Momiji

Japan is famous for its fall colors as is Maine. Here momiji, as the red maple leaves are called, are a passion and daily reports of the colors progress are made on TV and the Internet. The last two weekends I had opportunities to visit some new places and see how the leaves where doing. This past weekend was a peak one for the hilly area north of Okazaki and so, along with a million other people, I went to a “momiji festival” in a park about an hour’s drive north, or so the poster said. As it turned out, the traffic was so bad, we ended up getting off the bus, at the drivers suggestion, and walking the last 7 or 8 kilometers along the side of the road. The bus never caught up with us. As we got closer to the park entrance, all the tour buses started letting their passengers out to go ahead. It was a bit like going to the Common Ground Fair on Saturday! At the park, there were all sorts of booths and food places. The smells were tantalizing, but I didn’t have a lot of money or time, so only snacked on a few local delicacies. The trees would have been beautiful to photograph during the day, but we arrived as the sun was sinking behind the hills and had to enjoy them by the fading light of dusk. At night the park was lit up and was quick a spectacle, but nothing my camera could capture. The last public bus back to Okazaki left at 6:30 p.m. so we soon had to leave to get in the long line waiting to return. Once onboard we were packed in like sardines and stood for the hour and a half trip back. Back at the Okazaki bus station my companions and I found our bikes in the bicycle garage and peddled home. It was quite the adventure. Click below to see a few pictures from the trip.

Momiji