Gifu Rock City

Spent another good day off, considering the fact I got up three hours after I originally intended to. “What’s the first thing you did this morning?” asks the internet survey, Well I turned off my alarm, magnanimously gave myself another 15 minutes, and went back to sleep.

When I finally got up at 10, I threw in a load of laundry, made some peanut butter toast, forgot to call Kasey AGAIN, and grabbed my Lonely Planet to decide whether today would be Gifu or the beach. Gifu won, mostly because it has trees, and I’ve been meaning to go there since I got here. So I packed up my backpack with the Lonely Planet, a bottle of ice, my CD player, and Don Delillo’s “Underworld” to read. By 1:30pm I was on the train to Gifu.

I arrived around 2pm, got some maps from Visitor Information, went to Mr. Donuts to plan my trip and an iced coffee, walked out of the train station, and immediately walked 20 minutes in the wrong direction. Usually my sense of direction is impeccable, but apparently I failed to notice that the sun was on my right, which is not a good thing when you want to head northeast. I noticed my mistake when I realized that the mountain with the castle on top was behind me; and started back the way I came. But that little snafu gave me a chance to get in the wandering mood, and to finally get the sun in the right position.

Gifu is a wonderful city, about the size of Syracuse (population-wise), and very peaceful and friendly. By which I mean the locals don’t just stare at you, they say konnichi wa too. It’s famous for paper lanterns, sweets (candy), and cormorant fishing. Oh, and a castle that sits on top of a mountain that once guarded the area during the unification period, too.

So I walked towards Mount Kinka and the Castle, partially because I really wanted to see the city and partially because I still can’t read Japanese well enough to figure out whether or not there was a bus I could take to get there. But that ended up being okay: I got to see some really cool shops, get some great shots of the mountains, a beautiful set of shrines set back in a canyon, and Japan’s largest lacquered Buddha statue. I wandered more than walked the approximately 3 kilometers to Gifu Park, where the cable car to the top of Mt. Kinka starts, often stops made the trip take around 3 hours.

I chilled out in Gifu Park for a while, taking pictures, soaking in the tranquility of some beautifully cultured gardens and ponds, and soaking out more sweat than one person could possibly produce in a summer (Japan is such an amazing country, but for goodness sake, how can people live here?!?). But it was so nice to be able to sit in an actually green park, and just revel in natural beauty and peace. The sky started looking pretty grey after a while, so I went off to find the cable car to the top.

My round-trip pass on the “Ropeway” set me back 1050 yen (about $10), but I figured it would be worth not having to walk all the way up the mountain and then back down again an hour later. While I waited for the next car, the rain decided to stop holding off. And holding back, apparently: it poured to rival the flood for about fifteen minutes, thundered both on the roof and in the sky, and made me wonder if, by chance, anyone there knew a good way to get back to the station without getting washed away. But we still took the cable car up the mountain on schedule, through the rain, mist, wind, and air. While it only took about 3 minutes to get to the top, we ascended at better than a 45 degree angle, so it was quite a hike. And it was pouring and blowing, so an exciting hike. After getting to the top, I was treated to a complimentary umbrella to use while walking…on the top of the mountain in a thunderstorm; but it’s the thought that counts, right? The top of the mountain was amazing; the path literally followed the ridge between peaks, with steep drops on both sides – the military advantages of this place were definitely clear. You’d have to fight your way up a steep slope, through thick forest, to get to the castle and your foes. But right then I had two foes of my own, the rain and gravity, which really wanted me to fall flat on my face or fall face-first of the mountain. I managed to avoid both. I got to the actual Castle relatively dry and still in one piece, and paid the additional 200 yen ($2) to get inside. Since the original castle has been destroyed several times in “it’s” 800-year history, the inside isn’t quite the “medieval castle” that you’d expect; it’s actually a museum, with different artifacts from the various ages through which is stood. There’s also an observation deck around the top level, good for shooting arrows at advancing enemies or for watching the sky over Gifu get darker and rain clouds swoop in below you. I got some good shots of Gifu and the surrounding areas/mountains, but the few shots of the cable cars going up and down didn’t manage to turn out. The fact that I was being buffeted by wind at the time of taking may have something to do with it.

I stuck around on top of the castle long enough to attempt to take those photos, and then decided to head back towards to city and home. I got to the cable car “dock” (for lack of a better term) just in time to see the “attendant” (again, for lack of a better term) put up a sign outside the “stall” (you get it). I tried to ask, with a mixture of Japanese, English, and sign language, when the next car would be descending. He replied – in perfect Japanese – what I think was “There aren’t any more cars going down. There’s a thunder storm coming, and it’s being shut down.” Which was a wise move on their part, except for one thing: I’m still on TOP of the mountain. He is too. What’s the plan here? So I asked, in my multi-lingual format, if there is some sort of path down the mountain; to which he replied (I think), “Yes, follow that path there.” So I did.

Problem number two: it was now 6:30, the sun was setting, and it’s darkly cloudy. I was going to have to walk down I-don’t-know-how-far for I-don’t-know-how-long to get to I-don’t-know-where. Cool. More adventure. That could kill me. So I started down the path as quickly and safely as possible, thankful that at least I didn’t have to walk up the path. Eventually I got to a sign that indicated that, not only was I on the right path, but that I was about half-way down. So, armed with this promising bit of information, I continued heading down the mountain, still hoping to get to some sort of civilization before I had to resort to using my half-dead flashlight which is still stuck in my backpack – product of a moment of unknowing forethought. [Note to self: pick up AAA batteries on the way home from work tomorrow.]

I managed to make it all the way back down the mountain without becoming another victim, and also managed to find my way back to the street I’d come in on. I decided that I’d let bygones be bygones and not go back and ask for a 500Y refund on the unused half of my ticket, and instead just head back towards the station. The walk was quicker on the way back; partially because I actually knew where I was going, and partially because it was going to rain any second and I really didn’t want to get any wetter than I already was.

It did start raining on the way back, but only gently at first; holding out the heavier stuff until I was actually in the city and there were canopies to walk under. I got back to the station, bought some green tea and a ticket, and sat on the platform waiting for my train to come. While sitting there, getting my CD player out of my backpack, I discovered that the bottle of ice/water had melted quite a bit, and had sweated down into the bottom on the bag – and into my new copy of “Underworld”. Double dog damn. But I resorted everything out before the train arrived, and it’s doing quite well now, despite some pretty vicious war-wounds on the top, near the end of the book. Oh well.

So I got back to Nagoya, hardly had to wait for a subway at all, got home, turned down a party invitation from a friend, took a shower, made some dinner, and just about collapsed. I’m shattered. I’m going to bed. The good news is, it’s cooler tonight than it’s been in about forever; which is still…82 degrees F. Go figure; it’s all relative here. =)

G’night all,
Thom

PS - Pictures forthcoming - still need to download 'em!

PPS - Oh yeah, and I had TOEIC/TOEFL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) training yesterday. Training was a joke; I didn't get it, and I wouldn't repeat it even if I had.