Hi guys! Now... although the end of each of our blog entries reads: "from Allie and Ross Baker", you wouldn't have to be a genius to figure out that Allie has been the author of 99% of the blog entries so far. She has been really into it, and she is an excellent writer, so I'm sure you have all been well entertained by her! However, I figure I had better live up to having my name on each entry, so I'm getting off my bum (possibly a bad choice of words as I'm sitting on it right now) and writing something. This is my official blog comeback!!
Yesterday we decided to go to a place called Minoh. As it is so close to where we live - 20 mins travel time - we have never really thought of going there. Surely something that is only 20 mins from Juso couldn't possibly be beautiful... right? Wrong. Minoh is a beautiful mountain area, with a very tranquil river and a Buddhist Temple that is worth the trip by itself. The main road up the mountain is much like the roads that lead to all the elevated temples/shrines... wide enough for one vehicle, littered with a selection of souvenir and food shops and relatively busy with pedestrians walking up and down the mountain. However, as the road steepened, the shops were replaced with a thick forest, the amount of people thinned out, and we were soon walking along a beautiful river.
At several points there were places that we could leave the main road to explore other paths or go and sit next to/get in the river. We decided to keep going to the top and then explore these small pockets on the way back down. As we got higher, it only got more peaceful and beautiful. The intense green of the foliage and the very steep drop down to the river reminded me of driving over the Black Spur on the way to Eildon.
After walking 2.7 km from the main town we reached the end of the road and the very beautiful Minoh Waterfall. The waterfall cascaded into a large water hole, before it flowed downstream. The water hole was 'out of bounds' - which was a shame because it looked so inviting - yet easily accessible. In typical Japanese style, no one was swimming in the water hole, but there were about 50 or so children and parents splashing about in a rocky part of the river downstream. It looked like so much fun! I had to laugh to myself that such a beautiful and natural place was also decorated with food stalls and drink vending machines :)
On the way back we decided to take the more adventurous paths. These took us up very high and then sloped back down towards the river. We stopped for a while and had a small explore/splash in the river. It was such a beautiful place and we decided that we will go back soon and enjoy a picnic with some friends. When we were in the river, away from the road and people I decided that this was my favorite place so far in Japan!
On that way back down we came to the Temple and explored it for a while. We were the only people there, which has never happened before. It's one of the things that tends to frustrate me... I often sefishly think that Japan's beautiful sights would be a whole lot more beautiful if all the people would go away. Well this time I got my wish and it made it an amazing experience. Just as we left the temple, we chanced upon a family of cats, maybe about 15 or so. I guess they were stray, but they were also used to people and were very friendly and playful. We spent a little while with them, found ourselves missing Oscar terribly and then kept going. On the way back down we had a look at a map and saw that there are lots of hiking trails in the surrounding mountains. I can't wait to go back and check them out. As beautiful as Minoh was yesterday, it is aparantley much more breathtaking in full Autum as the Maple leaves turn a bright red.
By the time we reached the train station again it was dark and we were quite tired, yet very satisfied with ourselves. All in all, a great day!
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