Hiking in Okazaki: くらがり渓谷 = Kuragari Canyon

So, I just got back from a 3 week vacation around southern Japan, and I have a LOT of catching up to do. So, if things go as planned, expect a bombardment of blog posts in the very near future!

In the meantime, let's go back in time.

A long time ago, I woke up one morning, and Chieko asked me if there was anywhere I wanted to go in Okazaki where I hadn't been because I needed a car.

After much thinking, I realized there really wasn't, so after a brief internet search for waterfalls (私、滝好きだもん) in the Okazaki area, we hopped in the car and headed to Kuragari Keikoku (keikoku = canyon).



I was extremely happy with my choice.

Even though it was super hot outside, there was a nice breeze comfortable shadows from the trees, so the weather felt lovely.

And the scenery was absolutely AMAZING!

I am a hardcore fan of lush, green areas, especially when they involve bamboo and trees covered with soft, green moss.

There were times when I really felt like I was in a Miyazaki film.

I find it really sad that all of the green space in Japan is slowly, steadily being destroyed. Somehow, the forest areas of Japan feel more majestic, more magical to me than in a lot of the other places I've been.



I was especially happy with my choice because there were literally waterfalls EVERYWHERE along the hike!



There were ones that were quite a lot larger than this one, but for some reason, I just found this one exceptionally gorgeous.

Other than hiking, I've also been doing a lot of farming since arriving in my homestay.



Me with two of the biggest zucchinis I've ever seen!

Chieko's parents live on a farm, and they seem to grow every type of everything you could possibly imagine.


Chieko's mom taking a break after potato picking.

We even went digging up potatoes one day, and it was SUPER hot and SUPER exhausting, but also inexplicably fun!

But let me just say - the smell of rotting potatoes is one of the most REPULSIVE, RANCID things I have ever smelled in all of my life of smelling.

We would be having a lovely, pleasant time digging (with me, of course, far too regularluy accidently plunging the pitchfork shovel thing INTO the potato instead of the dirt) when suddenly we would be accosted by a smell so awful that I almost threw up on several occasions.

Then we woul inevitably come across a potato so rotten that it had literally turned into this whitish brown oozy slimy goop dripping out of a rotting skin.

So gross.

Other than that, and the inevitable heat headaches, the farming has been super fun. I hope I get to go again at least a couple times.

And that's all for this time, folks! 以上です。