Sunday, 13 April 2008
After surfacing shortly after seven, we had enough time for a shower and a leisurely breakfast before packing and preparing for the long haul back to home base in Kobe.
Looking outside, the weather offered a pleasant contrast to the previous day, being fine and sunny rather than cold and overcast, prompting what proved to be an ill-considered and overoptimistic strategic decision.
In other words we consigned the warmest clothing to the suitcase, although we did briefly consider wearing it as far as the station, then switching it to the back pack.
If we’d risen half an hour later, what came next might not have been a problem.
Once packed, we had about half an hour of spare time between when we finished packing and the optimum time for arriving on the platform at the station, so our host suggested a brief excursion to enjoy some sakura, since there was a nice spot more or less on the way to the station and the flowers were just starting to appear.
Of course, we hadn’t actually stuck our noses outside at this point.
Still, it seemed like a warm sunny day.
The astute reader can guess what came next.
First up, it was much colder than anticipated.
Second, once we’d reached the nice spot on the banks of the Kitakami River, where preparations for the cherry-blossom festivities were well underway (though optimum viewing time would be much later in the week), the snow-capped peaks to the west were a spectacular sight, so we just had to leave the relative warmth of the car and take a stroll to the optimum (and, predictably furthest) spot for a photographic memory of the sight.
Once we’d made it back to the car, reached the station, bid a fond farewell to our host and Grog Dog, and climbed the stairs to the platform it was a matter of a few minutes before the train arrived and we were on our way again.
Once again we found ourselves on the starboard side of the train, and since this time we were headed in the opposite direction that gave us a good view of the mountains to the west. As the shinkansen rocketed along we reached the places we’d visited the previous day in less than half the time the road trip had taken. By the time we passed Kurikoma-Kōgen the mountains had receded westwards and we were travelling over wide plains with extensive farmland and some hills.