Amanohashidate

Amanohashidate is supposed to among the top three beautiful scenes in the country. For years I had been aware of this honour given to a spot somewhere within a short train ride from Osaka, but I had never bothered to go there. Then a colleague spoke of how fun it was to camp on the sandy white beach, drink local wine and listen to the crash of waves at night, all the while antsy that they would be dragged off to the local police box and reprimanded for pitching a tent in a protected national park -- a definite no-no. Gee, I had to try that.

Amanohashidate's fame is for its slender, 3.6km sand bar that runs along the mouth of an inlet connecting its two ends. From the peak of one of the nearby hills, if you bend over and look at the scene upside down through your legs, the serrated edge of the sand bar is supposed to have the appearance of stairways to heaven. Amanohashidate itself means "bridge to heaven".

Located in northern Kyoto prefecture, it is easily accessed in two and a half hours by train from Osaka.

R and I had a fun time and we managed to avoid being reprimanded about anything. The area surrounding the train station is interesting on its own, and a walk along the length of the sand bar was lovely. As it was an October weekend, it wasn't crowded, but surely there would be droves of people in the summer.

Amanohashidate is worth a full day's stay. The surrounding area is full of things to see and do.

Niigata Mountains

What a fabulous hike up Hiuchi-yama and Myoko-san. These are two mountains on a well-marked trail of 21 kilometres in length just north of the Nagano border in Niigata prefecture. I was blessed with great weather. The trail-head at Sasa-ga-me is at about 1300m and it was a day's climb to the summit of Hiuchi-yama at 2462m.

I camped overnight beside the Takidani-ike mountain hut at around 2100m and then climbed nearby Myoko-san at 2446m. It is hard to believe it was only a change of 350m in elevation because it was an arduous climb, taking over three hours. It was another three hours to get down the mountain. My legs were stinging and I was exhausted to the bone but I was also thrilled to have climbed my first real mountain in Japan.

Next time I climb, however, I think I should leave the D80 and VR 80-200mm lens at home, opting for something much LIGHTER instead.

See more pictures of "Niigata Mountains" are at my an-fi photo gallery.



























See more pictures of "Niigata Mountains" are at my an-fi photo gallery.

Lake Nojiriko

From Kanazawa I took a train into Niigata prefecture and then into the northern edge of Nagano prefecture where I camped near Lake Nojiriko.

Ishikawa Beach

The first photo in this series is of the view I had when I poked my head out my tent in the morning, at a campsite north of Kanazawa. It is not as pristine as it looks -- there was a nearby road with traffic all night long. Just over the ridge is the Japan sea.

Mist Over Town

Hiking near Mt. Katsuragi.

Mist Over Mountains

Hiking near Mt. Katsuragi.

Unlikely Picnic Spot

But we had our picnic anyway.