I had been to Ichinoseki back in October, however, this time we would do something completely different - a boat tour down the Geibi Gorge. The scenery itself was a far stretch from anything that amazing, but it was the boat ride that made this so memorable. They had pictures displaying the scenery in the fall and in winter that looked more beautiful, but with it being the very start of spring, nothing but dead trees left only barren earth to be seen.
According to the pamphlet,
Geibi Gorge, where fantastically-shaped rock formations tower high above, and the lush greenery celebrates the glory of the seasons. Numbered one of the most picturesque spots in Japan, this beautiful gorge was carved from strata of limestone by the Satestu River. The gorge displays the beauty of the changing seasons not only in the verdand green of spring and the brilliant colors of the autumn leaves, but also in the flowers of the wisteria, the golden-rayed lily and the Geibi sweet flas, as well as many varieties of fish and birds that congregate here:sweetfish, fresh-water crab, dace, wagtail and water ousel.
The boat ride was really cool in that we were in these little boats that had a plastic covering. To me, it appeared that the boat was carrying a greenhouse full of curious tourists. The way the boat moves through the gorge is via a person who has a really long bamboo stick with a spear on the end of it. So, imagine a primitive fishing spear. Now imagine that spear time likes 5 more feet added in length. That is exactly what was used by a person to push us down the gorge. For most of the ride, you could see the bottom of this river, that is how shallow the water was. While one person was doing most of the word, pushing us along, another person is in the boat giving information about what we can see on to the left of us or to the right of us.
During this time, I just enjoyed the fact that I could be outside, with no jacket enjoying spring and nature again. We passed through the gorge seeing sites that were named some of the following, the mirror rock, wisteria rock, cloud-kissing rock, bishamon cave, rain shelter rock, ancient peach gorge, cloud spewing peak, mighty man rock, etc. The list goes on and on.
We were able to land for about twenty minutes onto a little piece of earth that the pamphlet refers to as Victory Hill. This area was created from sand deposits by the river's current. It was here that the tour guide pointed out that this area we can see the tallest gorge wall, named the Great Rock of Geibi and rock formations that look like human noses and lion noses. Underneath this lion nose is a hole in the gorge wall. I don't know if it is legendary or if it is a marketing scam, but they claim if you can throw a rock into that hole, good fortune can be brought to you. They sell for about $1 USD a bag of "good luck" rocks to throw. On top of this stone thing that we bought were the Japanese/Chinese kanji for things like happiness, love, money, etc. I was graciously given the love rock to throw since I so desperately want to find my soulmate. We did a few practice shots before we made our shots, but unforunately none of us got our rock into the hole that would bring our wishes to us.
below:people trying to get their rocks into the hole
Following the little rock throwing excursion we made our way back down the gorge. At the end, the tour guide woman serenaded us with two Japanese folks songs until we reached back to the dock.According to the pamplet,
"The song of Geibi"
As I pole my boat
on the clear waters of the Satetsu River,
the clouds that dull my heavy heart
are dispelled by the Lion's Snout
Come see for yourself in Old Iwate
This unveiled sight, unrivalled elsewhere
Take the Ofunato line
It's not too far from Ichinoseki
Following our boat ride, we grabbed some soba for lunch in Hiraizumi and then headed to our next location, Chusonji temple. Hiraizumi dates back to the 12th century when one of the most influential and powerful families in Japan founded the area. At the moment, this area is a candidate to become a World Heritage site.
During the 12th century, there was much fighting from social conflicts. A man who eventually became the first lord of the area witnessed the death of his father, his wife and his children. As a result of this, he wanted to build a buddhist center that would be dedicated to to peace. He built the temple area we visited as part of his dream. It took almost twenty years to finish the entire complex. According to a chronicle compiled during the 12th century, at it's peak years, this area had over 40 temples, pagodas, and 300 monastery cells. However, many of these buildings had been burned to the ground, leaving not as many for people in our lifetime to see.
The area was beautiful, with bamboo and cedars surrounding the area. We walked from temple to temple on a trail that had nature all around us. I think since it is March, there weren't many people there - which was nice because that often takes away from the splendor of an area like this. I was pretty quiet from this point on - lately, I find that I just have nothing to say anymore. I enjoy just taking in the earth around me and keeping to myself.
Whenever you go to temples, you often see pieces of paper tied around things. I never knew what they were. Finally, Akira explained it to me. For about $1 USD you can buy this little packet from the temple. Inside the packet is a gold charm (there are about 10 different varieties of the type of charm) along with two pieces of paper. The one piece of paper is kind of like a fortune teller. So, I bought 4 - and the 4 charms I got and their significance (just so you can get an idea) are as follows:
a turtle charm - means long life
a box charm - means you will have good family luck
a Japanese money piece charm - means you will make money
a seed charm- means you are good at making things
The types of fortune telling on these pieces of papers are as following:
- don't fight at your job
- be careful with your stress level
- talk if you need help
- don't be lazy about love
- study to get what you want
- you are a good worker
- you have good luck
- you are healthy
- you have found good love
- you are a busy person
- you are open minded
- don't let someone walk all over you
- don't be too concerned with guests
We walked around seeing the temples until it started growing dark and a small rainfall came upon us. It has turned back to the rainy season, I believe. It seems this past week, at some point during the day, we have received some sort of rain. As a result of the rain, we decided to call it a day and head back to my house.
At my house , we made curry and drank throughout the night. We put in a lame movie called Hide and Seek that I do not recommend wasting two hours of your life to watch it. Right in the beginning of the movie, we had an earthquake that was the biggest one I've felt since being here. It ranked as a 5 on the Richter scale. And that was my Saturday! I will write about Corey's visit to my place when I get some pictures to add in with my story.
Click on us to see all the pictures of Hiraizumi courtesy of Meghann's camera
1 comment:
How very interesting, you are one lucky girl to be seeing so much in your part of the world.
Brian, pay attention!!!! (on the greenhouse boat)
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