...and the journey continues in Sado
So where did we leave off-ahhh yes the dancers. Once the performance was over we decided it was time to find our bus to the hostel-this was the last leg of our pilgrimage to the unknown.
Sorry, I'm off to the onsen to get a massage and soak in hot mineral water-ahhh the Japanese lifestyle is sooo good for me :)
I'm back and life is sooo good. Anyways, back to Sado:
Since we had no clue where we were going we asked info about which bus we should take to our hostel, as they started figuring out which bus we should take they started pointing to a bus leaving the parking lot. We had missed our bus because we were watching the performance and spent to much time in the gift shop, ugh. So, they called a taxi to chase down the bus for us, as we drive to chase the bus we realize we aren't going that fast maybe 40 mph; going through our minds at this point was-oh crap we are never going to catch the bus and will have to pay an arm and leg for our taxi ride. As we start to freak out the taxi stops and drops us off at a bus stopping the middle of nowhere and says "bus comes that way". Perfect we are stranded in the middle of nowhere; bright side we are on a island so we cant get to lost.
Naomi trying to hitch a ride for us
The bus finally came and we made it home, about 12 1/2 hours after we left home. What a day!!!
SATURDAY: I was FORCED out of bed at 7 in the morning apparently because they served breakfast at 7am-preposterous!!!
Today I was in charge of getting us around Sado by bus (we didn't get lost-no help to Naomi's lack of trust in me :), so Friday night I made the plan for sat. and figured out which buses to catch. We decided to go to the Gold Mine which was on the other side of the island. We we had to take 2 buses (through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world) and made it to Aiikawa. Once we got to Aiikawa we decided to walk to the Gold Mine which was about 2 miles from the bus station. This walked was absolutely amazing, we walked through some of the cutest ancient cities on the island, we had to walk up 191 stairs (we counted on the way down) and up another freakin mountain to get to the gold mine:
Part of the 191 stairs we climbed up (and down)
View from the stairs AMAZING!!!
Beautiful mountains-look at the colors
Road we walked up to get to the Sado Gold Mine
A mountain they mined through the middle-incredible
2 hours later, finally made it to the Gold Mine
The Sado Gold Mine is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!
A little back ground: was opened in 1601 and closed down in 1989. It was the longest running gold mine in history and produced 78 tons of gold and 2330 tons of silver.
The mine itself is well preserved and they have put in life-like robots that moved to demonstrate the jobs they did in the mine along with sound. It was so life-like it was a bit creepy but amazing.
Me at the entrance to the mine
Robots reenacting the celebration of
discovering a new gold and silver vine
After the tour and museum needed to refuel for the journey home with gold in our coffee-apparently its good for your circulation-have to admit it was a bit weird drinking gold :)
Courtyard at the Gold Mine. Absolutely gorgeous and very Japanese
After our gold covered coffee we started the trek home. No broken bones or bruises but maybe a few bruised egos, we wanted see a temple and tomb but were frightens away by a phantom bear-long story if you want details email me :)
Once we got back to the hostel we decided to go see a shrine since we hadn't seen one yet and then go to the onsen. The woman who runs the hostel was awesome and gave us a lift to this incredible shrine and then the onsen. The shrine was a bit run down but that only added to its beauty and mystery:
Saying goodbye to Green Village the hostel we stayed at and Sado Island-7am in the morn-
way to many early mornings
And with that we left Sado Island, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Naomi and I decided 2 more days were needed at the island but we had to get back to the kiddoes. I would absolutely love to go back one day, if only it wasn't such a pain to get to. The way home was pretty easy-we were veteran travelers by that point. The only bummer was we were stuck in the smokers car from Nagano to Nagoya and smelled like we were in a night club on the subway, other then that it was an incredible weekend that ended way to early.
P.S. I have lots to tell about this weekend, the wedding party and ballet recite but I must get to work and figure out what we are doing next week with the kids so I will leave that to another day-I'm sure this blog is long enough to satisfy you for a bit :)
Sorry, I'm off to the onsen to get a massage and soak in hot mineral water-ahhh the Japanese lifestyle is sooo good for me :)
I'm back and life is sooo good. Anyways, back to Sado:
Since we had no clue where we were going we asked info about which bus we should take to our hostel, as they started figuring out which bus we should take they started pointing to a bus leaving the parking lot. We had missed our bus because we were watching the performance and spent to much time in the gift shop, ugh. So, they called a taxi to chase down the bus for us, as we drive to chase the bus we realize we aren't going that fast maybe 40 mph; going through our minds at this point was-oh crap we are never going to catch the bus and will have to pay an arm and leg for our taxi ride. As we start to freak out the taxi stops and drops us off at a bus stopping the middle of nowhere and says "bus comes that way". Perfect we are stranded in the middle of nowhere; bright side we are on a island so we cant get to lost.
Naomi trying to hitch a ride for us
The bus finally came and we made it home, about 12 1/2 hours after we left home. What a day!!!
SATURDAY: I was FORCED out of bed at 7 in the morning apparently because they served breakfast at 7am-preposterous!!!
Today I was in charge of getting us around Sado by bus (we didn't get lost-no help to Naomi's lack of trust in me :), so Friday night I made the plan for sat. and figured out which buses to catch. We decided to go to the Gold Mine which was on the other side of the island. We we had to take 2 buses (through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world) and made it to Aiikawa. Once we got to Aiikawa we decided to walk to the Gold Mine which was about 2 miles from the bus station. This walked was absolutely amazing, we walked through some of the cutest ancient cities on the island, we had to walk up 191 stairs (we counted on the way down) and up another freakin mountain to get to the gold mine:
Part of the 191 stairs we climbed up (and down)
View from the stairs AMAZING!!!
Beautiful mountains-look at the colors
Road we walked up to get to the Sado Gold Mine
A mountain they mined through the middle-incredible
2 hours later, finally made it to the Gold Mine
The Sado Gold Mine is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!
A little back ground: was opened in 1601 and closed down in 1989. It was the longest running gold mine in history and produced 78 tons of gold and 2330 tons of silver.
The mine itself is well preserved and they have put in life-like robots that moved to demonstrate the jobs they did in the mine along with sound. It was so life-like it was a bit creepy but amazing.
Me at the entrance to the mine
Robots reenacting the celebration of
discovering a new gold and silver vine
After the tour and museum needed to refuel for the journey home with gold in our coffee-apparently its good for your circulation-have to admit it was a bit weird drinking gold :)
Courtyard at the Gold Mine. Absolutely gorgeous and very Japanese
After our gold covered coffee we started the trek home. No broken bones or bruises but maybe a few bruised egos, we wanted see a temple and tomb but were frightens away by a phantom bear-long story if you want details email me :)
Once we got back to the hostel we decided to go see a shrine since we hadn't seen one yet and then go to the onsen. The woman who runs the hostel was awesome and gave us a lift to this incredible shrine and then the onsen. The shrine was a bit run down but that only added to its beauty and mystery:
Saying goodbye to Green Village the hostel we stayed at and Sado Island-7am in the morn-
way to many early mornings
And with that we left Sado Island, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Naomi and I decided 2 more days were needed at the island but we had to get back to the kiddoes. I would absolutely love to go back one day, if only it wasn't such a pain to get to. The way home was pretty easy-we were veteran travelers by that point. The only bummer was we were stuck in the smokers car from Nagano to Nagoya and smelled like we were in a night club on the subway, other then that it was an incredible weekend that ended way to early.
P.S. I have lots to tell about this weekend, the wedding party and ballet recite but I must get to work and figure out what we are doing next week with the kids so I will leave that to another day-I'm sure this blog is long enough to satisfy you for a bit :)
posted by Brenda | 3:26 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home