Ashigakubo

A hike to Mt. Hinata with Nik took us all the way to Yokoze in Ashigakubo. A sweltering sunny day, it was quite brutal from the get-go. I'm glad we brought umbrellas for this hike. We saw the cool statue over Genjuin Betsuin, an extra side quest before we began a short but difficult hike that had us puffing and heaving due to the humidity. We had to take frequent breaks and hide under the shadows of trees. The fact that there was no wind was not helping much at all. In the end, we got to the summit for a quick photobreak and a snack before beginning our much easier descent.

We made a visit to the Terasaka Rice Terraces as well which was a little treat I saved at the end of the hike. The farmers were hard at work despite the heat, with plenty of tadpoles swimming around the rice flats. We finished the day over at Chichibu where we got some good soba before deciding to call it a day.Read more