紅葉狩り Momiji gari

We went momiji gari yesterday. Momiji gari literally means red leaves hunting in English. Just as cherry blossom represents spring, the momiji or autumn leaves has traditionally represented autumn in Japan.

If you had lived in Japan long enough, you will notice that the Japanese are very sensitive to changes of season. It's in Japanese tradition to appreciate every little details that come with it. For example sakura viewing in Spring and autumn leaves viewing in autumn, these practices are deeply rooted in their lives. Like the cherry blossom, the momiji reaches its peak in a rather short time and then fades and drop off the trees. It represents delicate short-lived beauty that Japanese people are traditionally fond of. Just like a samurai that led a short but honorable life.

Like every other year, I had been constantly checking the news and website for the best time to view autumn leaves. Finally, the forecast reported that the best time to view autumn leaves in where I live was last weekend and what more thrilling was, the day was blessed with great weather too!

This year, we had decided to view the autumn leaves deep in Iyakei valley, a 3-hour-drive from the city. Iyakei is famous for breathtaking autumn scenery. We were so excited!

On the way to the mountains...

As we went deeper into the mountains, the color of leaves changed from green to yellow then red...

We had to pass through many narrow roads...

Almost there...

Ooohh...look at the crowd. This must be a good spot.

So we stopped and snapped a few pictures too...

Our next stop was Iyakei camping site. The place where we went camping last summer.

Isn't it beautiful?

Next, we stopped at an observation platform. A place where a good overview of the whole valley could be seen.

Ooohhh....

Aaahhhh....

My personal favorite

Sya loved it too...

Couldn't resist to take pictures of ourselves ..:)

But someone lost his energy here...he was so hungry that he couldn't even walk! hahaha

After feeding Sya with some food in the car, we headed to another spot with a statue of manneken pis, a present from the Belgian embassy.

The statue was placed in a piece of rock, 200m from the bottom!

The statue was said to be placed there so to challenge anyone who would dare go up and pis...haha

Let's go closer...

A little closer...

Ooohhh...scary! That was the farthest I could go! But look at the view...breathtaking! Mountain with yellow and red carpets...

The view here was awesome too!

Our next destination was kazurabashi, Iyakei's best-known attraction. Kazurabashi is a precarious-looking vine bridge which was built in 1646 and is one of the oldest bridge in Japan. The bridge was made of vine, twigs and twine. But don't worry, they do regular check-up! hahaha...We didn't plan to cross the bridge because ayah was afraid of height. He tried it once and told me that he would never want to cross that bridge again.

However, my son who loves excitement, headed straight to the entrance! 'Mommy, quick! Let's cross the bridge. It's fun!' So...it was mommy who had to take him cross the bridge!

Look at the gap! My friend actually had lost his snicker here...ahahaha

That's us in the middle...me terrified!

After all that adrenaline rush, we headed back to the car park...

On the way, we saw a nice little waterfall...

We saw people eating along the road...reminded us that we were hungry too.

Many stalls selling Japanese grilled fish...they looked very tempting!

But instead of grilled fish, we had ice-cream and a Japanese delicacy called dengaku.

We also had Japanese soba for a late lunch...

Our last stop was Oboke...a place with beautiful Japanese garden.

Refreshed and home we went!

It was worth all the effort and energy. We really had a wonderful time. Watching changes of season and experiencing the beautiful nature, for us... is the best way to destress.