Today since Kuniko was off at her school’s sports day event, I took the chance to head for the hills and do some hiking. Since I have a commuter train pass I can take the train as far as Sannomiya for free – so I took the train to Suma and hiked the mountain there.
It was a beautiful day, and the views were great from the top of the hill. I could see as far as Wakayama, Osaka, Awaji Island and even out to Shikoku. I took some pictures, enjoyed relaxing in the sun, and ate a couple of rice balls at the summit. On the tail end of the loop I cut back into town, and bumped into a large group of older people hiking together.
Hiking is pretty popular among older people in Japan. I’m not a big fan of the trend here. If you say hiking, people think of meeting at a certain place at a certain time, to hike with a group of people to set checkpoints, getting a card time stamped – it’s like a sporting event or a race. When I hike, I want to go alone or with a very small group of people, go at my own pace, and just enjoy nature.
Anyway, the trail at the end was clogged with old folks who were talking and having a great time, but I had to figure out a way to pass them. In the end I left the train early and went back into Suma.
All was not lost, however. I stopped in at a liquor store on the way back. From the outside they had a lot of high end beers lined up in a big refrigerator, and upon further inspection I found a bottle of English cream stout. I bought two and brought them home, and now I’m back relaxing and enjoying the relatively cooler weather.
Later this evening Kuniko will come home exhausted from her day, so I’m trying to figure out something interesting to make for dinner. Inspiration is bound to arrive any minute.
