Living | DFAXXX

I went to Nikko yesterday. Everyone goes ape for the leaves.
Monster excursion: 6 hours on the train / 6 hours walking around…

Standard Nikko style. It was a cool town, like a Kamakura in the mountains.

This little joint was sick. I’m not sure if I was allowed/meant to be there though…

Because this was behind it.

This bridge is super-famous, top 3 in Japan or something ridiculous like that.
The water in the river was so clear and had a delicious blue hue to it,
if it had been summer rubbin’ I would have dunked my balls for sure.

It was a totally overcast dull day. I imagine on a sunny day
it would look like the trees were on fire.

I missed out on the ultimate tourist attraction of Nikko though,
the elaborate Toshugu shrine. I got there 20 mins late – at 3:50pm!
Can’t sleep on that shit.

So, I started walking up the main road out of town.
Took a gander at some Bosnia-style flats on a side road, then ended up
wandering up a single-lane road that lead into the mountains and a water fall.
Imagine this being your work carpark…

I decided to bush-bash through the woods until I found the waterfall (2km).
But I hit this spot and couldn’t be fucked anymore.

The road was straight out of Goosebumps, the light fading and the woods
either side growing blacker, me getting more stoked with each step.
It was a fucking hike though, super-steep in a couple of sections.
Eventually got to the carpark and followed what appeared to be a track in the dark.
Dope…

It did cross my mind, momentarily, that what I was doing could be
considered slightly dangerous by some. No phone reception, no torch,
on a cold autumn night in the mountains with inadequate clothing,
a km from the nearest house, without informing anyone of my whereabouts,
no knowledge of the wildlife or weather forecast, hanging from a tree on the
moss-covered edge of a 5m drop beside a waterfall, in the dark, taking photos.

Feeling that I hadn’t pushed my luck enough, I went and scrambled
into the middle of the river to take this photo, that didn’t work.
Lone-wolf lunatic, baptised in the river (aaoooo)…

It was a full moon after all…

I liked this bridge more on the way back.

Dropped in on this place after my adventures into the wild…

The BEST tempura I’ve eaten in Japan (sorry Yoko, you’re number 2).

This little restaurant was wild, spanish/english/japanese OK.
Mum and daughter style operation, mega old-school.
And shit covering the walls and roof from gaijin’s that ate there.
There were a few reminders of home, but I didn’t leave my mark.

Needless to say, the 3 hour train trip home was excruciating.
Although, having only paid ¥390 for the entire journey did ease my suffering
When I arrived at Shibuya, my bike was gone, vanished without a trace.
I went to the cops and they informed me that it got impounded (I hoped).
Yoko rang them this morning and I went and picked it up.
¥2000 later, I know not to park my bike for an extended time near the station.

It is also Oli’s 30th birthday today. Happy Birsssday!