleanse your left hand. Then take the cup with your left hand to pour water on your left and right hands. Only then do you get water to put into your mouth ,NOT to drink but to gargle and spit out. Gargling and spitting is to be done twice. Once clean, then you drink the water from the cup.

By 11:30 we see adorable nursery age kids with their teachers at the gate of the jinja. We say hi and continue on our road trip. We stop by a fruit store and pick up mikan for lunch. Perhaps I am so used to the sweet kind. These are Kyoto Mikan and they are plump and juicy but not as sweet as the ones I have had in the past month. On the road we see the Gotobiki we just climbed up. It is a spectacular sight from afar with its bright garish colors.

12noon. Nachi no Otaki. This is where the highest waterfalls is!! Named as one of the World Heritage Sites, this area is well-kept and provides brochures and a vantage point that wows! You almost want to jump into the waters.

A surprise encounter with girls who are on their sotsugyou ryokou (a trip taken by recent university graduates), a middle-aged couple from Tokyo, and a Kyoto grandma who noticed our group in our uniform sweater made our lunch even more interesting.

1:15 PM We then go to Kumano nachi Taisha which means going up another flight of stairs. Here was a special treat for me. I will blog about the wagashi I found there separately. However, for those who aren’t fond of stairs, even the view from the parking lot is soothing for tired eyes. Mountains are green for miles all around!

2:00 PM We meet Earth Day movers and shakers who have walked all the way to Nachi and will keep on walking all the way to Tokyo. Oh, by the way, they not only walk, they plant trees on the way. Recently, they planted mostly sakura. I asked if they were tired and they said that dipping into the onsen relieves them. Why walk? They said walking is slow enough to take in the sights, the smells, and the sound of the place. Yappari!! They said even a bike was too fast and one would miss certain sites.

If you’re interested in walking from Fujisan to Tokyo in April, let me know! Earth day’s on April 23 and Nakano Koichi San will be at the Yoyogi Koen celebration.

2:30 PM We walk into the mountains and out into the streets. I found it interesting to meet a middle-aged delivery man from Kuroneko Yamato delivering a small box. We greeted him and found him huffing and puffing his way into a house in the mountains. This may be a World Heritage Site but it sure has people living here, there was even a house selling oranges. The oranges were packed in two’s and three’s and were sold for 100yen. Of course no one was manning the stand, just like in my neighborhood in Tokyo. You just leave your payment.

What else is inside? An 800year old tree which had a hollow trunk.

2:45 PM We walk out of the mountains and onto the street.

3:00 PM JUSCO. We shopped for food!! It’s Yuri’s 19^th birthday and we’re making a cake for her.

4:00 PM Kumanogawa. We go to the longest river!! Another world heritage site! We’re the only ones in this part of the river and we make our version of stone hedge, make rocks skip across the river, and found a scarecrow in a yellow jacket.

4:45 PM We are on the way back.

Just a question. Does anyone know an internet service provider who provides coverage on the road? We have one but it seems that we can’t get a signal today’ We’re discovering so many exciting things and I’d like to share them before I forget the sensations.

8:00 PM We passed by the Wakayama-shi. It looked like a city lit up with Christmas lights.

People we met today were very friendly. Abrazos! Thank you!!

March 15, 2006 - 8:24 pm
Tags: Travel
Categories: Travel

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