Obama First to visit Obama’s fish market We then went to the food museum, all in Japanese but still quite interesting. After that we went around the town on bikes rented from the museum. Hatched roofs now have to be changed every 30 years, used to be closer to every 60 years. This is due …
Author archives: Patrick
11.i 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Obama and the fishing experience So up we were at 4:30 am, ready for the fishing experience… What a memorable experience… likely they got less than usually due to our presence and the whole in the net that required immediate mending… The captain then offered to take us back to see his farther collecting sea …
11.h 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Kurama to Obama We paid another quick visit to Kurama to see the temples on the hill. Then off to Obama.
11.g 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Ohara & Kurama These are pittoresques little villages in the mountains 30’ north of Kyoto. It is so nice and so close to Kyoto that it is maybe better to avoid the touristic season – which we did… Both towns are well known for their temples. Also these villages are on the Kyoto Trail. First …
11.f 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Nachikatsuura city Quite unsure whether to call it Nachi or Katsuura … but it is the end of that stretch of Kumano Kodō. Just down from the pagoda, waterfall and taisha (shrine). Where we overnighted before another half day in the train to return to Megumi and Noriko Ishida in Gifu. Back to Gifu Just …
11.e 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Kumano Kodō (continues) Once you find the entrance, you really cannot get lost … it is well marked all along. The path itself is unusually wide for a forest foot path, and also almost over processed – like stone stairs, terraces in middle of the forest – likely traces of ancient renowned pilgrimage routes. On …
11.d 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Initially we were thinking to look for walks in the mountains ranges nearby Gifu and up north, but given the weather conditions (still much snow on summits) and following advice from local friends, we switched to more coastal path with famous Kumano Kodō pilgrimage routes (FYI: twinned with Camino de Santiago!). This is located in …
11.c 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Gifu University Next day Megumi had planned for us to meet his group of students, the new school year was just about to start… he had mentioned to them having gaijin guests, Elina being from Finland and their studies in forestry made that quite an event – it appeared… Needless to say we were not …
11.b 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Gifu Straight from Tokoname to Gifu to stay at the Ishida’s, Megumi (Rei’s brother) and Noriko. They live some 20’ out in the mountains around Gifu. Gifu is itself located north of Nagoya, where Megumi is teaching forestry regeneration at University. Its is a bit like the Grenoble of Japan, cold in winter and one …
11.a 7 to 20 April – Together with Elina
Our WWOOFING experience in Japan coming to its end, our 2 weeks with Elina were more like normal holidays as tourists, although thanks to hospitality and guidance from local friends and thanks to Hélène’s skill in triggering opportunities, we also had some interesting surprises aside from main sightseeing attractions. As often we did not stay …