Kawazu River in Izu Peninsula

The weekend after the Hakone trip we hopped back on the bus for a trip to Izu Peninsula. This was a hiking trip along the Nanataru hiking trail that follows the Kawazu river. It was an early start with a long bus ride but well worth it. After driving up a mountain, we got out and began hiking down a beautiful trail.

I was fascinated by trees that were growing on rocks.

Maddie brought a friend on the trip. The fall colors were brilliant.

This area is famous for growing wasabi. This is the green spicy radish they serve with sushi. The Japanese put it in all kinds of food from crackers to ice cream. (We tried the ice cream. It was very strange and delicious but we couldn't finish it.) This picture above shows how they grow the wasabi. The water from the river is flowing down these terraces where the wasabi is growing.

Still walking on the trail! This was a rustic wooden bridge over the river.

This was one of the seven waterfalls we walked past on the hike. This was one of the higher ones.

This bridge was swaying quite a bit as we walked on it. Fun and scary at the same time!

The rock formations were very interesting here. They were almost tubular, five sided formations. It is hard to describe and the pictures don't do it justice but we thought they were cool looking.

Click on the picture to see it full size.

At the bottom of the trail there was a rest area with some shops and a nice lady to join you in a picture

This was a basket and a small shrine along the river. You could make a wish and throw a rock into the basket. We threw several rocks and Maddie was the only one to get the rock in the basket!

Maddie made a couple of new friends! She asked them for directions to a nice restaurant but they were too shy to respond.

After the hike we went to a hot springs place called Amagi-so. This place is situated along a cliffside and has 28 kinds of hot baths. At the bottom is the Oho taru (waterfall.) The water was icy cold in the river but oh so hot in the baths.

Vanessa and Maddie decided to get in the cold water after soaking in the hot baths. The water was so cold it took your breath away! I thought they were crazy to get in it.

They encouraged me to get in so I manned up and gave it a try.

I ended up swimming out to the waterfall. My body adjusted to the cold for a while but then my muscles began to freeze up and ache. I couldn't swim all the way to where the water was falling because the current was too strong. The hot baths felt amazing after being in the icy water.

After the hot baths we had a quick lunch and got back on the bus. We had to run to the bus and were a little late but we were not the last ones. On the way back we drove along the coastline of Izu Peninsula and it was spectacular scenery. We stopped at a roadside rest stop. The rest stops in Japan are pretty amazing. They usually have restaurants and shops in them. This one was really cool and had a great view of the ocean.

Vanessa enjoyed the hot water where you could soak your feet!

There were a couple of places for dogs to run around too. They had obstacle courses and things for the dogs to play on. Too bad Jelly Bean couldn't join us for this trip! We decided we would return to Izu Peninsula some time on our own so we can have more time to check out all the sites. Thanks for reading our blog and we wish you all the best!

Hakone

Recently we took a trip to the Hakone area. This area is famous for hot springs and mountains. Maddie took a friend with us. It was a beautiful day!

We had beautiful views of Mt. Fuji everywhere we went. Fuji-san was looking quite majestic.

After several hours on the bus, our first stop was the hot springs. All over the mountain steam was billowing out of the ground. It was quite sulphorous and there were signs warning you not to stay too long because of possible poisonous gas. The views were great but it was quite stinky! This area is also famous for "black eggs." They cook the eggs in the hot spring water which somehow makes the outside of the shell black. The eggs were delicious but they just tasted like boiled eggs. Thank goodness they didn't taste like the area smelled!

We left the springs and got on a big gondola to take us down the mountain. There was a sign advising us that these gondolas have a Guiness World Record for most passengers.

As we headed down the mountain to Lake Ashi, we saw these amazing ships. We would soon be taking a ride in one of them.

Maddie and her friend Manami enjoyed playing around the lake's edge while we waited to board the ship.

It was a little cool and breezy on the ship. Madeleine took her hat off and her hair went flying!

The shop docked and we found ourselves in a quaint little lakeside town. They had a restored "checkpoint" area from the Edo period. They used to check your identification papers if you were traveling in this area back then. We had a nice noodle lunch at a lakeside restaurant and spotted the big swans on the lake.

Maddie, Minami and Vanessa took one out for a spin. They told me I was too big for them!

We hopped back on the bus and they took us to the Hakone shrine. The foliage was beautiful.

Entrance to the shrine.

There was a second shrine inside the bigger shrine. We think it was for children and it had this really interesting dragon fountain to wash your hands before entering. This water was drinkable!

Stairs to nowhere.

We left the shrine and went behind it in this area where there were no tourists and found these small shrines. It was enchanting not only because of the old shrines but because it was dark and deserted.

Vanessa looking lovely. After the shrine we got back on the bus and headed home. It really was a beautiful day!

Mikan Picking

Maddie joined her sister Japanese Girl Scout troop on Sunday for an outting to pick mikan, tangerines similar to Clementines. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a view of Mt. Fuji from the train on the way to the mountain range that we can see from our house. It was a 20 minute walk from the train station up steep inclines to get to the orchard perched on the mountain side. Maddie ate all she could of the sweet mikan and brought a bag home to share with Troy (who couldn't attend due to a prior engagement appearing in a Sapporo beer commercial with three very famous Japanese men).

Weather news

We've had a mild fall until yesterday when there was a nice chill in the air. Then, last night, the wind howled all night, and we woke up to see traces of the first snow fall in our mountains. You can click on the picture below to enlarge.

Halloween

It was another fun Halloween in Sagamihara. Maddie was a "spider witch."