Last of the Mountains

"Wind, in my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge..."

This morning Sumi insisted we stay at the hotel until their breakfast buffet opened up, at 6:45, so we tried to fill up on tiny rolls, muffins and juice before finally leaving at 7:30. This means we catch traffic, so the going was a little slow until we started climbing the "highlands" above the town, where only the tea farmers or people passing through would go.

Terraced tea farms above Shimada

After starting our day with several rather intense climbs, we stopped at a small rest stop for some juice and I saw something that took me almost 8 years to notice. Near every juice/soda/coffee/beer vending machine in Japan is a recycling bin. The idea its that you buy the beverage from the machine and drink it right there, then deposit the empty can or bottle into the recycling bin, like below:

Genus: Common Japanese Recycling Bin.
Habitat: Japan.
Coloring: White to gray, sometimes blue.
Mating Habits: Unknown, though they are quite numerous.

Notice the two separate holes, one for akikan (aluminum cans) and one for Petto Botoru (PET, or plastic, Bottles). Now, it may be difficult to see in the picture, but it's just one bin. Whichever hole you use, it goes to exactly the same place. Why label the holes? I've been carefully putting cans in the can hole and bottles in the bottle hole for eight years and never noticed. Needless to say, I quite rebelliously put my bottle in the can hole.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, we saw a sign for the Suwahara Castle Ruins. We always enjoy checking out the castles, and across this area of Japan, most of the castles were destroyed during the Meiji Restoration, only to be restored after WWII. Suwahara Castle was not one of those. The ruins are almost completely grown over. Only some of the foundation, a well and two very impressive dry moats remained and a reminder of what was once here. Oh, and a shrine. Of course.

Obligatory Shinto Shrine

Inner moat. Man-made, about 30 feet deep with a narrow walkway (so the horses could be brought in and out).

Outside the town of Kikugawa, there was one of those shrines that on a normal visit, we'd climb up just to see where it went, but with all the biking, we decided to take a pass.

Lessee, five gates, each gate has about 40 steps…..ah, no.

Arriving in the city of Kakegawa, the guide we've been following suggested stopping at Kakegawa Castle, one of the more restored ones. As we approached, it already looked more impressive than poor, forgotten Suwahara Castle

One of two tall yagura (towers) remaining from the castle

We paid the entrance fee to take a walk up the tower, and were rewarded with a fantastic 360 degree view of the entire river valley we were in, as well as all the outlying mountain peaks, including on a clear day, Fuji-san. One thing we've noticed, after visiting a number of these castles, is that the old architects were at once brilliant and confused. They erected amazing structures and clever water systems using nothing but hand tools and rope, but couldn't decide whether to use ladders or stairs for their towers.

Stadders? Lairs? Almost, but not quite, vertical and almost 2 feet per step

Castle living quarters. Spacious, airy and full of artwork.

Leaving Kakegawa, we entered a valley between peaks full of rice paddies and small villages.

Herons combing the paddies for slugs and small fish.

Totomi-Ichinomiya train station. A single car train comes every so often.

As we approached Lake Hamana, we were crossing more and more rivers. Many of the bridges had separate bike/pedestrian lanes.

The sign above reads "Papa, stop looking around, cell phone, going too fast"

Most rivers in this area are very wide, with many sandbars

We had to leave our route and climb yet another mountain (Nemoto-san) to reach our lodging for the evening, Nemoto-san-sou.

We gotta go up THAT?

Very cozy, mountain minshuku...

…and Karaoke lounge?

The place was empty, as in there was literally no one there. Not even staff. We rang a bell and looked around, until a woman came scampering from the adjoining house to see what we wanted. Apparently, Booking.com, the website we used, forgot to contact them about our staying there. No fax, no phone message, nothing. Well, they apologized and scrambled to get things ready for us. We found it amusing, but I'm sure they were frantic. The place was beautiful and our room was once again huge.

You could sleep a family of five in here

Our own private porch and garden

Once we were bathed and fed, we decided to unravel a mystery. All the 7-11 konbini's had a little raffle drawing every time you spent more than ¥500 (5 bucks). You grab a ticket from a box and see if you win anything. They all have small coupons and stuff, but occasionally you win a small prize. Earlier today, Sumi won a small bottle of….something.

You find a bottle of murky liquid. What do you do?
a) cast an Identify spell on it to discover its powers
b) pour it on a torch and try and light it
 c) hold your nose, drink it, and wait.

Well, some of the kanji are so obscure they don't even show up in our dictionaries, but the katakana made it clear than it was 55,000mg of placenta. Mango-flavored. Why? Just…why? She could have won some dental floss, or band-aids, but no, she got the placenta. Anyone thirsty?