Spontaneous Exploration: Takedao

One day I was on the train returning from a meeting that ended earlier than I had expected, so I had a free afternoon. I suddenly had the urge to get off at a train station that I had been wanting to explore since I'd often seen hikers get off at that station. I got off on impulse and started to walk around. I didn't know what was at this place, so I asked a security guard where a good place for a walk would be....but the lady didn't know. So I just kept walking about.

I started finding some pretty flowers and kept walking, with no idea where I was headed. There weren't many people around either since it was a weekday. At one point, I seemed to be going in the wrong direction since I only saw homes, so I turned around and found my way back to what I thought must be the hiking trail.










Sure enough, I found a trail and started walking down it. The scenery was breathtaking and I felt like I was walking into a different world.

Time felt like it just stopped and I could hear the sound of the river, birds singing, the leaves rustling, and it was so peaceful.

I had picked up a few things at the convenience store for lunch, so when I found a nice flat rock I could sit on to eat, I gazed out at the mountain and the river flowing and had my lunch. Wow, it was really good!

Once on the trail, I was amazed that someone would go through so much trouble just to make such a nice hiking trail....there were rows of wood buried into the ground that made up an even trail. As I was walking along it, I didn't realize they were railroad tracks until I passed through two tunnels.

At this point, I began to think "Now why would anyone even go through the trouble of building a huge tunnel JUST for hikers?!" As I walked through the tunnels, I kept thinking to myself, "this almost feels like a railroad."

Then by the time I hit the 3rd tunnel, it suddenly hit me...DUH! It WAS a railroad track! Of course, trains were no longer running on it, but I couldn't believe it took me so long to figure it out. On the other hand, I guess if it took a train for me to figure out that it was a railroad track, I'd be plastered onto the tunnel wall by now, huh?

I walked through the first two tunnels because I could see the light at the other end, but the 3rd tunnel, I saw absolutely NO light and there was a cold, damp breeze coming out of the tunnel and it spooked me, so I turned around and started heading back.

I got really sleepy walking back since it was so nice and warm, so when I found another flat rock, I layed down on it and took a nap for about 30 minutes I think. Probably that wouldn't be the best thing to do when you're alone, but I figured it's Japan, it's safe, the occasional people I came across on the trail seemed friendly enough, so I went ahead and took a nap. IT FELT GREAT!

That was my day. I felt totally refreshed. I should go there again, but this time with a flashlight so that I can go explore what's beyond the 3rd tunnel!