By Layla
Our last blog saw us ensconced in a charming house in the mountains along the Kumano Kodo trail feeling very happy indeed. My personal happiness was challenged the following day: a nine hour mountainous hike to our final destination PLUS a forecast of rain? I was unimpressed... Still, it turned out to be a lovely day with only an hour or so of rain (though I must say shaving three hours and a bit of altitude would have deeply improved it!). Up and down and up and up we went, cursing our inadequate chocolate supplies and loving the welcome displays made of plantpots, flowers, and random junk that the locals had erected in their gardens for Kumano Kodo walkers. Again, we saw hardly any other walkers along this brilliant, beautifully signposted epic walk (and, alas, no chocolate shops) and for the final few miles I could hardly persuade my legs to keep moving. Then finally, when I'd just about lost hope and decided to live forever in the woods, the path brought us to a road and an onsen and the end of our trek.
I collapsed gratefully on the first available pavement, near a 90 degree celsius stream where people were surreally boiling and eating eggs... The chocolate shop had just closed, and when we asked the location of our hotel, a man pointed up a long, winding uphill road and my legs wept in hopeless sorrow. And so, we trudged off. Moments later, a van slowed down and asked if we wanted a lift. I threw myself in, thanking the Kumano Kodo gods, and looked in smug sympathy as other walkers trekked up a horribly steep incline while Roz and I were conveyed in glorious luxury.
The ryokan (Japanese inn) that we stayed at was our first, and it was a great start to the genre. Especially when its Haagen Dazs ice cream machine came into view! Shoes off and replaced by slippers, I could barely drag myself up the one flight of stairs to our lovely room where our luggage awaited us. Gosh I love the Japanese luggage forwarding service. That and the heated toilet seats may be my two most favourite things about Japan so far! Anyway, we changed into special dressing gowns and descended to the hotel onsen for our first Japanese onsen experience. Very similar to our past South Korea hot baths/spa experiences, we scrub ourselves vigorously with soap and shampoo etc until sparkling clean while sitting on tiny stools (which one day I fear I will break), then once properly pristine, we step into the very hot mineral waters of the onsen pool. In this place there was both an outside option and an inside one. My muscles approved, even though my skin felt it was being boiled...
Duly onsened, we returned to our room in time for a Japanese woman to set up a huge table in it and proceed to serve us about a thousand courses of fantastic vegetarian Japanese food. Definitely the best Japanese food we've had so far, and ridiculously copious - and in our own bedroom! Afterwards she removed the table and replaced it with two cozy futon beds. I'd rather not admit what time I made us go to sleep but let's just say I was quite tired and Roz didn't get to play ping pong in the hotel bar that evening as she'd hoped!
Up early the next day (after a 10 hour sleep!) I felt rejuvenated. A 2 hour bus and 3 hour train journey later, and we waved goodbye to all things mountainous and hello to the next part of our adventure: the Inland Sea. We were staying in the small city of Okayama mainly as reasonably convenient access to tomorrow's destination, the island of Naoshima (the Naoshima hotel was fully booked). We hadn't expected to love Okayama... But of course we did! What a delightful place. The whole city is full of flower shops and hipster coffeeshops and wine bars. The fancy street with Chanel and Tiffany's etc was punctuated with charming Alice in Wonderland statues. And then we walked down to the river and found sweeping views of the local castle, people on swan-shaped pedal boats, fantastic riverside walking paths full of locals and their dogs, and one of Japan's most famous gardens. We bought ice cream and tickets and strolled in the beautiful garden, which was such a delight. Then we found ourselves at the preparations for a festival or cherry blossom viewing or something and particularly enjoyed the local goths settling down under a very goth-themed tent in full regalia. But we had to head back to the hotel, to meet Mari, a Japanese woman introduced to us by a mutual friend, who happened to live in Okayama. We had a completely lovely evening in a Japanese restaurant/izakaya talking literature, international law, and about our experiences in Glasgow where she did her PhD. Small world indeed!
The next day was our principal reason for being in Okayama: the Trienialle. Forget Venice's Bienialle - the place to be for exciting contemporary art is a collection of little islands in Japan's Inland Sea. The jewel in the Trienalle crown is Naoshima, an island which is a contemporary art destination year-round, with an incongruous number of amazing art museums and outdoor sculptures. We caught the boat from Uno, clutching our official Trienalle passports. (Another thing I love about Japan: an enthusiasm to reward visiting certain places with a commemorative stamp.) The Trienniale passport has over 200 places to stamp, and Naoshima would provide more than 20 of these. We hired electric bikes and zoomed off for what would prove to be a delightful and truly unique experience.
Following our official map, we tracked down art installations all over the island, all brandishing the official stamp. We went into 'art houses' full of mirrors, a giant statue of liberty, subtle magnolia flowers made of magnolia wood, and my favourite, a dark room with a sunken square pond in the middle, with glowing numbers in it. A really interesting collection of art. And an exceptional lunch of vegetarian curry followed by scones at arty cafe Apron (Paper). Then it was out to the famous giant pumpkin on the beach and the year-round art museums for which a large part of the art is the integration with the cliffside location and truly intriguing architecture. We praised our electric bikes as we soared high above the sea to some of the more obscure installations, then zoomed back down to the port to reward our efforts in an arty onsen! Great fun.
We had dinner in a charming Italian brasserie last night and packed our bags before waving them off this morning on another luggage forwarding service. Hopefully we will be reunited tomorrow in Onomichi. Between now and then, farewell to lovely Okayama, a 2-hour train ride, and a 70 km cycle across the Inland Sea. Wish us luck...
Our last blog saw us ensconced in a charming house in the mountains along the Kumano Kodo trail feeling very happy indeed. My personal happiness was challenged the following day: a nine hour mountainous hike to our final destination PLUS a forecast of rain? I was unimpressed... Still, it turned out to be a lovely day with only an hour or so of rain (though I must say shaving three hours and a bit of altitude would have deeply improved it!). Up and down and up and up we went, cursing our inadequate chocolate supplies and loving the welcome displays made of plantpots, flowers, and random junk that the locals had erected in their gardens for Kumano Kodo walkers. Again, we saw hardly any other walkers along this brilliant, beautifully signposted epic walk (and, alas, no chocolate shops) and for the final few miles I could hardly persuade my legs to keep moving. Then finally, when I'd just about lost hope and decided to live forever in the woods, the path brought us to a road and an onsen and the end of our trek.
I collapsed gratefully on the first available pavement, near a 90 degree celsius stream where people were surreally boiling and eating eggs... The chocolate shop had just closed, and when we asked the location of our hotel, a man pointed up a long, winding uphill road and my legs wept in hopeless sorrow. And so, we trudged off. Moments later, a van slowed down and asked if we wanted a lift. I threw myself in, thanking the Kumano Kodo gods, and looked in smug sympathy as other walkers trekked up a horribly steep incline while Roz and I were conveyed in glorious luxury.
The ryokan (Japanese inn) that we stayed at was our first, and it was a great start to the genre. Especially when its Haagen Dazs ice cream machine came into view! Shoes off and replaced by slippers, I could barely drag myself up the one flight of stairs to our lovely room where our luggage awaited us. Gosh I love the Japanese luggage forwarding service. That and the heated toilet seats may be my two most favourite things about Japan so far! Anyway, we changed into special dressing gowns and descended to the hotel onsen for our first Japanese onsen experience. Very similar to our past South Korea hot baths/spa experiences, we scrub ourselves vigorously with soap and shampoo etc until sparkling clean while sitting on tiny stools (which one day I fear I will break), then once properly pristine, we step into the very hot mineral waters of the onsen pool. In this place there was both an outside option and an inside one. My muscles approved, even though my skin felt it was being boiled...
Duly onsened, we returned to our room in time for a Japanese woman to set up a huge table in it and proceed to serve us about a thousand courses of fantastic vegetarian Japanese food. Definitely the best Japanese food we've had so far, and ridiculously copious - and in our own bedroom! Afterwards she removed the table and replaced it with two cozy futon beds. I'd rather not admit what time I made us go to sleep but let's just say I was quite tired and Roz didn't get to play ping pong in the hotel bar that evening as she'd hoped!
Up early the next day (after a 10 hour sleep!) I felt rejuvenated. A 2 hour bus and 3 hour train journey later, and we waved goodbye to all things mountainous and hello to the next part of our adventure: the Inland Sea. We were staying in the small city of Okayama mainly as reasonably convenient access to tomorrow's destination, the island of Naoshima (the Naoshima hotel was fully booked). We hadn't expected to love Okayama... But of course we did! What a delightful place. The whole city is full of flower shops and hipster coffeeshops and wine bars. The fancy street with Chanel and Tiffany's etc was punctuated with charming Alice in Wonderland statues. And then we walked down to the river and found sweeping views of the local castle, people on swan-shaped pedal boats, fantastic riverside walking paths full of locals and their dogs, and one of Japan's most famous gardens. We bought ice cream and tickets and strolled in the beautiful garden, which was such a delight. Then we found ourselves at the preparations for a festival or cherry blossom viewing or something and particularly enjoyed the local goths settling down under a very goth-themed tent in full regalia. But we had to head back to the hotel, to meet Mari, a Japanese woman introduced to us by a mutual friend, who happened to live in Okayama. We had a completely lovely evening in a Japanese restaurant/izakaya talking literature, international law, and about our experiences in Glasgow where she did her PhD. Small world indeed!
The next day was our principal reason for being in Okayama: the Trienialle. Forget Venice's Bienialle - the place to be for exciting contemporary art is a collection of little islands in Japan's Inland Sea. The jewel in the Trienalle crown is Naoshima, an island which is a contemporary art destination year-round, with an incongruous number of amazing art museums and outdoor sculptures. We caught the boat from Uno, clutching our official Trienalle passports. (Another thing I love about Japan: an enthusiasm to reward visiting certain places with a commemorative stamp.) The Trienniale passport has over 200 places to stamp, and Naoshima would provide more than 20 of these. We hired electric bikes and zoomed off for what would prove to be a delightful and truly unique experience.
Following our official map, we tracked down art installations all over the island, all brandishing the official stamp. We went into 'art houses' full of mirrors, a giant statue of liberty, subtle magnolia flowers made of magnolia wood, and my favourite, a dark room with a sunken square pond in the middle, with glowing numbers in it. A really interesting collection of art. And an exceptional lunch of vegetarian curry followed by scones at arty cafe Apron (Paper). Then it was out to the famous giant pumpkin on the beach and the year-round art museums for which a large part of the art is the integration with the cliffside location and truly intriguing architecture. We praised our electric bikes as we soared high above the sea to some of the more obscure installations, then zoomed back down to the port to reward our efforts in an arty onsen! Great fun.
We had dinner in a charming Italian brasserie last night and packed our bags before waving them off this morning on another luggage forwarding service. Hopefully we will be reunited tomorrow in Onomichi. Between now and then, farewell to lovely Okayama, a 2-hour train ride, and a 70 km cycle across the Inland Sea. Wish us luck...
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