I rushed out of my room, “living room”, at 1.30 am, afraid that I was going to be left behind.
As I trod down to the rendezvouz point, I could feel raindrops crashing against the surface of my gore-tex jacket. “The weather isnt going so good so far…” I muttered to myself.
After a few minutes of waiting in the rain, a white big van pulled up on me. A familiar face shone out of the front seat. Hiroshi! My ride and company to Kirigamine has arrived.
Hiroshi was my airbnb host. “Was” because there was a mishap in my previous booking. My supposed airbnb host was not very proficient in English so he could not understand that I wanted to arrive on the 11th June not 15th… well this mishap turned out to be a blessing in disguise since Hiroshi became more than just a host to me.
On the night of my check in to Hiroshi’s home, his girlfriend Peipei picked me up from the train station. On that same night we had dinner together and acquainted ourselves well enough to know that all of us have one thing in common. All of us loved to hike and camp in the country! Just so happen they were planning for a trip that weekend, and that was how I start to join Hiroshi and Peipei for their weekend adventures. That weekend we went to Hotaberu park to watch the fireflies at night! It was a pretty sight as it felt like both the ground and the sky were merged into one huge assymmetrical galaxy. I can write more about that but the title of this entry is Kirigamine…
-Hotaberu = Firefly , in Japanese
Anyways! We drove down towards Nagano and picked up the rest of our company along the way. When I entered the van, Yusuke was on the wheel, Hiroshi shotgun, Peipei, and Joe on the passenger seat. Later on Aline and Ana joined us
The drive was rather uneventful, until the last hour when the mountain ranges start to fill the horizons with undulating shapes. The intersecting curves and menacing peaks were a majestic sight to behold.
After the 4 hours drive, we finally reached Kirigamine Highland! The first thing I needed was the toilet… but just like every rural place in the world, toilets are an elusive commodity. Anyways, I managed to make do with a pile of grass at the back of an abandoned building!
Our hike begun and we spent the day traversing the rolling hills and green fields, with seas of cloud and towering peaks in the background. Mists enveloped some of the peaks, giving them a charm akin to a bride’s veil.
-My selfie with the scenery
-The company: Ana, Aline, Joe, Hiroshi, Yusuke, Peipei (From left back to right front)
I even found a very interesting sight…
-Windows XP background???
After the hike, we drove down to a nearby creek, and setup a BBQ. It was a new experience BBQ-ing beside a random creek. Back in Singapore it was always either Pasir Ris Park or East Coast.
-Yusuke and Joe starting the fire
-Hiroshi and Yusuke cooking
-Creekside BBQ
The food was delicious and the atmosphere was just perfect. This is the best Sunday I’ve spent in Japan so far. Gotta thank God for the perfect weather today. It almost rained on several occasion, but all the sky mustered were short dreadful drizzles.
After the BBQ, we drove down to a nearby town and headed into an Onsen. We washed up and made our way back to Tokyo.
For more pictures that I took, Find me on FB: https://www.facebook.com/tommy.arden.5
-1st July 2017, Sunday
Dashing Heights 