This time we take the bus we find we are immediately in the
mountains – no pastures and paddy fields this time. The forest is very green
with the usual trees as we travel the alpine route to the Tateyama and Kurobe Mountains.
The cable car is just that, riding on rails and pulled by cables. It
takes a long seven minutes to go up the steep gradient. I’m glad they have a
cable car! This is also used by skiers accessing the 2400m high mountains’ ski
slopes. Back on the bus to continue our
ascent; cars are banned except for service vehicles, to preserve the
environment here. After more winding
roads we immerge in a highland plateau area with stunted trees and apparently
some picturesque wildflowers over the brief summer season - not prolific blooms for us yet. We did see some one-day
lilies, a lone rhododendron, and some
other flowering shrubs which look familiar but whose names escape me .
Eventually we near the end of the road and here we go through walls of snow.
They are only 5 metres high now but in the season reach over 25 metres high.
With a temperature of minus 30C in the winter the roads and mountain are
closed. There are no ski tows for skiers either. It’s a tramp up the hillsides
but it seems you could have a long ski down as the slopes are long and wide.
There are two more large buildings; one on the summit and one on the saddle
between two mountains. While we were there a helicopter was taking food and
supplies in nets hanging below, to those buildings. The road usually opens in
April when the snow ploughs can clear the road again. The snow will have
completely disappeared from the snow walls by the end of July only to start
building up again with snow falls in the end of September.
We crunched over snow to the various points of interest. Not
too far – it was quite unsteady underfoot not to mention wet and cold, although
I managed to get sunburned. It was like walking on sorbet!! My favourite sight
was a lake, partially frozen over or thawed to be more precise, in various
shades of turquoise and with “icebergs” floating in it – gorgeous.
This mountain is climbed by young boys in the area, as a rite
of passage, when they are about 16 years old. There are slim paths paved with
what looks like metal plates, with steps and rope fencing here and there on the
lowland area but nothing visible higher up – apparently the last ascent takes
about two hours for a fit young man as opposed to us unfit oldies – we wont try
it!
We had a Japanese “lunch box” in the most gorgeously
decorated shiny box; our rice with, various flavourings and various pickles, in
their own little compartments, along with raw salmon, other fish (?) and other
stuff; chop sticks, a spoon and a little towelette taped inside the lid.
After lunch and our walkabout – back on the bus and back the
way we came. Another two hours of torture as you crave sleep, jerk awake, and
try to follow the constant information given by the guide. He was very interesting,
and he made some headway in trying to teach us to count to ten, some
Chinese/Japanese characters that have the same meaning, and some characters
that have different and more sinister meanings. So that trip was from 7am – 3pm.
I love to get out of the cities and see what life I can but this is getting
very tiring. Complain, complain – poor us!! The last of the three cruises WILL
BE more cruisy!!!!????
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