As it turns out the spot I stumbled into late last night was
one of my best yet. Have a look:
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| Perfect little spot |
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| With great views to wake up to |
There was this tree behind me also that looked like several trees had combined into one:
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| I found out later it was a bit famous in the area |
As I was cooking breakfast a guy came over and asked me if I
had stayed the night. Sprung I thought, and started going on about how I was
going to clean up straight always. But he said it wasn’t a problem, he just
wanted to know what was going on. I have not had one hostile experience yet to
my unorthodox camping style, just curiosity. It’s nice to know it’s highly
unlikely someone is going to come at me with a pitch fork for sleeping in their local park.
So I powered on up a mountain road towards Kiyosasa pass. I saw
an old lady along the way hobbling along and said good morning as I passed. She
shouted to me “you’re fast because you’re young” which I had a bit of a chuckle
to myself about. Actually the reason I am fast is because of these babies:
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| Buying these was the best idea ever |
They have made the walk so much easier to the point I cannot
comprehend going on without them. They make climbing mountains feel like you constantly have railings to pull yourself up with all the time, and when descending they really take the weight off my knees. I highly recommend them. And because
I now have something to do with my upper body, I may not end with tree trunk legs and spaghetti stick arms by the end of the trip.
With that all said I was up Kiyosasa pass by 10am and down the
other side by 11. There was this waterfall down the bottom:
I soaked my feet in the water for a while until a mouse ran
over my hand that was resting on a rock. I think it was a sign it was time to
leave.
So I kept following the mountain road along and saw sights like these:
I eventually made it into the town of Setonoya. I was hoping to
resupply here but the shop was closed. I have had this experience again and
again, I’m in a small Japanese town with absolutely nowhere to buy anything
except the odd vending machine.
The next part of the day was on Mt . The sun came out and
I got some great views:
The tea fields never stop amazing me. They are consistently
stunning. Actually to be honest whilst the scenery has been pretty much the
same for the past week, I have not gotten sick of it at all.
Oh and whilst I was up the top having a break, it turns out
the toe nail on my left foot is starting to come off too:
At this rate I am going to have no nails left! The thought
of help the process along and ripping it off myself still repulses me, and so I am
just going to leave it, and eventually they should just fall off on their own.
I continued on:
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| Second suspension bridge of the trip |
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| The road went on... |
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| And on... |
The trail descended into a valley with another sleepy
Japanese village. A worker at a tea
processing factory saw me and asked me what I was doing.
I explained to him my situation and he started giving me all sorts of
information about the area, like where the good hot springs were in case I want
a bath. I thanked him and bid him farewell, and then fifteen minutes down the
road a car pulled up beside me; it was him offering me a lift down the mountain.
I would have liked to but I have a policy that I have to walk the Tokai, and
thus I had to refuse, but it was really nice of him to offer.
Turns out the town I was going to was a bit further than I
thought and I found myself walking in the dark again. I finally got to
civilisation though:
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| Civilisation = food = happy Tom |
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| Rice ball with caviar |
The town of Kawane is a decent size, with a handful of restaurants and a super
market (although the latter was closed by the time I got in so I will have to
resupply tomorrow). I found a place to eat, ordered a meal and a beer:
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| Very typical Japanese restaurant |
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| With a typical sized beer |
Now I have come up to the local park, set my tent up in a
nice quiet spot. I did over 34kms again today according to my GPS, so I think I
am going to go straight head straight to bed.
Night night
Distance: 32.4km (according to google)
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