Mountain Madness

We'd (somehow) made it through the monotony that was the week with only 3 days of classes and the struggle to focus in each one of them. It was finally the weekend. A time for relaxation, unwinding, catching up and just doing whatever. Friday night we decided to go out and have a sort of goodbye party for one of our good friends that would soon be leaving the dorms due to the fact that she was going to a home stay. It's not as if she was leaving us forever but we just wanted her to know that no matter where she went she was always welcome back to hang out. The night consisted of food, beer, and good friends. Saturday, however, is where the real adventure takes place. 

That morning we woke up only slightly later than usual and decided to get ready for a long day of bike riding and mountain hiking. It took us a little longer than expected due to some minor set backs, being that one among us was not in the greatest of physical conditions and had never really ridden a bike so far before, but we made it 7 miles or so outside Hikone's city limits and into the mountain side. We stopped along the way at a rather large looking temple where we decided on a group shot. Afterwards we stumbled across an abandoned looking house with an old train car dumped in the field nearby. Being the explorer that I am, I went to go take a look at the rickety old thing. Inside was piled with countless old items that date back, if I had to guess, to the time during World War II. A few snapshots later and we were at a river with giant rocks poking out of its glistening clean and chilled waters. We climbed around on the rocks for a bit grabbing a quick bite of some snacks we'd brought with us for the trip and had a mini photo session with some of the better cameras. It was gorgeous to be able and enjoy what was the Disneyland of the natural world. After we'd had our fun it was time to head back and hit the books for the rough week ahead. But it was nice to put a small, costless adventure under our belts and we now had a spot in which we could easily visit anytime during the weekend and bring a picnic lunch and just enjoy the beauty and wonder of the Japanese natural world.