Japan 2016 week 2

This week I spend most of my time at a camp in takayama and kyoto.


Day 8th July 19th

 I spend this day at the super kamiaoke. This is a science centre where they observe certain neutrons. This is about the most that I understood. I liked it even though I am not really intrested in science.

In the aftternoon we had a traditional tea ceremony and we were able to do some flower arrangement. It was an afternoon filled with cultural activities.

 Day 9th July 20th

 

This day we got to visit Shirakawa ( if I spelled that right). This is a world herritage site in Japan with the old traditional houses and beautiful landscape. In the morning ceremony I even got to raise the Flag in the name of the lions club. At night I had to give a presentation about my home country. Overall it was a quite day except for the heat.

 

 

Day 10 July 21st

 

 

 The morning started of with some other presentation of countries. It was fun learning about some of the weird fact of countries. The rest of the day we spend playing some sports. I might have overdone it a bit since the next day I was even unable to carry my bag properly. In the evening we got a presentation about stars. We were supposed to do some star gazing outside but it was to cloudy, hence the presentation.

Day 11 July 22nd

 I think this was the day I was least looking forward to. We were told to bring trekking shoes for a bit of hiking in the mountains. Now in my opinion, I thought we weregoing to walk for a bit and rest at some beautiful spots. But boy was I wrong. I realised that the moment I got out the door and saw our hiking instructors in full sprts wear. Keep in mind I was wearing jeans, some timbelands and a long sleeved shirt. I did bring a vest in case it would get cold higher up in the mountain. After a long 30 minuts we took our first rest. At that point I was already out of breath since it was 30 degrees celcius. We were walking in the burning sun with no shade. The instructor told us that the rest of the route would be easier and with more shade. I had so much hope at that time. for the next hour and a half the instructors kept on walking without a break. It would have been fine if the path was as easy as they said it would be. In my opinion there was not really a path we could walk on. All I did was slide down mountains and praying I would not fall down the side of the mountain. Also it did not get any colder. As we were not taking any breaks I slowly started to get overheated. So at the halfway point where I saw another huge climb in front of me I decided to stop and go back. The view however was breathtaking.

Day 12 July 23rd

This was the day were left Takayama and went to Kyoto. it was a long trip but we got to take a break at the nagashima water resort. We spend a couple of hours in the pool.

Day 13 July 24th

We were in Kyoto. So of coursce you have to visit some of the temples. That is exactly what we did. We even got a meditation session with a monk that claimed to work with google. I realised I an not made to sit still for 20 minuts in an uncomfertable position while trying to keep your mind clear. It was an intresting experience.

Day 14 July 25th

I went to nara. Nara is famous for its deers. That was clear as we walked to the temple and were followed by a hurdle of deers. One of my companions was so scared that she nearly choked me. I must say I like deers but onlly from a distance.

I hope you enjoyed this post about Japan. Stay tuned for more.

See you next time,
Leonie