Odai to Furosato

Now registered pests on the Kisei train line, we started today with the 7.42am to
Ouchiyama. Very culturally immature of you to laugh at that, we didn't. Another mix of road walking and mountain passes, and entering the first of the latter James saw what we now think was a deer, but freaked us out enough to applaud feverishly in lieu of bells for the duration. After about a kilometre and a half, we hadn't seen any of the markers, or the lookout, and the elevation was wrong, and yes sure enough we're not on the mountain pass we're on a random logging trail. Red hands and sheepish, we emerged back onto the highway to see the actual pass a bit further on.

A chain hung across the entrance with a printed sign indicating a bear had been seen a few weeks ago and to be very careful. The map suggested this pass is bisected by a road, and so we power walked, clapping our sweaty palms, to a clearing where the highway entered a completely unsafe for pedestrians tunnel, and the pass continued, festooned with warnings about bears and encouragement to cancelling hikes if unsure.

Stuck between a hypothetical bear and a tangible tunnel, we consulted the timetable and found there was a train at the station we'd passed earlier that would let us jump this nonsense. It was 33 minutes walk away and the train was going to depart in 33 minutes. The next one was in three hours. We literally ran back through the first bit of the pass, me shouting lists of what I had in my pantry as an alternative noise, and made it with seven minutes to spare.

Between the bears wondering why I'm going on about paprika and the train conductors sick of the sight of us, we are really ingratiating ourselves in the region. Heebie jeebies had set in for the day and the next pass we got to, we flat refused and diverted via a country back street instead, playing music this time, on the recommendation of a guy we'd met at the chemist.

This worked well for a bit. I wonder if I should write to Bon Iver and tell him his song From was the soundtrack to (thankfully only) two pairs of feet running frantically down a tunnel, mobile phone torches bouncing small beams around the wet darkness.Læs mere