Hiking

Golden Week in Japan has 4 national holidays in it, and like everyone else I wanted to make the most of them. Rather than go somewhere crowded with holiday-makers though, I went for a hike with Chihiro and a friend of hers in the mountains near where I live. On the way I saw workers picking tea leaves by hand (May is the start of the tea season). I thought it would all be done by machine, but I found out that hand-picked tea can be sold for a much higher price. I should try some and see what the difference is!

The forest was beautiful, and nice and cool inside even though the sun was shining brightly. It was the first time in Japan that I'd really gone somewhere completely natural, and it was really relaxing. The forest was very different to the eucalyptus or rain forests of Australia too. We saw some people gathering native herbs in the forest, but unfortunately we couldn't find any. On the way up there were 33 little stone shrines, and at the top a bigger one. Some had offerings of sake wine and money, and I could really feel a difference in culture to Australia, because I'm sure the money wouldn't last long there!

The view at the top was incredible... we could see all the way to the coast, and I was amazed at the extent of the city. (And this is just a tiny city compared to Tokyo!) After a delicious picnic lunch (and a short nap!) we made our way back down the mountain to the temple we started from.