And here we are, dear readers, exploring the forests of Gunma, climbing mountains, and imbibing with friends.
Me, Chuck, Trina, and Trey
She didn't last too long.
There was a barbecue yesterday in the mountains of the town at then end of my line, Shimonita, to celebrate the birthday of a very nice girl I don’t know. In the end, she drank too much and passed out (a common occurence here, since Japanese people tend to have a pretty low tolerance for alcohol. Instead of getting sick, they just sleep for a bit, and wake up with a headache), but that didn’t stop the rest of us from having fun. We drew all over her face.
The town is one of the last strongholds before the wilds of the mountains, filled with bears and monkeys. Yes, monkeys. Hills spring up out of Shimonita, so flat land is at a premium. Fortunately, it is still relatively remote, so it remains beatiful with clear water and good-smelling air.
We ate more food than we should have, and drank more than that. I met some new friends, and we went for a hike in the surrounding woods, wherein we saw a ghostly catapillar and a wild pig. Yes, dear readers, an inoshishi as the locals call them. It was stuffing itself with tomatoes before trotting off casually back into the trees.
The evening ended with a stop at the Mt. Myogi hot spring, where I sat by myself (the boys had their own bath behind the wall) on the side of a cliff that overlooked the valley containing Shimonita, Tomioka, and all the other towns in the area. I saw a planet, and some stars. It’s weird to sit outside and be naked with a bunch of other people, on the side of a mountain, but for the Japanese, they just take it in stride.
Gunma mountains
