Day 7 in Japan, July 22
It’s morning. I awake to the sound of the cicadas in the mountains surrounding us. My ear hurts – underneath it is a small, hard pillow filled with what feels like plastic pellets. Light from the window. The smell of the tatami floor. It’s almost surreal waking up like this, so far removed from everything at the ryokan we are staying at. It’s early, so I will have a walk around outside before breakfast is served and the girls are awake. Early morning light is good for photography.
Kaede, Our Room’s Name
Kurama Onsen
Kurama Onsen in the Mountains
I go back to the room to wake the girls and get ready for breakfast. We eat breakfast downstairs. It’s served to us in many small dishes in formal Japanese style. A lot of it is, again, quite foreign to us. It’s a presentation that we all enjoy.
By the way, George turned me on to this energy drink the other day when we met with him. I’m now addicted to it. Might have to import it back in the states or else suffer withdrawal.
REAL GOLD
Today we plan to explore the surrounding areas of the mountains. Kurama-dera is nearby… a mountain temple which looks to be quite large. Also within reasoanble taxi-taking distance is the small town of Kibune, noted for its beautiful shops, homes and restaurants.
We took the “Kurama Onsen Free Bus” to the train station, which happens to be right next to the entrance of the Kurama-dera temple.
Near the Train Station / Temple Entrance
Mount Kurama (鞍馬山) is apparently home to demons called tengu which have very long noses. It’s also the location of the Kurama Fire Festival which occurs in October. We didn’t get quite as far up mount Kurama as I would have liked, but what we did see was pretty awe-inspiring. This was definitely the most outdoors we got on this trip. The path up the mountain is steep, and fraught with large insects and other things which were non-girl-friendly. The photos below represent only about 1/4 or 1/5 of the actual journey to the top of the temple area.
Kurama-dera Entrance Areas
Model of the Entire Complex (note cable car going up on right)
We found a cable car that promised to take us most of the way up the mountain and avoid the steep, winding wooded path you can see above. The girls liked this idea, so we bought three tokens and got ready to go up.
Going Up and Looking Back Down
Once at the top, we left the small station and prepared to ascend the rest of the mountain to the temple. Until…
I guess there is nothing in that picture to show scale, but to say “hand-sized” wouldn’t be far off. This sucker was waiting for us on the stairs out of the station area.
I have to say the girls have been troopers for much of this trip, but gigantic spiders is not something on the menu when it comes to them. This almost forced us back down the mountain. Luckily, there was an alternate exit and we avoided the spider altogether. Still, the heat and the giant insects were starting to take a toll on the morale of the girls. We did get to see a number of other sights on the mountain before heading back down.
Exploring Kurama
After heading back down, we still had time left in the day. We were hungry… we hadn’t eaten since lunch. So, we decided to take a cab to Kibune, a beautiful nearby town I had read about on Jeffrey Friedl’s blog before. We arrived in the middle of the small town with no idea what to expect. First, we just walked around a bit.
Kibune’s Natural Beauty
Almost all of the restaurants in Kibune have the same basic operation: sit right on top of the river and eat a beautiful and extremely formal Japanese meal. We were neither dressed or equipped with enough cash for this, so we simply wandered around and took in the beauty.
Yes, That Is a River Under Your Table
About this time, a number of circumstances came to a head. It was hot. We hadn’t eaten in many hours (and there was nothing casual enough for us here in Kibune). We’d been walking up and down mountains all day. It was time to head home.
Except we don’t see any cabs in Kibune. It’s not the type of area where cabs are just waiting to make pick ups. Kibune is quiet, beautiful, removed and mostly taxi-less. We spotted a bus station with a bus waiting, but we couldn’t read any of the information posted and had no idea where the bus was headed. I asked a nearby shop owner how to get back to Kurama. He pointed at the bus as it left the station.
20 minutes later, we had walked down the mountainside back to a train station. A taxi drove by and we flagged it down. Phew…
Once back in Kurama, we were famished. Dinner back at the ryokan was still going to be a while. We spotted a small place and had some duck dishes. I tried the duck curry soup and we also ordered some duck with egg and rice. Delcious! And we needed the calories badly after our day of exploring.
Small Restaurant in Kurama
The girls also found the biggest can of Coke I have ever seen. Japan often specializes in doing things small. This was definitely the opposite.
Big Coke
We headed to the onsen for another hot spring dip before dinner. So relaxing… I also took a few more pictures around the inn.
Beer Vending Machine at Kurama Onsen
The Space-Age Toilet Mentioned in a Previous Post
Dinner consisted of duck hot-pot with udon noodles. It was really fantastic. I love hot pot. I don’t have a picture of this, somehow. It was not as formal as the previous night and more like a family dinner around the hot-pot. We still ate at the river side restaurant. After dinner we retired to the room to relax, watch more Japanese TV and just unwind.
Late at night, it’s quiet and I’m sitting on the tatami floor drinking green tea.
Quiet Moments
The peaceful night is good. It’s necessary. Tomorrow will be a big day. Tomorrow we will go to Tokyo.
