Shuzen-ji

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I arrive in Shuzen-ji in Yogis surf van. Yogi has some time before he meets his girlfriend in Ohito (10 minutes from Shuzen-ji) so he asks if I will join him in sightseeing (he has never done it in Shuzen-ji). He and I walk the city in a little over an hour. We are both bummed to find the main temple is under repair and thus closed but the Chikurin no Komichi is open (a path along tall bamboo trees).

Yogi is nice enough to drive me to the Youth Hostel which is 1.6km from town. Im sad to find out that the entire 1.6km is uphill. Then there is an additional 300m of hill and drive way to get to the hostel. Im sooooo glad yogi gave me a ride so I did not have to walk the hill with my large pack.

I did however have to walk up the 1.9km of hill after I did more sightseeing in town after Yogi left. My sightseeing included a stop at the Hakoyu, a new onsen (built in 2000) built with fragrant cypress. Ahhh, I love onsens! I was joined in the onsen by a jolly Japanesse man who kept motioning for me to peak over the wall to look at his wife on the other side.

I tried to hitchhike up the hill, but as my friend Yogi pointed out, Japan is not a culture for hitchhiking. The drivers look at you as they whiz by and even sometimes smile.

I spent the evening at the hostel which, although it holds over 140 people, I was the ONLY ONE! King of the Castle in Shuzen-ji.

In the morning I will catch the train to Takayama.

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Photos

Tall Trees of Shuzen-ji
It is good fortune to walk between these tall trees

Hakoyu Onsen
Soooo goood, sooo relaxing.

Waiting for the bus
Down the hill a bit from the Hostel, I wait for the bus to the train station.

Eating noodles in Shimoda
I forgot to post this one in the Shimoda blog so I posted it here.