Brad In Japan: Going Natural

Helllooooo heelllllooo, helloo, Everyone!

(Me shouting into the mountains and getting echos)

Glad you can join me after I took yesterday off! I felt I needed a good getaway as five of my classes wrapped up and five more are starting Monday. I went to a place called Oku-Tama which is about a 2-hour train ride away from Tokyo. As a final fun bit, I also saw a full Lunar Eclipse! Let's hop in :)

Oku-Tama

I mentioned above that this was supposed to be a 2-hour train ride. I showed up around 7:10~ for the 7:45 train and due to a delay didn't leave until 8:50...

Afterward, we got about halfway and they discontinued the train haha. So I scrambled around to find the next one, hopped on, took 30 minutes to a different station, and then 40 more to Oku-Tama. I arrived around 11:20~

Not a very relaxing start 😅 But! Once I was there, I cracked open a cold one.

And after enjoying the first drink I had in 4 hours, began walking around and man, it was gorgeous. Fall has set in.

I even found an old building that I felt my sister would take photos of 🤣

When I began my walk, I was aiming to reach the dam which was said to have lots of pretty views. I thought it was going to be an hour. Like the rest of this trip, it was delayed and turned into 2.5 hours haha. I had to ask a random cop where the bathroom was because it had been an hour and those beers hit!

After braving the elements of metal cars and creepy tunnels, I found a trail that let me see so much more (and add 1.5 hours haha).

My favorite part was that along this whole trip, I bumped into this couple. They were from Hong Kong and were on the same 7:44 am train as me way back in the beginning. We even went our separate ways once we made it to Oku-Tama, but bumped into each other along the path! I love life.

Having said my final words to them (and creepily taking a photo) I could see the dam as I approached an hour and 45 minutes into the hike!

45 minutes after and I finally made it. They weren't kidding about the views!

It was quite a journey up with lots of trees, waterfalls, and people not pictured. Seeing the sun go down and having eaten nothing, I took the bus back, got on the train, and slept most of the ride back. No photos available for this section, unless someone thought I looked funny and took one for their friends haha.

I sat next to someone watching video games on her phone and she let me watch with her so time flew by when I wasn't asleep. I even made it home in time for ramen 😋 All in a good day's work and rest.

Lunar Eclipse and Farewell

This week had lots more going on, but I don't want to put too much in at once. I'll try to add some next week and look at doing a similar class recap for the 5 I just finished. But before I go, there was a Lunar Eclipse! And I took a photo from Japan, while my mom got one from Houston!

I can assure you it no longer looks like this and the moon is normal again haha. I hope you enjoyed getting to see Oku-Tama with me and all the lush red-er-ry (instead of greenery). It was a fun journey and I look forward to doing more when I can. But until then,

Thanks for Reading!

Bradley Wargo