Last Friday, my friend Lisa and her family invited me to go explore the beautiful Oirase Gorge and the shrines along the shore of Lake Towada. It was only an hour to an hour and a half drive down there, and we were able to just pull over on the side of the road whenever we saw something pretty to take pictures of - so it was definitely my kind of laid-back adventure! There were all kinds of beautiful water falls and other vignettes to see along the Oirase Trail. Everything was so green that I felt like we were in a tropical rain forest, right in the middle of Northern Japan!
Epic shot of Lisa in the trees. =^)
Jumping shots are our favorite!
After we were through the gorge, we drove around the edge of Lake Towada to a small peninsula that jutted out into the lake, where there is a big Shinto shrine. At this point it was starting to rain, so the gloom made the whole experience kind of mysterious...
The trees were huge!
Lisa and I always joke that Japan looks a lot
like Narnia. When we found a lamp post in the
middle of the forest, our suspicions were confirmed. ;^)
The trail through the forest by the shrine ultimately led to the lake shore. We walked along the beach to a little tourist town where we bought some snacks before heading back.
Haagen-Dazs vending machine. Incredible!
As we were driving back through the gorge, we passed 5 or 6 buses full of Japanese school kids. We pulled over to take a picture of them and they were SO excited to be on camera. They smiled, waved and flashed peace signs while shouting short english phrases at us. "Hello!" "Thank you!" One boy even shouted "I LOVE YOU!" as we pulled away. Hahaha. It was definitely the perfect end to a fabulous adventure. What can I say? Japan is awesome.
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