Nakasendo Trail - Part 3 ...and into Tokyo

 Tyler Reporting:

(The final installment detailing our 3-week to trip to South Korea and Japan. In this entry, I'm back to my Morning Pages.)

Day 18 - Sooo many days apart. The last entry appears to be Miyajima which was roughly 2/3rd the way though our trip. Still, I'm pretty sure this is the longest break in doing Morning Pages since I started doing them. So, it's a bit weird coming back to them. Still, no guilt! No worrying I "broke the rules."

Where that left off, we were on the fourth day of the Nakasendo trail hike. It's been successful so far, and we had caught a train to some resort town (Editor's note: Karnizawa), after spending the day in Matsumoto. I'm not sure I summarized that, but... (Editor's Note: I had, so let's skip ahead a bit in this entry.)  ...but we go to the resort town (Ed. Again: Karnizawa).

To be clear, this is a Japanese resort town, not a Western one, so it definitely had a different vibe. For one thing, the Shrine outside of town is purportedly good luck for both people looking to get married, and for pets. So, there's lot of bridal shops... and people walking their dogs.

The next morning, we have a taxi called to the hotel and it took us up to the shrine in question, which also featured a sacred 1000-year-old tree. 

The 1000-year-old tree that served as the spiritual center point for the Shrine where our last days hiking set off.

In addition to pets and people seeking marriage, this shrine seemed to be a sort of one-stop shop for all sorts of good luck. Here's a shrine for people hoping for the National Football Team ("the Ravens") to do well.

The trail departed from the just beyond the shrine and was much rougher than the previous sections. Just a lot of muddly winding downward. Then passing through want could be called a ghost town, with abandoned bus, hotel and other buildings. 

This was pretty representative of our hiking trails the last day. Steeper, muddier and often rutted by a small backhoe that was being used for trail maintenance.

The abandoned bus and a hotel sign, just some of the relics in this previously abandoned outpost of civilization.

Then! Leeches! First Otto had a mysterious bleeding sport on his leg. Then Stella noticed one on her sandal! This led to us downloading off the mountain as quick as possible, but not before Stella discovered a couple more on her, I found a pair on my shoes and Sarah ended up having 3 in the toe of her shoe, when we reached a bus stop to regroup.

Bandaging Otto's "mysterious" injury. Wiping the blood away, it turned out to be just a tiny pinprick, but it would. Not. Stop. Bleeding. 

After we realized there were leeches in the area, certain members of our party were understandably creeped out, so we double timed it to a road and bus stop we knew was ahead. But still passed a number of neat sites.

At the bus stop, we made a check to see if we had more leeches on us. Which we did. Including this fella I had to fish out of Sarah's shoe.

After that, it was just a little farther, first through a tunnel, and then down a long, abandoned train track to a tiny train station where we boarded out train headed to Tokyo. But I think we were all happy to be going to the city.

This tunnel, which was part of an abandoned train track, was pretty cool, and helped put a little physical (and emotional) distance between us and Leech Land.  

While it was fun to travel with friends, it is nice to have Stella and Otto get to spend time together. Probably commiserating about their insane parents who drag them into the forests of Japan.

Mission accomplished! This gate marked the end of our hiking the Nakasendo.

That said, Tokyo was still a punch to the face. We are staying in Shinjuku, a neighborhood that seems to be a 7-day-a-week party. Just making Vegas seem like it's slacking big time. If it was just Sarah and I, or me and some buddies, it would possibly be a good time, but less so with the kids. 

Welcome to Tokyo! Shinjuku Station, where we got off to find our hotel, is recognized as the busiest train station complex in the world, with 3.6 million people passing through it *each day.*

Day 19 - The start of the day was Harajuku Street for cotton candy and crowds. Then the aquarium. I was a bit dubious. We've been to a lot of aquariums: Seattle, Dallas, Chicago, Cape Town, Lisbon, now Tokyo... possibly more. I wasn't sure if it was a tradition I was 100% behind, but it was something to do with the kids. And, in the end, it was a fun time. Maybe, like burgers and Italian food, it's fun to see the little differences. 

Otto has a history with oversized cotton candy, so this was a must-do on super-busy, super-hot Harajuku Street.

Obligatory artsy jellyfish picture, at the aquarium.

Actually, this might be my favorite picture from the trip. Stella looking up at an aquarium bowl suspended above her.

Located on the top of a shopping mall, naturally, the aquarium had a number of sort of surreal visuals, like the penguin exhibit where you could see the city behind them.

Bubble Waffles! Lots of people, but no shortage for fun food for everyone!

Since it was located above a mall, we had a chance to go by this One-Piece store. Can you tell Otto likes One Piece? There was also basically an entire floor dedicated to Pokemon, which we spent a good amount of time wandering through.

Then for dinner, Stella, Sarah and I did a tonkatsu restaurant in an underground mall, and then went and saw a projected light show on the side of the Shinjuku Municipal Building. It was a pretty great show, even if Sarah felt like she was having a nervous breakdown coming home, as we tried to navigate Shinjuku Station's underground alleys and the perma-Vegas crowds.

The Municipal Building projected light show. It started with a life-sized Godzilla animation, which was fun. But the second halves more surrealist show was more visually beautiful, if harder to photograph properly. 

Shinjuku! Can't stop, won't stop!

Day 20 - Today was Sarah and I's Anniversary and our last full day of the trip. Otto decided to stay in, while Sarah, Stella and I went to a garden on what felt like the far side of Tokyo. (An hour-long train and bus ride.) I think the tranquility of the garden helped Sarah right her ship a little after the previous night. 

Photographing the photographers, and the small, but beautiful (and thankfully peaceful) garden.

Stella and Sarah pose on a bridge in the garden, behind them towers the SkyTree. Our next destination.

Then we tried to go to the Tokyo SkyTree, but couldn't get tickets for a reasonable hour, so we just sat under it and had some beers and food before heading back to the hotel. 

At the base of the SkyTree. At 634 meeters, it's the tallest tower in the world, and the third tallest structure. Sadly, we couldn't go up in it, but I snapped this vertical panorama which broke perspective.

Then we basically dropped Stella off and picked up Otto for a fancy sushi dinner, to celebrate our Anniversary and the end of the trip. It was... fine. I tihnk the sushi at the Miyajima spot spoiled us a bit, since it was so excellent, and this felt a bit like they were going through the motions. Still, not the worst end to the trip. 

Now we are back in our hotel room that is so small it feels like it's made of beds. The kids are looking at screens, while Sarah and I have our last Japanese beers, and I catch up on my "Morning" Pages at 8:30pm. 

I feel like it's been a good trip. I feel like it's left me with a lot to think about and unpack, and also helped refill me a bit to help dive back into routine life when we get home. There are things that feel like Chapter Ends, and things that feel like Book Ends. This feels like both. On to the Two Towers, figuratively speaking. 

As always (even when headed home) onward!

One last view of Tokyo's endless sprawl, as we fly back home, via a layover in South Korea.