Japanese Jellies: Yorokeikoku

Moving along down the line, I had lunch near another beautiful temple. This one had an amazing copper 'samurai-hat' roof, and stone pillars creating a small inner courtyard around the plain, uncarved temple walls.

Then back onto the train again, and on to Yorokeikoku, where there is a hiking course recommended by my guide book.

I totally failed mapping at this point, and although I spent an amazing 2 hours hiking around in the forest, I missed almost all the sites from the guidebook, only stumbling upon the 'famous' red wooden bridge by accident, while making my way back to the train station.

What I did see was amazingly beautiful countryside, with the added bonus of there not being any other people.

I started out by going over a red metal bridge, then up the road for a while, untill I found a small country road off through the forest. The forest was all planted cedar, but here and there were a few of the original trees, the largest with a small shrine at its base,

and many other small shrines dug into the rock on the side of the road.

The road I was on still being paved, and therefore too big to be really interesting, I spent my time skirting down the little paths the farmers use to tend their fields, and there found a whole different countryside. The valleys are quite sharp, but whet land there is has been carfully levelled out and irrigation ditches constructed to water the rice fields.

What fields are not needed, or are being left to rest, are a mass of tall yellow flowers and grasses, which harbour a multitude of grasshoppers, a few frogs, a few more snakes, and even a few wild piggies!

I came across one quite by accident, while he was taking his afternoon siesta in a small muddy area. I thought he was dead, when my brain registered what I was seeing, and so stepped closer to see hime better. I'm not sure whether he had not heard me or was playing dead, but he suddenly gave a big grunt of suprise, sending both of us jumping backwards, and he raced off through the grasses and down into the next valley.

He was quite small, and a light yollowish brown colour, but I'm glad he went the other way, and made sure to make lots of noise going through the bushes after that!

After wandering down a little-used path invaded by monstrous spiders on their monstrous webs, I finally got down to the river.

I followed a proper road back to the train station, in order not to miss the last train. The road was just as beautiful as the forest path, winding along the forest for a while and then through a small village with a cool Buddha.

Then up and over the big blue metal bridge, giving me a nice view of the red bridge I had started out on, and a last view of the river, being rewarded by a pair of white cranes and a brilland blue kingfisher sightings.

My new hiking boots are amazing, and just eat up the kilometers. But by the time the train click-clacked into the station, my brain was dwelling on thoughts of hot baths and dinners promised to me at my hotel in Kuniyoshi.

I hot forgotten just how hot the japanese like their baths, so, after a 1 second excursion of my foot into and right back out of the bathtub, I gave up and simply enjoyed a nice shower.