Well, we had quite the adventure today!!! It cost us about an arm and a leg to get up to the Japan Alps, but we decided it was something we`d never do again and therefore worth it. Cost so much because first we had to take an onsen town called Hirayu, and then another bus to Kamikochi, the base town for hiking. The second bus was JAMPACKED, not only were all the seats full, but this ingenious little vehicle had seats that folded down into the aisle as well! The Japanese sure are good at conserving space! Anyway, it was all worth it when we reached Kamikochi, where our first trip was straight to the tourist information centre. Our inquiry of how to hike up to the Shin-Hotaka Ropeway was met with disbelief. The conversation went a little like this+

- "Do you want to drive up there?"

- "No, we want to hike it"

"Are you sure..?"

"Yup!"

"It`s very steep..."

"No problem"

"It will take five hours"

"That`s fine"

"Okay......."

NOw, she wasn`t kidding when she said that it would be steep! But although there were a lot of hikes in the area, we decided that it would be lovely to be able to take the Ropeway back down after a hard workout up, and besides, a harder task only strengthens the sense of accomplishment at the end! After a scenic stroll by the Tashiro River, we began our 2900m hike! Neither of us could get enough of the scenery - it was totally unique! Such a different experience from our US hikes - here we were the only people around, and it felt as though we were discovering the trail for the first time. This sense was heightened by the fact that the path was constantly overgrown, fading in and out, leaving us at times to guess where we were supposed to walk. I can understand how people get so easily lost up there! From time to time we did pass Japanese Hikers with a "Konichiwa", "Konichiwa", but the meetings were sparse and the hikers disapeared as quickly as they had come, leaving us on the whole by ourselves to appreciate the Japanese Alps. I don`t think I have ever been in a forest quite like these - I guess places like the blue mountains come close, but there is just something different. There was a very ethereal feel, with the trees towering above our heads, and ginormous roots making me feel like I had shrunk and had been thrown into the land of the giants. The slope was so steep it was almost vertical at times, and we scrambled on our hands and knees to climb up over boulders, ducking under menacing branches and hoisting ourselves up on those roots. When we eventually climbed so high we could see over most of the trees, we hiked with the distant mountains circling us on all sides. It was such a magical experience.

About half-way up we realised that the last cablecar left at 4:45, and by the tourist info`s calculations we were not supposed to get there until at least 5 o`clock! Luckily we had been making a steady pace (save our 15 minute lunch break, eating sushi on a massive tree branch) and we reached the cable car with plenty of time to spare. Even still we rushed down the last hour of the hike, after reaching the summit of the mountain, unfortunately taking little time to appreciate the stunning views of the mountains around us. From up there, with far less trees blocking our view, we could eaisly see the peaks around us, and I could tell that Autumn is on the way、with reds, oranges and yellows beginning to peak through the carpet of green that covers the mountainsides. The combination of rushing our butts off (surprised we didnt break an ankle or two!) and going mostly downhill(I reckon when you walk downhill you tend to focus on your feet more than anything else) meant that I only caught glimpses of the views. Luckily we got plenty of time to see the Alps as we took the cable car down, the sun setting in the distance, creeping away between two mountains. HOwever, the ropeway took MUCH longer than we had planned (turns out its the longest in Asia!) and we reached the bottom to discover a worrying lack of buses, taxis,....people!!! Slowly it dawned on us that here we were, stuck at the bottom of the Japan Alps, a good four hours away from anything but more mountains!

Unsure we were even at the Bus Terminal (and I ewas secretly hoping that we were not and that somewhere there would be an army of buses hiding) we approached the only other people around - a family of two teenage girls, Mum and Dad. They didnt speak much English, and we speak even less Japanese, but somehow managed to find out that no, this was not the bus terminal, but the taxi terminal. Also, no there were not any more buses. After some more hand gesturing, map pointing and desperate phrasebook flicking we told them that we needed to get to Takayama and they offered to share a car - sounded great to us!! I figured that the cost of a taxi split between us had to be less painful than if we got one ourselves and readily agreed...

BUt when this "taxi" arrived, it turned out to be their tiny little campervan. By this time the light was fading fast, and with no other options available, we nervously checked that the teenage girls didnt look drugged up, slipped off our shoes and stepped on board. Inside, the entire van was taken up by a double bed (or more of a one and a half bed), so me, John, the two girls and the mum (who actually introduced herself as "Mama" ) all crawled onto thebed and away we were! As we rolled around in the back, the Dad attempted to FIND Takayama on his map, which turns out was about 30kms away. Even though it was AGES out of their way (they were staying in Matsumoto city, about a 90 minute round trip drive away), not only did they drive us all the way to Takayama station, they gave us a box of chocolates when they dropped us off! NIcest *unintentional* hitchhiking experience EVER! They were sooooo unbelievably lovely. After they drove away, neither JOhn nor I could keep from laughing - from relief that we hadnt been murdered by the side of the road, from the absurd depth of kindness from these complete strangers, just from the unexpectedness of these last two hours! I can't imagine what we would have down without that family, and I am so very, very grateful to them!!!