Monday Mountain Climbing

Today we finally got around to climbing Gozaisho Mountain. We took the middle path, which is an intermediate climbing course. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top, and it was both challenging and fun. I actually enjoyed the climb more than when we climbed Mt. Fuji because there was a lot more rock climbing (as opposed to the steady slog of Mt. Fuji).


Last year we took the ropeway up and saw a few hikers, so it was fun to be the hikers being seen from the ropeway this time around.




At the top, I met a really great musician:


After eating lunch at the top of the mountain, we headed to Yunoyama Onsen--an area of natural hot springs. I had been to sento, or public baths before, and was excited to finally go to a hot spring. We chose an onsen many of our students recommended called kibouso, which means something along the lines of "place of hope." It didn't disappoint!

We felt really relaxed, not only due to our hard climbing, but due to a very busy schedule over the past month. As those of you connected through facebook may have seen, we've been having many adventures, most of which happened in August with Tina. Picnics, beer gardens, karaoke, Akame Falls, a trip to Korea and fireworks made for a busy and fun month! (And also for an excuse as to why we haven't had a chance to update much here!)

Wednesday we'll be off to Thailand for about 5 days, but we'll be sure to keep you as up-to-date as possible after that!

Gozaisho Mountain

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November 23rd is a national holiday in Japan that celebrates labor and harvest. As it was the day before my birthday, we decided to go out to Gozaisho Mountain. Located right in Mie, these are the same mountains we can see out our apartment door. We were really lucky to be able to see the autumn leaves (that's right, you can still see them at the end of November!).

The friends who joined us wanted to take the cable car up the 1212 meter mountain. We enjoyed the slow ride to the top, but not the steep price! It cost us around $25.00 USD per person, (including the lift).

Masayo and Caitlyn

Toyokazu and Chad (Chad is representin' Mie)

As you can see, at the very top the leaves have mostly changed and fallen. We felt the view was breathtaking nonetheless.

At the top of the mountain, there is a rock with a poem on it. When we asked what it meant, our friends tried to translate. They didn't recognize some of the kanji, and after looking it up in their cell phone dictionaries they came up with, "Snow, Triangle, Teapot." Above, Toyokazu is pondering what it all means.

Udon lunch!

Above: The beautiful view from the cable car on the way down. We are planning on climbing next spring!

At our friend Joel's suggestion, we decided to try senbei, a type of Japanese rice cracker. These ones were freshly made and served warm, so they were actually more like cookies. Yum!

What a cute couple!

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