Alessandro
10_
Last day of the work camp. The 10th day was special because we could go and see all the different artworks of the festival, that day it was the opening of the festival itself. We had some free tickets, but it was impossible to see all the art pieces (that were spread in the region), and we knew we wanted to spend our last day in the Rainbow Hut. We gave them away, and I felt so good for that. The opening was held in Kinare museum, it was so full of people. We went to see the exhibition there, that was quite small, but really interesting. After some time Rick, his girlfriend and Tsuneo came and picked us up. We drove for almost 20 km, and we were 8 in a car. So, it wasn’t a comfortable trip. When we got off of the car, without even knowing what was happening, a man offered us some miso soup and a piece of watermelon. Nice. We ate the food and then we got in a van. We were headed to the river’s springs. There the people from the local village (I don’t know the name) had organized the “Running Noodles Festival”. Basically they built a track connecting bamboo pieces. Spring water ran on the track and a man had to throw some noodles there. We were sitting nearby and we had to catch the noodles that ran down the track and eat them. It was fun and refreshing. After we all finished eating noodles we went back to the Rainbow Hut. We stayed there a bit, listened to Tsuneo’s music and ate ice cream (that day we ate a lot). We even tried to swim in the artificial lake as usual, but the men from the festival screamed at us that it was dangerous… The swim was over. At 3 p.m. we packed our things and went to the main road. Hitchiking in Japan is quite easy, at least for us. A woman stopped by after just 10 minutes and brought us to Tokamachi. There we had to wait till 6.30 p.m., time when the bus would leave. We relaxed in a small square there and we said bye. We would see each oters in Tokyo but it was still sad to leave the group. Flavia and me went to the station anxious and happy for the next part of the holiday.
El día en que me fui a Islandia nunca podía imaginarme todas las experiencias que viviría después de ese viaje conectadas con el. El echo es que ahí conocí una familia Madrileña muy, pero muy amable . Nosotros (yo y mi amigo Danilo) estabamos haciendo dedo en la carretera y después de unas horas de espera, cuando ya estabamos casi sín esperanza de que alguién se parara, vimos una auto caravana acercarce. Eran ellos. Ese fue el comienzo de otras fantásticas aventuras que me llevaron antes a Madrid y después a la Mancha. Estuve dos veces en España, y las dos veces me enamoré de ese país. Ponele que sea por su semejanza con Argentina, o por lo bién que la pasé, lo que sí es que voy a volver al menos un millión de veces más.
1 DAY IN 日本
17_
Our last day, or, better, our last half day. We packed our things, left our room and took the bus. We wanted to see some other temples we missed the other days but… We took the wrong bus. We got off almost outside the city, in the northern part. At the beginning I was angry, then I thought that it could be a chance to see new things, different places. We found a temple close to the bus stop. It was weird because there were only Japanese, and almost no tourists. It was one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Japan, a big, red temple. We walked around the place, there was a park and different buildings. We paid the ticket and went inside. There was a tour guide but he only spoke Japanese so Flavia and me decided to stay on our own and we walked around the complex. It’s an important place, but everything is written in Japanese and I still think that the people there were looking at us in a strange way. The best thing was that two marriages were taking place, traditional marriages. The bride and the groom wore colorful kimonos and they had to move in a precise way. I liked the ceremony, even though a big part was held inside a building. Before going back to the hotel and pick up our luggage we got in a building near the temple thinking that it was a public space. It wasn’t. While I was inside I felt like if I was in a Japanese old movie, one with ancient emperors and ninjas. That one was the last temple we visited and also the last interesting thing we did that day. Apart from that temple we went to a shop and took the bus to Osaka’s airport. Our trip had come to an end. Did I like it? Yes, but not everything. I loved the places, I loved to see so many different things, I loved the spirituality and I loved that I could realize how a big metropolis works (more or less). I didn’t like the food ( I thought it was more diverse) and I didn’t like Japanese culture ( or probably I didn’t understand it). When I came back to Rome I found out that this trip has been so important for me. I lived one week with Japanese people, I saw the modern part of Japan in Tokyo, and the traditional one in Kyoto. I learned a ton of new things, things that you can understand only when you compare western and eastern culture. There are also many elements that i miss, and that’s why I really want to go back and fill those blank spaces.
2 DAYS IN 日本
16_
Last day for us, and another day full of temples and zen gardens. The 16th day we visited 4 temples (that’s a lot). I can’t think of all the names so I will just describe them as I can. First temple: the golden pagoda. It’s a golden temple built in the middle of a lake. It’s nice but you can only see it from outside. 2nd temple: important for its zen garden. I kind of liked it but I preferred Kyomizu Dera. It’s a temple complex with a big zen garden that has 12 rocks and sand. There’s also a lake and some plants around it. 3rd temple: a very big one. We got there at 12 and we were starving so we saw it from outside. After the run to see as many temples as we could we had dinner in a Japanese fast food. It’s probably healthier than Mc Donald’s and also faster. You sit in a table, ask for your dish ( as in a normal restaurant) and after 2–3 minutes they bring it to you. The water and sauces are free and (of course) you can only eat Japanese dishes, there’s no cheeseburger. After lunch we went to the best place of the day (and one of the best in Kyoto). The Fushimi-Inari Sanctuary. It’s the most famous attraction in Kyoto and it’s known for its torii built in a row. the sanctuary was built to worship the fox God, that’s the God for the harvest and it’s beautiful. We walked for almost 2 hours in a path built under the torii, (the typical red doors usually built in front of a temple. Wow! What a place! You can hike and follow the path to the top of the hill, or you can choose to go left or right and see other parts of the sanctuary less crowded. We did both. Almost at the beginning of the track there was a small road on the left that led to Fushimi Inari castle. I wanted to see what was there and I didn’t regret that. We found a real, big and green bamboo forest. These are the factors that made me love it: no tourists, the sun was setting down, birds were singing and of course…. it’s a bamboo forest! We walked there for a bit, took some pictures and went back to the main road. It was quite late and it was getting dark but I think that’s the time to visit the sanctuary because tourist are going away. After 1 hour we made to the top. It’s exactly the same as the other parts of the place, there are altars, foxes and candles. The best part was on the way down, because candles had been lit and it was so picturesque ( and a bit scary). After that we had dinner and bought something in a supermarket.
3 DAYS IN 日本
15_
Second day in Kyoto and many things to see. Our schedule was really full and these were the last days of our journey. Almost all my energies had left me, but I was also very curios to discover the city, and the traditional face of Japan. Our first destiny was Kiyomizu-dera temple. The complex was on a hill, and it turned out to be quite hard to climb that hill because of the heat and humidity. Eventually we reached the top and it was worth the effort. The buildings were shining in bright red colors and you could see all the city from there. There was a massive pagoda that stood in the middle of the area and other smaller buildings (I don’t know how do they use them). We entered one of those buildings, that was the womb of Buddha’s mother. We took off our shoes and we went down some stairs. While we were going down it got darker and darker and at the bottom It was completely black. There we started to walk holding a rope that guided us to a mystic rock. It was weird because the rock was lit by a small light coming from a hole in the roof but all around that rock it was dark. I liked the “experience”. At that point we had to see the main temple. It was built over the ground, at the same level of the trees and it was beautiful. The landscape was terrific as well. We spent 2 hours visiting all the complex and then we walked around the center of the city. No cars, small streets and many tourists dressed with a kimono. In the afternoon we went to a sanctuary for the soldiers who died in the 2nd world war and to another temple. The temple was ok, it had a nice zen garden and I saw for the first time in Japan a bamboo “forest” there(it was a bunch of trees). The evening was the time I enjoyed the most, because we moved to Gion area: the neighborhood where you can find geishas. The light of the sun was perfect and we decided to wait a bit and hope to see a geisha. They are very reserved and rarely go outside. When they do, they walk quickly from a building to another one. That day we were lucky. When we saw the first geisha we started to run behind her and tried to take a picture ( it was difficult with the backpacks and sweated shirts). I couldn’t take a decent picture but while I was looking at the camera’s screen Another geisha came out of a building. I had so much fun running behind geishas that evening. After 1 our more or less we went to a terrible and expensive restaurant and we ended the day waiting for the meals.
