From Uozu, I took a local train to Toyama. The coach was filled with school students who were amused and eager to ask me questions about my origins and travel. I got down at Toyama; this place looked more urban with trams
and fountains in the sidewalks. I may be biased but the people here were not as friendly as in Uozu. Requests to take a photograph of me were turned down with suspicion. I had to setup the camera on pedestals on the sidewalk to help myself.
I walked to the hotel which was a few blocks away and cursed the drizzle. My plans to cross the Japanese Alps would go awry with bad weather. After checking in and bath, I thought of chasing the sunset again. The lady in the hotel lobby was not efficient to give me instructions on how to reach the seaside. I walked out hoping to follow the sun anyway, although I was losing time. I walked a few blocks towards the sun when I reached a bridge. I stood on the riverside clicking photographs of the sunset
and of the birds roosting
on an island in the river. As the sun dipped out of view, I noticed a boy getting his bicycle mended in a shop. I approached the shop and enquired about Kito-kito market (That name had propped up on top of the "most visited" places by tourists at Toyama). The shop owner couldn't help but the boy tapped his mobile and located it for me. I introduced myself and he offered to accompany me to kito-kito market as it was close to his house as the maps read. “Two kilometres” he said and we walked. He spoke good English and was curious to know about India. When I told him that the average temperature of the place where I came from is 28 degree Celsius, he exclaimed “How do you live there?” He said he has experienced close to 20 degrees and that Toyama receives snowfall during winter. I asked him about the Japanese alps and the alpine route. He told me that his dad was a police officer and his grandmother lived in Murodo on the Alpine route. He said he liked the older trams for their sound although many of his friends liked the new sleek jet-black ones. We could have walked for 2hours when he paused and told me that this is where I turn off to my house. He led me to a shop close by and asked the lady about kito-kito market. She craned her neck out and looked at me puzzled. She asked the boy something and he came and asked me “What do you want to buy at Kito-kito market at this hour? Fish??” I started to wonder whether it was the local fish market and we had a good laugh. We shook hands and parted ways. I walked back to the hotel after a curry-rice meal at Oshinoya’s.
31st October 2013: Sounding the Alpine route
I woke up to a rainy morning; as I parted the drapes I noticed a lady picking up pieces of paper and debris on the street and placing them in a bag. I went down for breakfast and wishfully watched the rains to clear. And it worked! The rains cleared and the bright sun was out. I hurriedly packed my backpack and headed for the station. Took a ticket from Dentetsu-Toyama station
to Tateyama and travelled by the two car Toyama Chiho railroad.
The landscape was similar to the Uozu-Unazuki route. At Tateyama I enquired about transport to Shomyo falls and I was directed to a bus waiting outside. I queried the driver “Shomyo falls?” and he said “Aie”.
I boarded the bus as the sole passenger and through a picturesque route, offering glimpses of the waterfalls at a distance,
the passage between two hill ranges with the stream flowing in the middle was surreal. After a short walk to the base of the falls, feeling the spray as droplets failed to make impact on the rocks at the base, I ascended the steps on the other bank crossing the short bridge across the stream.
A light drizzle started…or was it the spray? I looked up to see the valley having a cloudy roof making it a tunnel of rain
and could see sunnier weather outside the tunnel. I walked back clicking away at regular intervals. As I reached the buspark, a bus was waiting and again as the sole passenger, I reached Tateyama station. As I walked into the station, I could see the cable car of the alpine route. I enquired with an official about the Alpine route. He pointed his finger to a white screen and said Murodo. What was white was snow and it was a live camera feed from Murodo. It also read minus 4 degree celsius. I asked him “Ok to cross?” He communicated “slow, blocks and late”. I thought I had planned my journey very well and here I was thinking twice whether I would be able to cross the alpine route to make it to Matsumoto on time. As I took the train back to Toyama, I decided not to risk the crossing, assuring myself that I will be back another day in better weather to make the crossing. That evening I strolled around Toyama and made reservations for the roundabout trip to Matsumoto.
and fountains in the sidewalks. I may be biased but the people here were not as friendly as in Uozu. Requests to take a photograph of me were turned down with suspicion. I had to setup the camera on pedestals on the sidewalk to help myself.
I walked to the hotel which was a few blocks away and cursed the drizzle. My plans to cross the Japanese Alps would go awry with bad weather. After checking in and bath, I thought of chasing the sunset again. The lady in the hotel lobby was not efficient to give me instructions on how to reach the seaside. I walked out hoping to follow the sun anyway, although I was losing time. I walked a few blocks towards the sun when I reached a bridge. I stood on the riverside clicking photographs of the sunset
and of the birds roosting
on an island in the river. As the sun dipped out of view, I noticed a boy getting his bicycle mended in a shop. I approached the shop and enquired about Kito-kito market (That name had propped up on top of the "most visited" places by tourists at Toyama). The shop owner couldn't help but the boy tapped his mobile and located it for me. I introduced myself and he offered to accompany me to kito-kito market as it was close to his house as the maps read. “Two kilometres” he said and we walked. He spoke good English and was curious to know about India. When I told him that the average temperature of the place where I came from is 28 degree Celsius, he exclaimed “How do you live there?” He said he has experienced close to 20 degrees and that Toyama receives snowfall during winter. I asked him about the Japanese alps and the alpine route. He told me that his dad was a police officer and his grandmother lived in Murodo on the Alpine route. He said he liked the older trams for their sound although many of his friends liked the new sleek jet-black ones. We could have walked for 2hours when he paused and told me that this is where I turn off to my house. He led me to a shop close by and asked the lady about kito-kito market. She craned her neck out and looked at me puzzled. She asked the boy something and he came and asked me “What do you want to buy at Kito-kito market at this hour? Fish??” I started to wonder whether it was the local fish market and we had a good laugh. We shook hands and parted ways. I walked back to the hotel after a curry-rice meal at Oshinoya’s.
31st October 2013: Sounding the Alpine route
I woke up to a rainy morning; as I parted the drapes I noticed a lady picking up pieces of paper and debris on the street and placing them in a bag. I went down for breakfast and wishfully watched the rains to clear. And it worked! The rains cleared and the bright sun was out. I hurriedly packed my backpack and headed for the station. Took a ticket from Dentetsu-Toyama station
to Tateyama and travelled by the two car Toyama Chiho railroad.
The landscape was similar to the Uozu-Unazuki route. At Tateyama I enquired about transport to Shomyo falls and I was directed to a bus waiting outside. I queried the driver “Shomyo falls?” and he said “Aie”.
I boarded the bus as the sole passenger and through a picturesque route, offering glimpses of the waterfalls at a distance,
the passage between two hill ranges with the stream flowing in the middle was surreal. After a short walk to the base of the falls, feeling the spray as droplets failed to make impact on the rocks at the base, I ascended the steps on the other bank crossing the short bridge across the stream.
A light drizzle started…or was it the spray? I looked up to see the valley having a cloudy roof making it a tunnel of rain
and could see sunnier weather outside the tunnel. I walked back clicking away at regular intervals. As I reached the buspark, a bus was waiting and again as the sole passenger, I reached Tateyama station. As I walked into the station, I could see the cable car of the alpine route. I enquired with an official about the Alpine route. He pointed his finger to a white screen and said Murodo. What was white was snow and it was a live camera feed from Murodo. It also read minus 4 degree celsius. I asked him “Ok to cross?” He communicated “slow, blocks and late”. I thought I had planned my journey very well and here I was thinking twice whether I would be able to cross the alpine route to make it to Matsumoto on time. As I took the train back to Toyama, I decided not to risk the crossing, assuring myself that I will be back another day in better weather to make the crossing. That evening I strolled around Toyama and made reservations for the roundabout trip to Matsumoto.
0 comments:
Post a Comment