Unsurprisingly
we were hung over. We’d been invited out to sing karaoke the night
before and suddenly it was one in the morning and we were stumbling
home. Now don’t get me wrong, we haven’t been out partying every
weekend or anything, far from it. Nevertheless it seems that whenever
we make grand plans for Sunday we invariably start the day somewhere
between groggy and just plain destroyed. Today was no exception and
it was a serious force of will to crawl out of the apartment at
11:00am, some three hours later than intended. Just for fun, because
we all know it’s a blast, there was a howling gale as well; a head
wind of course and we were cycling.
Despite
all this about an hour or two into the ride the worst of the hang
over had faded and we began to enjoy ourselves. We were still in the
city limits but there is something liberating about getting on the
bike and getting out of town. Even with the head wind, the hang over
and a minor, um, detour due to navigational issues, we were already
both smiling by the time we hit the country side and it just got
better from there.
Though
it took us almost half the journey to find, there is a bike track
that winds through the Kushiro marshlands and up into the hills of
Akan. On any given Sunday, if the weather isn’t as bad as it was
that day, you can find many walkers, joggers and cyclers meandering
along the path. I’m not sure if it’s the
Sunday, the activity of cycling or just getting out of town but every
time we head outside the city limits people seem to be so much
friendlier. Almost every passerby waves amicably, meets your gaze and
let’s out an enthusiastic “konichiwa”. Though this greeting is
far from unheard of in the city it does tend to be more often than
not a mumbled response seemingly given almost grudgingly and rarely
accompanied by eye contact. Though we didn’t pass many people on
this particular day we nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed the ride. We
wound through the marsh, over streams and finally met up with and
criss-crossed along the length of a river. As we passed out of the
marshlands the landscape gave way to green forest of oaks, pipe and
the odd splash of the glorious autumn sycamore. The season this year
had been unusually warm so the autumn foliage was far from its usual
brilliance but for an Australian from the land of the evergreens it
was still captivating.
We
got into town at almost 4pm. In the end, despite all our hiccups, it
was perfect timing as sunset at this time of year is about 4:30. We
stopped for a quick bite at a very famous local spot. It’s well
renowned throughout Japan and serves both local products and a
smattering of international offerings. We ate some warm Oni Giri
(rice wrapped in sea weed) and French fries. You may have heard of
the place actually, it’s called 7/11…I’m so hilarious.
Seriously though it was too late for lunch at a Ramen shop and we
still had a couple of kilometers to go before we would reach the
hotel so it was quick convenience store food.
The
hotel is opposite the Akan International Tancho center. Tancho’s
are the Red Cranes that are very famous here. I’ve mentioned them
before but they stand about 1.5meters tall have a bold patch on the
top of their heads that is bright red. In winter some two or three
hundred cranes visit the area behind the center. We didn’t go
through it this time though as there are no cranes there and little
wildlife but we will be back in winter for sure. The hotel, though
quite large and rather modern, still retains many of the more
traditional aspects of Japanese culture. The room is a simple square
10 tatami mats in size. A tatami mat is a reed mat 90 *180cm in size.
These appeared to be some form of non synthetic material but I
couldn’t be sure if they were reeds or not. In the center of the
room is a low table surrounded by four cushions. There is hot and
cold water in thermoses on the table along with a simple container
holding tea, cups, bowls and chopsticks. On the wall are Yukatas
which are simple summer robes with ties and folded beneath them are
towels. A very small fridge sits in the corner with the TV both
looking rather out of place. All the doors and windows are simple
sliding doors but very functional. In a large cupboard on the
Northern wall there are enough futons and bedding to sleep four
people comfortably even in winter. The bathrooms and Onsen (natural
hot springs) are both shared. There are two Onsens in the hotel, one
on the ground floor and one on the second. The ground floor Onsen is
open to the public and seems to get a lot more business than the
hotel itself but the upstairs bath is significantly smaller but only
for residents at the hotel. Both being a little shy, we were a little
uncomfortable about the idea of a Japanese Onsen. Now I am sure you
are all aware but a Japanese style Onsen is just like a large hot
spring where people come to relax, similar to Australia, but
completely naked. You walk into a little changing room, no cubicle or
anything just a shared space, strip down to nothing, fold your
clothes into a small shelf provided, with your towel, and wander in,
starkers, with who ever else happens to be there. Admittedly they do
have separate male and female baths, so it doesn’t get THAT weird
but it was still a very daunting task for me. We were brave though,
donned our yukatas and entered the Onsen…and, as it turned out,
there was no one else in there so I had a huge bath in gorgeously
relaxing mineral water. I’m still keen to try the outdoor hot
springs in winter up in Akan so one way or another I will have to
challenge my shyness but I can say that my first experience in a
Japanese hot spring was absolutely delightful and incredibly
relaxing.
The
restaurant was fantastic too. We ate huge amounts of delicious
Japanese food and it wasn’t very expensive at all (for Japan).
After dinner we collapsed into incredibly comfortable beds that had
mysteriously been made while we were eating and slept like logs. The
first thing we did when we got back home was to dismantle our bed and
almost double our living space.
The
next day, after a delicious and filling breakfast that came with the
room, we headed into town. It’s a little difficult to describe the
town of Akan. It is not very popular as a tourist destination and it
doesn’t boast any outstanding features so to speak. There’s a
beautiful river on the edge of town and it is surrounded by forested
mountains. There’s a wood mill, a few little restaurants and a high
school. The town was quiet on Monday. The streets clean but not
empty. We passed a few locals here and there but nothing that jumps
out at you and says WOW look at me! Nevertheless both Diana and I
found ourselves feeling a deep affinity for the town. We even went as
far as to send a quick query to our friend that lived here to enquire
about how he got the job. I can’t really put my finger on why but
the town was delightfully tranquil and left us in a very peaceful
state of mind when we finally decided to hit the road.
The
way home, though somehow with a head wind again, was much smoother
and very relaxing. We got some great shots of interesting sights,
Diana didn’t let me up the trail that said something about a bear
in red, so we made great time. We got home, rearranged the house, ate
food, watched some Japanese anime and slept like angels. It was a
fantastic weekend.
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