7/15/08 Hiji Falls with New Friends

Last night at dinner, before we all retired to our rooms, my new friends from Sweden, Eva and Deepak and their daughter living in Berlin, Lina, and her boyfriend, Klaus, decide to organize an excursion to Hiji Falls for the today.  We planned to leave after breakfast in my little Mazda Demio and head for the falls we’d all heard about.  I had charged my batteries and gotten new ones for the camera, packed bug wipes and sunscreen and water and we were off to put our five selves in the car after saying our goodbyes to Mike and Mariko who were going on to an outer island for more snorkeling. 

 

The Japanese are indeed brilliant, because the little 660cc Demio pulled the hills with the five of us in it without and trouble.  We made it to Hiji Falls, a rain forest, parked the car and went to the entrance center to check it out.  

The entrance center is more like a lodge in North Carolina with its log construction and high ceilings that follow the roof line.  My friends presented me with a ticket and insisted on treating me for the rest of the day, pronouncing me a member of Team Lahiri!! What a pleasure to be a member of this particular team, as I knew the day spent with these people would be as fun and interesting as can be!!  I think they were thankful for the excursion, but the pleasure was all mine, as I wouldn’t have had near as much fun without them!!

 

It is interesting to note there is a blood pressure monitor right before the entrance to the hike to the falls.  Of course, we all had to sit and have our blood pressure taken before starting our 1.5km, each way, adventure!  Once done, we were asked to wipe our shoes on a mat to kill a fungus that might kill Yanbaru forest frogs.  We passed campsites with platforms waiting for tents on

 the way to the trail to the falls.

 

This course could be a little challenging and a great workout if you wanted to try to rush it, but we didn’t rush at all.  We went at a leisurely pace, stopping to rest and take photos all along the way. 

There are some steep and long stairs, going up and down, and the path is well done and nice and safe.  We pass signs all along the way warning us to take caution, not to touch ropes and to beware of the habu (this sign with photos of the dreaded habu). 

 

Before long, we were at the .7km mark and the suspension bridge.  It is a beautiful little bridge, well constructed and new looking.  We are just soaked to the skin, as it is hot and just as humid as can be, almost like being in a sauna.

 

 I stopped often to have a drink of 

my water and sport drink.  We passed several parties of hikers coming back from the falls and were eventually rewarded with arrival at our destination.

 

Jeff had already warned me in an email that the rocks were slippery, so I didn’t venture too far out on them, but the falls, about 30 feet high, are beautiful and the breezes blowing at the falls and across the water provided a welcome relief from the heat. 

We relaxed and took photos and watched the other people at the falls.  I never saw anyone go in the water, but some got close and I could tell others wanted to, but didn’t. 

 

Finally, it was time for our hike back.  The scenery was just as gorgeous on the way back, and I saw things I hadn’t seen on the way in.  

Some campers had pitched their tents while we were on the trail, but I honestly cannot imagine sleeping in a tent in that humid forest.  We were glad to use the nice restroom in the “lodge” when we got back and Deepak treated us all to beverages that we sat and drank and refreshed ourselves with.  Then, realizing we are all hungry, we set out for a lunch.  We ended up deciding to go to the Kunigami Native Products Center first and were delighted to find a wonderful jewel of a café in there!!  The ladies who worked there were artfully arranging soba in a huge natural wooden bowl, twirling

the soba into little mounds on top of crushed ice in the bowl that had to be more than 12” in diameter. 

A sprig of bamboo and a cherry or two completed the picture and next to the soba was a plate of delicious looking tempura and matchstick sliced vegetables.  Eva and Deepak decide to have that right away and who can blame them?!  Lina and Klaus, vegetarians, had a lovely tofu soup and salad and I decided on the curry and rice and salad.  

It came and we all thoroughly enjoyed our lunches – they were not only delicious, but artfully done and we all appreciated the care that went into making our food.

 

After lunch, we were off to find Banshofu Weaving in Kijyoka Village.  Kijyoka Village is so charming and ancient looking, I’d have been satisfied enough just with my stroll through this place, but after a little looking and asking, we were able to find Banshofu Weaving up on a hill. 

The strands that are woven to make the fabric here are made from banana fiber and there is quite a process involved in the weaving.  This fabric and the products made from it are extremely expensive and after seeing the painstaking process, it is easy to see why.  The fabric, in the end, looks a bit like a coarse linen and the designs woven in are beautiful, some simple and some intricate. 

After a look around the somewhat air conditioned shop, we headed upstairs to see the workers. 

 

There are maybe a half dozen stations set up on the second floor with a loom and a woman weaving at each station.  The word sweatshop came to mind, as it was just as hot and stuffy as can be.  No photos were allowed upstairs, and I was sad for that because a picture really does say a thousand words. 

There was steam involved, too, and we saw one woman pouring water on a stretched sheet looking fabric next to her station.  The looms looked antique and the process appears to be one that hasn’t changed since its inception.  There was not one word spoken and the ladies quietly went about their weaving, the only sounds being when the foot pedals were pressed and the thumping of the looms.  On the way out, we stopped in a wash room to watch a mama san rinsing dye out of skeins. 

 

This northern region is sparsely populated and there are not many tourist destinations to speak of, but Klaus spotted something called Kakanji Shrine and we all decided we needed to see it while we were there.  There is no main sign for it off 58, or anywhere, but we were game.  Off we went.  We passed the military Okuma Resort and the post JAL resort and felt we were close.  We stopped at JAL and were directed to go back the way we came.  We were craning our necks to try to spot it.  I went to a couple of men having sashimi outside at picnics and asked.  

The tore some cardboard off their Orion box and drew a map that took us back where we had been, passed the JAL to a tiny little orange torii (my picture didn’t turn out) and in the little overgrown area was a little pale blue building that did turn out.  We don’t know the significance of this shrine, but we can say we’ve been there.

 

It’s getting close to dinnertime at Miyagi and we decide to head back, but first we’ll try to fit in a quick side trip to the giant Kuina bird statue on the side of the mountain at Hedo Point.  

Masa had taken my friends up to the area a few days before and they are well oriented and we drive up a one lane, winding, straight up road – the only time my Demio had any hint of strain.  We arrived at a nice parking lot and went up to take some photos of this giant, hollow statue.  

There are stairs that take you up into the bird, and Lina went up to have a look while the rest of us photographed it.  It is really beautiful and looks different up close.

 

That done, we went the remaining 10km back to Miyagi, where Masa and Naomi were holding dinner for us.  We made our apologies and were introduced to our new guests, a rock climber and a man who works on the mainland for Toyota, Yoko.  

With Mike gone, Yoko became our new official translator.  His English is very good and he is quite entertaining. 

 

Dinner was the pasta Masa had promised us, vegetarian with a mildly spicy sauce made with tomatoes. 

There were dishes of sliced ichiban Okinawa ONLY black pig pork, a delicious rice, a bowl of tiny little fish (iwashi?) that Yoko had caught and Naomi had fried so we could pop them whole and delicious into our mouths, the Okinawa ONLY lime, some fried Okinawa potatoes, there were stir fries, okra with sauce, fresh pineapple and it was all wonderful and delicious! 

Our new guests were entertaining and after dinner I sat with Deepak and Yoko and we talked about the US election and they asked me who I thought would win, as they are watching with great interest in their countries.  I have no idea.  Deepak thinks Obama will work with Hilary and he likes Hilary very much, I can tell.  To these two gentlemen and gentle men, the environment seems to be the number one issue of importance and we talked at length about the other issues that are important to the Americans.  I wish I had more time to be at Miyagi to talk to these interesting and informed and kind people.  Tomorrow, though, I leave Miyagi, as I had left the Super Hotel and Yamauchi Inn before it, before I was feeling really ready…