Hiko-san
29 May 2005
Friday, after work, we take the gamble and leave for Yaba-Hita-Hiko-san Quasi-National Park without having made hotel reservations. At first it looks like luck is not on our side, there aren't many hotels and the first one is fully booked. How is that possible, we're in the middle of nowhere. Luckily they can help us find an alternative, we can stay there for one night, because they are fully booked on Saturday. We had no idea it was going to be this busy, but at least we have a room for the night.
Saturday it's and early rise and shine, we're going hiking! The Lonely Planet Hiking Guide describes a 4 hour hike, rated "easy". This sounds right for us, but on the way we decide to change directions.
So much for an easy 4-hour hike, it took six hours and was far from easy. Some parts of the track you had to pull yourself up with the help of some chains, it was so steep.
The walk was not clearly marked, but luckily we saw other hikers who could point us in the right direction. There was a friendly Japanese guy who joined us on the last leg of the hike, so make sure we wouldn't get lost. Since the hike took longer than expected, we were almost out of water. Luckily we came past a temple where we would drink water.
There was a small water basin with running mountain water and little drinking cups. You are first to use the cups to rinse your hands before drinking. Lovely cool water, without the chlorine taste that the tap water in Nagasaki has. We conquered the three peaks of the Hiko-san, in one hike, a great experience, but our legs are beginning to protest. Before we set off for the last leg of the walk, there is first a toilet stop. Our legs protest again at the sight of the traditional toilet, hope this goes right....
The last hour we walk along the road which is a lot less strenguous. Hiko-san is a paradise for hikers, but still there are not a lot of hotels. Restaurants can be counted on half a hand and don't even go looking for a bar. We were lucky and found a shop, annex bar annex restaurant where we found the greatest icecream for sale in the whole world. Or maybe it was because we really needed it. After the ice cream, we got the car to move to another hotel again. The hotel doesn't look great at all, and we are surprised when we hear the high room rate. But we have no choice, all hotels are full.
We spent an hour in the communal bathroom, with a great shower and a relaxing bath fed by water from a hotspring. Unfortunately it is separate bathing, so we have the whole "onsen" just for ourself. After the bath ritual, they served us a kings meal in our hotel room. The room is devided in a Japanese room, with a low table on tatami mats. Behind the sliding wall a separate bedroom with "real" beds. Half the table is covered with small dishes with great looking food, which is not alwasy recognizable. It tastes great and we deserved it!
On Sunday we plan to go for another short walk, visit a sake brewery and go to a hotspring, but it all turns out very differently. The path we follow is not going in the right direction, so after a while we decide to turn back and find another path.
We hear drums and are curious what is happening, when we stumble on a small festival celebrating the "opening of the mountain". It is not very clear what this really means. It looks like a religious happening, they are singing mantras and there lots of bell ringing. There is a big fire and people are throwing small pieces of wood on which a Japanese text is written.
When all the wooden boards are in the fire, a music and dance show starts. It was great, in the Netherlands we once went to the theater for a show like this, now we sit in the grass and enjoy a great show (see the movie). After the show we go looking for the sake brewerey, which, according to the book, organizes daily tours. Maybe we are too late, or maybe the tours are not daily after all. Anyway, we stand in front of a closed door.
It is a nice area, so we decide to go for a short walk and come to a beautiful Japanese garden, very tranquil. Later we find the hotspring, but this one also has separate baths for men and women, so we leave it at that. It is time to go home, but we will surely visit this area again.
Saturday it's and early rise and shine, we're going hiking! The Lonely Planet Hiking Guide describes a 4 hour hike, rated "easy". This sounds right for us, but on the way we decide to change directions.
So much for an easy 4-hour hike, it took six hours and was far from easy. Some parts of the track you had to pull yourself up with the help of some chains, it was so steep.
The walk was not clearly marked, but luckily we saw other hikers who could point us in the right direction. There was a friendly Japanese guy who joined us on the last leg of the hike, so make sure we wouldn't get lost. Since the hike took longer than expected, we were almost out of water. Luckily we came past a temple where we would drink water.
There was a small water basin with running mountain water and little drinking cups. You are first to use the cups to rinse your hands before drinking. Lovely cool water, without the chlorine taste that the tap water in Nagasaki has. We conquered the three peaks of the Hiko-san, in one hike, a great experience, but our legs are beginning to protest. Before we set off for the last leg of the walk, there is first a toilet stop. Our legs protest again at the sight of the traditional toilet, hope this goes right....
The last hour we walk along the road which is a lot less strenguous. Hiko-san is a paradise for hikers, but still there are not a lot of hotels. Restaurants can be counted on half a hand and don't even go looking for a bar. We were lucky and found a shop, annex bar annex restaurant where we found the greatest icecream for sale in the whole world. Or maybe it was because we really needed it. After the ice cream, we got the car to move to another hotel again. The hotel doesn't look great at all, and we are surprised when we hear the high room rate. But we have no choice, all hotels are full.
We spent an hour in the communal bathroom, with a great shower and a relaxing bath fed by water from a hotspring. Unfortunately it is separate bathing, so we have the whole "onsen" just for ourself. After the bath ritual, they served us a kings meal in our hotel room. The room is devided in a Japanese room, with a low table on tatami mats. Behind the sliding wall a separate bedroom with "real" beds. Half the table is covered with small dishes with great looking food, which is not alwasy recognizable. It tastes great and we deserved it!
On Sunday we plan to go for another short walk, visit a sake brewery and go to a hotspring, but it all turns out very differently. The path we follow is not going in the right direction, so after a while we decide to turn back and find another path.
We hear drums and are curious what is happening, when we stumble on a small festival celebrating the "opening of the mountain". It is not very clear what this really means. It looks like a religious happening, they are singing mantras and there lots of bell ringing. There is a big fire and people are throwing small pieces of wood on which a Japanese text is written.
When all the wooden boards are in the fire, a music and dance show starts. It was great, in the Netherlands we once went to the theater for a show like this, now we sit in the grass and enjoy a great show (see the movie). After the show we go looking for the sake brewerey, which, according to the book, organizes daily tours. Maybe we are too late, or maybe the tours are not daily after all. Anyway, we stand in front of a closed door.
It is a nice area, so we decide to go for a short walk and come to a beautiful Japanese garden, very tranquil. Later we find the hotspring, but this one also has separate baths for men and women, so we leave it at that. It is time to go home, but we will surely visit this area again.