Because I'm leaving soon, my prof took me on an adventure to climb the highest mountain in Hokkaido! Originally we were going to go with his family, but something came up. So the Bulgarians came instead!
Our first stop was Mt. Asahi, the tallest mountain in Hokkaido! It's a volcano, like lots of other mountains in Japan, and it's constantly belching steam. There are lots of hotels with hot springs all around the base.
Luckily for us, there is a ropeway to go most of the way. We saw a lazy deer lying around under the ropeway! Before we could set out from the upper ropeway station, there was a torrential downpour, so we had to wait for it to die down. But as soon as the rain cleared up, we set out to hike around.
And when we got near the top of the "casual" trail, the sky suddenly cleared, and we had a good view of the peak!
But all of a sudden, a thick fog rolled in... and then there was another torrential downpour, and we had to climb back down in it! The paths turned into small rivers and our feet got SOAKED. By the time we made it back down to the car, we were all shivering cold. Luckily, the next step was the onsen!
Onsen are Japanese hot springs. They're super popular, but you are not allowed to wear a bathing suit: to use them, you have to be naked. The last time I had the chance to try them, I chickened out. But now that I'm leaving Japan soon, I finally decided that I should take the plunge. Luckily, I was so cold from the mountain that there was no hesitation! I'm glad I tried it! It was very relaxing (despite the naked), and it was a great way to warm up! Now I know what the monkeys are so excited about!
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment