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Published: July 21st 2008
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fog 18 secs
I finally made it to Zao-san! Zao is one of the top national parks in Tohoku and I am so glad that I got there!
Zao-san is a sleeping volcano that has a beautiful crater lake that is said to have 5 different colors. The Japanese characters mean "5 color lake" I believe. The easiest way to get there is by car because the buses that run from Sendai and Yamagata Station run on an odd schedule and only stay for an hour (in the case of the bus from Sendai. With a car you can stay or move on up the mountain as you please. My co-worker made a friend at the International Center and after we met yesterday we made plans to drive out to Zao-san. It takes about a hour and a half to get there from Sendai. We based by fields, pear orchards, peach orchards, and many small farmers stalls along the side of the road. The whole ride was with the misty rain that came with fog. I was hoping that we would be able to see Okama, the lake, when we got there!
After we turned into the park we started heading up
this winding road that didn't seem to end. All that back and forth motions started making me a little car sick. The whole ride was like driving in a cloud. We crossed a bridge and we couldn't see anything below us because the fog was so thick! It continued like that until we got to the first little stop along the main road up. The first stop was out first clear view since we had gotten into the park; which really means that we were above most of the cloud cover and the rain. It was actually a bit sunny and had me reaching for sunglasses that I didn't bring with me. Then it would get all foggy again and we couldn't see anything! It was patience game on Zao because it would clear for a few moments and then would go back to thick fog sliding around the mountains.
After a quick snack and a bit of sitting around we headed back to the car and continued up to Okama, the crater lake. Back in the car it started to get foggy again and it was rather scary with all the other cars that were coming back down
the mountain. You have to pay to get into the park park, 520 yen, and then you have all the time you want to go around the lake and go through the hiking trails that surround it. There is a building with a restaurant, gift shop, and more ice cream for your pleasure after or during your time at the top.
The Okama is absolutely beautiful. It is an emerald green color and sits dramatically on top of Zao-san. We we first got there I thought that the cloud cover was going to be too heavy and we would be waiting for it. Lucky for us, it was clear when we got there. I kinda raced down to the fence to get a picture and to enjoy the view before it was covered over by clouds again. There are many hiking trails so we did a little walking to get another beautiful view of the crater. The fog was blowing through so fast that I have videos of how fast the wind is moving the fog into and around the crater. There is a shrine there as well so we all went and prayed and paid our respects and
I got a fortune. A really good fortune.
We got a late lunch on our way back at Tamago-ya (Egg store); which was delicious, and had a brief trip to The Mall (thats the name) and came back to Sendai. All in all an amazing trip and a top place to see in Yamagata.
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LebdaWhen
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Fog indeed
Your pictues are great - reminds me of the fog in SanFrancisco, now you see it - now you don't. But the scariest part of all was that crazy winding road Dad insisted on driving at 70 MPH. Can't wait to read the next blog. LebdaWhen