Day 13 - Goshogawara To Aomori - Hot Springs Walking Tour Of Northern Japan

 

Day 13 - Goshogawara To Aomori - Hot Springs Walking Tour Of Northern Japan     

Today we started our walk from Goshogawara to Aomori city.

We need two days to complete this walk of about 40 kilometers.

It is possible to do thanks to a local bus that runs between these two cities.

This way, we can walk as long as we want today, then take the bus back to our hotel, and come back tomorrow on the same bus, to complete the walk.

We woke up early in the morning to start our day.

We did not book our hotel room to include breakfast, and even though the breakfast cost is so little, we preferred to have a break from eating too much and too early.

We ate only a piece of fruit and drank some green tea in our room.

Today was a cool, overcast day, with a good chance of rain until about noon.  

We started walking by 9:00 am.  

Initially we had to walk on the main car road, but the car road was too noisy, and didn’t have any cafés, restaurants or convenience stores anyway.  

So we took a longer route on a long, straight gravel road that runs through the huge rice fields in this area.  

It is the road that farmers use to work the rice fields, but we saw almost no farmers around, since their rice has already been harvested.

I was very excited about using my new camera, taking closeup photos of flowers, leaves and insects on our way.  

The time I took photographing put me walking way behind Jules, who suddenly decided to enjoy a little run on these roads through the fields.

It was so nice to see him run.

He really loves to run, and is always excited about going running, and now that we were alone in the fields where there were no cars or trucks to watch out for, he was running like the wind.

The reason I was so happy to see him run is because he was able to overcome the fatigue of daily walking, and remember that he is NOT a body, but a free spirit, unencumbered by the pull of gravity and the limited strength of the body.

We stopped at the edge of a park at about 11 am, where we had our lunch.

Lunch wasn’t great, since we only had with us two day-old onigiri rice balls and a banana each.  

We have learned our lessons from this lunch - onigiris need to be eaten on the day they are made, and remember that bears love bananas! So always throw away the peels before entering a forest, instead of carrying them with you.

We returned to our hotel and went to the Starbucks in the mall across the street.  

Because it was a Sunday, the mall was packed with people, and we felt fortunate to get a table at which to relax.

The streets we walked on today were devoid of any people, but the indoor mall was fully packed.

We repacked our storage box with extra clothes, cosmetics, electronics and other items we don’t want to carry in our backpacks, preparing the box to be shipped ahead to our hotel at the end of our walk.

We are trying to reduce the weight of our backpacks, but we did keep our light down jackets and balaclavas, since the weather has started to get colder and soon we will be entering the mountains, and even staying in some ski resorts where we expect the weather will be colder.  

For dinner, we chose a popular Japanese restaurant in the mall.

Jules ate tempura-don, which is a selection of tempura vegetables and shrimp served on rice with a savory tea to pour on the rice.

We also shared dishes of steamed Edamame on the vine and agedashi tofu, and I ate a Japanese delicacy of fish head stewed with daikon radish in a sweet soy sauce served with salad, pickles and rice.

Our hotel doesn’t have an Onsen hot spring, but there is a public Onsen nearby.

Tonight we were too tired to go and soak, because by the time we finished dinner and did our laundry, it was already too late. 

Before going to sleep, I thought about how much the Universe loves and supports us.

We are not lonely, lost creatures moving through space and time, thrown about by world’s events, doomed to get weaker and die.

We are powerful creators, choosing our experiences, awakening to remembrance and realization of our true nature as divine eternal beings.

When sad things seem to happen to us, we need to take time in order to see the blessings in it.

It I think of my two divorces, at the time, they seemed so sad.

But were they really? 

In time, I was free to find a life partner who fitted my spirit better than my past relationships, and I discovered ideas and concepts that have empowered me to live an adventurous life.

So was a divorce, that led to my happiness and growth, such a sad thing?

It is important to remember that whatever happens in your life 

is not happening TO you, but is happening FOR you!, for your highest good and betterment.

With love and kindness,

Tali

Walked today - 17 km. 

Total walked to date - 211 km.