Roving Japan

Day 13 Photoset

I don’t know when it happened exactly, but that bastard Murphy decided to follow us around today.

It started out harmless enough. I forgot to charge the iPhone last night. We plugged it in for a little while this morning, but we only got about a 60% charge.

Then when we were walking down the 217 on our way to Usuki we decided to stop at a drug store to buy some dust masks. The 217 has a very long tunnel, and we wanted something to cover our faces while we walked through it. The masks were sold out due to the recent swine flu panic. No big deal… but that was just the beginning.

The lady at the hotel told us that the tunnel through the mountain was walkable since there was a sidewalk. What she didn’t mention, was that the road TO the tunnel did NOT have a sidewalk. Or that there is a lot of traffic and a narrow bridge before you even get there.

We walked for about an hour before we hit the bridge and realized that there was no way we could walk over it with all the big trucks that were on the road. So we made the decision to walk back to Tsukumi and get on the train to Usuki.

Did I mention that it was really really windy? Risas hat, which is hard enough to keep on her head during normal days, was constantly trying to fly off her head. Also there was a ton of dust being kicked up and it all seemed to fly directly into her eyes. So for the next hour while we walked back to the train station, Risa was holding her hat to her head and trying to walk with her eyes closed.

Then one of the hiking poles decided to fall apart for no reason. The bottom segment just fell out. Just like that. It was really weird.

Then Risa got a rock in her shoe.

All this, and we hadn’t even got back to the station.

At the station, we had an hour long wait for the next train. No biggie, that gave me time to charge the phone. The train ride to Usuki was also fine. Things seemed to be looking up!

Once in Usuki we walked south to the National Treasure Usuki Stone Buddhas. These old Buddhas were carved into the sides of the mountain and were recently restored and declared a national treasure.

The folks at the shrine ticket office also gave us permission to camp in the parking lot for the night.

Perfect! We are rid of Murphy!

Nope.

While setting up the tent, the wind picked up and it started to rain. Risa had mentioned that there was a “Strong Wind Warning” today, but we didn’t really pay attention since we didn’t foresee us camping in a large exposed parking lot. The parking lot was made of gravel and I couldn’t get my stakes into the ground. So Risa went back to the people at the shrine and they told us we could try sleeping in the shed where they keep the cricket balls and brooms.

So right now we are in the shed. Outside it’s pouring rain… and I just started to hear thunder. The shed is made of metal. That’s bad right?

If this post ever makes it online, then I guess you know we survived the night. Otherwise, I hope the netbooks HD doesn’t get fried too badly by the lightning bolt that kills us.