Day 14 - Arriving In Shin Aomori - Hot Springs Walking Tour Of Northern Japan
Day 14 - Arriving In Shin Aomori - Hot Springs Walking Tour Of Northern Japan
Today we continued our walk to Aomori city.
We decided not to do any sightseeing in Aomori after we get there today, because we still need to return to Goshogawara where we will spend the night, and tomorrow we will be staying in Aomori for three nights, so we can sightsee while we are staying there.
We began today just the same as yesterday, eating breakfast in our room.
We ate fruit that we had bought the night before and drank some green tea.
We took the 8:15 am bus heading to Aomori, got off the bus in the middle of nowhere and continued our walk towards the city.
Again, the bus driver looked at us confused, unsure whether to tell us that there was nothing around here and that we should check if we really meant to get off here.
The weather was warmer today than yesterday, and as the sun burned away the clouds in the afternoon, it became really warm.
The walk itself was not very exciting today, so we walked on a secondary road that ran parallel to the train line, with no shops, restaurants or cafés.
But we did stop along the way at two convenience stores, to replenish our water.
We stayed off the National road entirely, because it was too noisy and busy with cars, even though it had a wide sidewalk.
When we reached the town, we stopped at Shin Aomori, to drink tea and rest at the Starbucks.
It was a very busy shopping area of Aomori, where car dealerships and big chain stores are located.
We had only three kilometers remaining to get to Aomori station.
After resting at the Starbucks, I checked the bus schedule for returning to Goshogawara, and saw that the only afternoon bus was leaving in twenty minutes, and that the bus after that was not leaving until the evening.
We quickly packed our things and started to walk really fast to the nearest bus stop, which was a kilometer and a half away.
We decided that we would complete the walk to Aomori tomorrow.
We had just enough time to make it to the bus stop.
An old lady was standing there, waiting for her bus.
She saw me checking the schedule posted there and asked me where we were going.
I told her that we were going to Goshogawara, and she said that there is still time.
A bus came five minutes early, and she said to me in Japanese that this was not our bus, and that this bus didn’t go to Goshogawara.
I should’ve asked the driver, but I didn’t, I listened to her and clearly she was wrong, because no bus came after that bus.
I felt a bit frustrated with myself.
I should have known better than to listen to her words, after getting misleading information in the past so many times in Japan.
Just because they are locals doesn’t mean that they know what they are saying, and for us as pilgrims, a piece of bad advice means that we are on the streets for hours, when we could have been going home.
We waited twenty minutes more and no other bus came, which is impossible in Japan.
The next bus was hours away, but there was an express train leaving Shin Aomori in twenty minutes.
Without hesitation we made it to Shin Aomori station and ran upstairs to catch the only afternoon express train going our way.
We got off the train and walked to our hotel, stopping along the way to eat a very late lunch at an udon noodle restaurant chain that we like.
Afterwards, Jules got an excellent shave and a haircut at a popular barber shop.
Instead of going to our hotel, we decided to go to the local Onsen and take a soak in the hot springs.
All the public day Onsens have lockers to put your bags and clothes, and they rent clean towels and provide toiletries.
The parking lot was full of cars, which meant that this Onsen was very busy.
At the entrance, you are supposed to lock your shoes and change into slippers, but almost all the shoe lockers were full, which confirmed that the Onsen was very busy.
I decided that it wasn’t a good idea to soak in a hot springs that was so busy, so we put on our shoes and walked away.
Because we ate such a late lunch, there was no chance that we would want to eat dinner in a restaurant.
Instead, we went to the grocery store and bought roasted sweet potatoes and some fruit.
After we took showers and did our laundry, I went downstairs to the front desk to ship our box.
In Japan, the front desk of most hotels is fully equipped with boxes, shipping forms and tape, to help customers ship their belongings to the next hotel.
The price of shipping your bag all over Japan is very reasonable, and for only $10 I could ship our box all the way to Tokyo.
The man at the front desk was nervous when he saw me coming, because he couldn’t speak any English.
He relaxed a bit when I asked him for help and communicated in Japanese.
He filled out the form for me and measured my box, collected the fee and even called our hotel to confirm that they were willing to keep our box for two weeks before we checked in, which they assured him that they would do.
It wasn’t an exciting day today.
Nothing went wrong, because we did make it back to our hotel at the same time as the bus that we had missed, but it didn’t feel like a good day.
Before bed, I thought about why I felt that this wasn’t a good day.
My inner guide said to me:
“Don’t be a perfectionist,
Give people room to make mistakes.
People are on the verge of wisdom, even if you can’t see it yet.
Wisdom is not gained by avoiding doing things, but by trying, failing and trying again.
Give people a wide berth.
Don't look for their mistakes.
Love them, allow them.
Give them freedom to be wrong and be honest and truthful with everyone.
Forgive everyone.
No one knows how to do this game of life properly.
Be grateful for your life and celebrate that you have life to enjoy.
Give.
Give.
Don't take.
Give, and in the act of giving, you will become God.
Sending you love and strength,
Tali
Walked today - 16km.
Total walked to date - 227 km.
