Chuzenji-no-taki: Chuzenji waterfall

You could say Tochigi is my playground. I just love the place. Take a long slow train over to Tobu-Nikko station and there are many options. Most tourists would spend the whole day at the temple complex, Toshogu, Rinnoji and of course, snap photos of the stable with 3 monkeys. But the hidden gem of Nikko is the many hiking opportunities like Chuzenji to the northwest and Kirifuri area to the northeast.I’ve been to Senjogahara and Kirifuri before, and the links are embedded in the two names in this sentence.

Senjogahara Plateau

Senjogahara is in the northwest just further up from Chuzenji. Chuzenji is, of course, synonymous with a waterfall, not just a normal waterfall, but one that drops hundreds of meters. The lake that feeds the waterfall, Chuzenji lake, is relatively large, and on a plateau in the highlands. On a summer day, there are anglers spaced evenly along its banks. I don’t have proof, but it does look like you need to have permit to fish there and you are probably assigned slots. They do look spaced out a little too evenly to be random!

Fly Fisherman on Yukawa River

... And more fly fishing...

According to all the information I have, after all, I ‘ve been here twice already, Chuzenji lake used to be a lot larger than what we have today. At one end, where the Yukawa river joins the lake, the dried lake bed makes up Senjogahara plateau. It is basically marshland today, with a habitat of its own and generally wet ground. The good thing about the place is that the air is fresh, and there is a long plank walkway for hikers.

Tobu-Nikko Station

From Yutaki waterfall, walk towards Akanuma

Going up towards Yumoto Hot Springs, you will enter a forest area before reaching Yutaki waterfall. Along the way, especially in the forested area, there will normally be fly fishermen (permits required again) along the Yukawa river. This is normally a nice area for plants and insect macros. People walk around with bells attached to their bag, and I was told that this was for scaring away bears. I have never seen one in the two times I have been here.

Station at Akanuma. Exit here and get your 150Y bottle of tea at the machine!

All in all, this is a nice place to spend the day out of Tokyo. Take the train from Asakusa early in the morning, the slow train takes about three hours to get there, and best thing to do is to take the second train out (first is an express that cost more) at 6:30 in the morning and sleep there. When arriving at Tobu-Nikko station, jump on a bus that goes to Yumoto Springs and get off almost an hour later at Yudaki-iriguchi station and walk down towards Akanuma. Walking slow to enjoy the sights and nature, it should take 4-5 hours to get there. Then take the bus back towards Chuzenji and stop at the midway station to enjoy sights of the waterfall. Then back to Tobu-Nikko station and back to Tokyo and you’ll be really tired, and end the day with a nice bowl of soba!

Enjoy the photos. I’m sure I will be back to Senjogahara again in the future. I have heard that the marshes are starting to dry up. Next trip will hopefully be during winter.

Izumiyado Pond

Marshland...

... more marshland...

.... and more, but this time a little more trees...

... and ending with plenty of trees. This is close to Yudaki waterfall.

And here's a little close up shot with the amazing Leica Summilux 50mm ASPH lens...

...

Tourists at Chuzenji Waterfall viewing station

And on the way back to Tokyo... at Tobu Nikko Station

Gears: All pictures in this post shot with a Leica M6 Classic with Leica’s excellent Summilux 50mm f1.4 ASPH and with Kodak’s new Ektar 100 film. Scans are a little cool, and I blame my lack of calibration with vuescan before really scanning it.

*end of post*

Pavillion at Guyi Garden, Nanxiang

Shanghai is famous for this little dumpling with thin skin and soup inside. Bite it and if still hot off the steamer, it guarantees a scalding where it hurts.

The most famous restaurant in shanghai that sells them by the bucketloads, figuratively speaking, is Nanxiang Restaurant over by that tourist hole, Yuyuan Garden right in the middle of the city. Its not too far from where I stay and on weekends, I sometimes take the walk over, and stand in the half and hour queue (if I’m lucky). Its not the best in Shanghai though and its quite obvious it’s famous because it’s famous, no more. Nanxiang Restaurant also starts to expand with branches overseas.

Shanghai Bus, encountered on the way looking for that bus that will take me to Nanxiang

So not to dwell too much in stories, I found out during a chat with a colleague that the xiao loong bao, what this tasty dumpling is called, was first invented in a town called Nanxiang. Just tens of kilometre from downtown Shanghai so close that a public bus (actually many from all points) runs there from the Shanghai railway station, so we found out after browsing the chinese languaged internet. So quickly this became my mission for the coming weekend.

Guyi Garden Pavillion from another angle

Based on a copied and pasted list of public bus that goes there on my phone, I went out looking for this place that strangely most of my colleagues have never been to. The bus from Jing-an temple metro stop doesn’t seem to exist. I’ve checked the locations of bus stops and list of buses that stops nearby at the metro station and couldn’t match the number. What I’m sure is, if there’s a bus that goes somewhere in Shanghai, its bound to stop near the Train Station.

After a long time searching, the bus I took was bus 517 at exit 6 of the Shanghai Train Station metro line 1. This is misleading because the bus stop is not exactly AT the train station. You have to make it to the north exit square and the follow signs pointing to bus 517 and this is a 20 minutes walk at least. At every junction look out for the signs that points to the direction of the bus stop for 517.

On the bus: This is funny. I use the Shanghai Transport card, aka the Jiaotong, and there is a conductor in the bus sitting next to the rear exit folding doors and has a console in front of him. This where he controls the pricing and has a comm system to talk to the driver. The price for the trip seems to be 4 RMB although I’m not too sure about it. Whatever it is, it’s not too expensive compared to the price of taxis.

Sunset at Guyi Garden

Guyi Garden: Now, in the bus you have to be quite careful where to stop. I have a GPS map of Shanghai on my Nokia E71 and managed to get a window seat all the way there. Was able to track my location all the way to a town called Nanxiang. Unfortunately, I have no idea where the central attraction is, but I thought that a lake with green gardens should signify something tourists would want to go to. Not true. The easiest way is to look out for a signboard above the road that says Guyi Garden, and it exists in English as well. Its ok if you missed the stop and realised it after you passed it as the next stop is just across the corner after turning left.

Guyi Garden

Guyi Garden

First thing I noticed was that Guyi Garden has a restaurant in front of the main entrance. This restaurant looked oldish, and from the menu, looks like THE place to come for the xiao loong bao. But since it was only 4pm, I decided to have a look at the garden. It is not free, as usual, and 12 RMB gets you in.

Guyi Garden

After the entrance to the park, the first thing that caught my eye was a big basket of the famous dumpling. It was starting to get quite cold here and sun is starting to set. I walked quickly around the park. There’s a lake with a zig-zag bridge and a pavillion, quite standard in most Chinese garden. The walk in the park was quite pleasant, but since it was getting dark I didn’t have too much time to remember all the sights. The park is medium in size, probably 1km square , maybe a little bigger since its area we’re talking about. The most interesting architecture in there was a pavillion that’s suppose remind the Shanghainese of the Japanese occupation and what’s special about it is that usually Chinese roofs have edges with accents of dragons, or mythical animals. This one has curled up fists. Looked like an ancient joke, but too bad I don’t have photographic proof as it was in the shodow of trees and I couldn’t get adequate exposure with the 2 film cameras I have loaded with ISO 125 and ISO 160 films respectively.

Guyi Garden

So by 5pm the sun was starting to set, and it was getting to low single digit Celcius, and it was time to go to the restaurant. Strangely, this park seems to be the confluence point of newly-weds, and the firecrackers attest to this. Even at the restaurant, there are many wedding limousines arriving and hurriedly leaving.

Guyi Garden

However, my attention was affixed by going for a basket of speciality steamed dumplings from the place that originally invented it (according to my news). Cheap, 15 RMB buys you a basket of 10. Cheaper than the one in Shanghai, but not by much. Since I wanted to go back to Shanghai before 7:30pm and drop the roll of Kodak 160VC I’m shooting today at the developers before they close, I decided to buy it to go. 10 dumplings and plenty of vinegar no it, I walked to the bus station diagonally across the road and past the traffic junction, savouring on a rather good set of dumplings, from the place that started it all. And it was good…

Dumpling Restaurant at Guyi Garden

Dumplings!!!

*end of post*

Cotton-like plants are found all over Jiuzhaigou Park, with one of the colourful lakes forming the perfect backdrop

Jiuzhaigou is one of those places in china where it is said you can never miss and you have not been to a certain place if you have never seen it. It has definitely appeared many many times in pictures. First time I heard of it was a few years back when it was said it was very difficult to get to. I don’t know when they went or heard about it, but I see there are airports near the park, and there are official tourist buses going from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou with daily bus (yes, singular) and in the parks are roads going to all sights and mini buses plying the route. Surely not in accessible, but nevertheless, still a place not to be missed. We shall see if this is a boast or truth.

16 November 2008: Taking the 8 am bus to Jiuzhaigou from Chengdu’s Xinnanmen station. The bus station looks like a special station for tourist areas, but on the inside other than the metal detectors and xray machines, it looks like any other station. The buses look newer and the windows are fixed, so naturally I was afraid of the species known as the smoking chinese. But looks like the locals going to tourist places are a special type. During the whole trip, the guy in front of me had a half burnt cigarette in his fingers for hours but kept the urge to light it. In fact, no one smoked on this trip in the bus. Amazing show of patience. The only two things that irritated me were some passengers playing their songs on their mobile phone speakers and a guy eating process meat that smelled like coffee flavored chicken and a hint of chloroform. Smells nauseous. Overall, the trip was a lot nicer than the 12hrs bus to Xiaojing in part 2. Bearable.

Reflection on Arrow Bamboo Lake

How long? 10 full hours. We would get to see all sort of terrain. Highways first, boring and time for the ipod to keep company. Then valleys with slow flowing river, which is nothing like the ones from Xiaojing or Rilong last week, so it was about awe inspiring as cooking instant noodles to me. Then we started climbing and that’s when it started to get interesting, soon we were up in the clouds and it started to look white. Snow were everywhere, trees, ground, everywhere. The GPS was not acquiring any signals so I had no idea where we were, and afraid that Jiuzhaigou is on top of the plateau, meaning that I will have some problem with my plan since I didn’t bring any thermos. The view up there were quite spooky, and I was tempted to get the driver to stop the bus so I can set up my gitzo and take some photos up there.

Before long the road started to go down from 3200m altitude to just around 2000m. Some mountain range to cross, the snow started thinning down and soon it was back to normal terrain. Normal except the trees look redder signalling autumn time. The river at the bottom of the valley seems to be flowing faster probably meaning there is some more climb to come, long but a climb nonetheless.

Throughout the trip it was possible to see the effect of the recent earthquake here in Sichuan province. There are many tents along the way, some with Chinese Red Cross emblazoned on it, and others normal. In the town of Pingwu, there was a small area of the town made of temporarily materials with schools and sport facilities, I’m guessing for the victims of the disaster.

At 6 pm we arrived at Jiuzhaigou bus station. First thing first, bought the ticket back on wednesday right away, and there is only one bus in the morning. 7 am I believe. On the way, I saw the hotel I booked and walked there, a total of 400m or a little more in the darkening skies and cold weather.

Cheated this time and used my SPG points to stay at the Sheraton Jiuzhaigou. Since I have a platinum card which forces them to upgrade me if possible, I am staying with my backpack in a suite. Its nice to very pampered for a night before going to look for a local family to bunk tomorrow in the park. Ordered room service and just sat down to type this blog out. Will go for a nice long warm shower and long sleep in the nice Sheraton bed and will wake up tomorrow at first light to beat the standard tourists going into the park.

17 November 2008: Woke up well before first light, but as I love Sheraton’s bed, I left the hotel well after first light. Seems it makes no difference as there are no fog in the morning and being on a valley floor, Jiuzhaigou’s sights are not bathed in morning light till around 11am. Stacked on powerbars and snickers for breakfast and soon boarded a taxi for the 5 minute ride to the entrance.

This week is the first week of the off season. Tickets cost 80RMB and for 20RMB more you get a second day included. That and 80RMB shuttle bus ticket puts the day’s damage at 180. Everyone had to take the shuttle bus as some of the roads are not for walkers although it should be possible to walk on it anyway. There is a reason why they call it off season, that’s when they close some of the paths for fire hazard, they say… I guess its more for crowd control during off season. So it is not possible to walk all the way from one attraction to another in the forests, though it is possible to see path, they are sealed.

The tourist buses today goes directly up to Rize Valley right away and drop all passengers there at the end of Arrow Bamboo Lake. There is a pickup point just a walk away, and there is a shuttle there every once in a while so there is no need to rush.

Arrow Bamboo Lake

Arrow Bamboo Lake: Seems that during off season it is not possible to go farther to Swan Lake and the forests. I got off the bus at about 830am, and it was still close to 0C at that time. So cold the security guard had to run in circles to keep warm. Funny guy, we would chat for a while. The lake is blue green and tree trunks are visible in it. When I was there there was just shadows so the pictures were not too saturated. Polarizers are very useful here, and not anything that casts colours as the lake is already very colourful. Must have spent 30 minutes there.

Panda Lake: This lake has a walkway built along the cliff that surrounds one side. But off season, so it is closed. It is possible to be a contortionist and get thru but I asked a chinese man getting out of it if there is anything worthwhile and he said no. Panda Lake has some nice photo opportunities, again due to the multicoloured lake bed. Locals hang around the bus stop end of this lake to rent out traditional clothes for couples to take photos. I don’t bother.

There are three types of photographers there at Jiuzhaigou. There’s the serious ones. Then there’s the point and shooter, and third category are the boyfriends that go all the way there to shoot their girlfriend posing. I suggest they either get into the first two categories and shoot their girlfriends at home and do some photoshop masking tricks.

Again, there is a path downhill where it winds from Panda Lake past some waterfalls to the next lake, but they are closed for winter, time to hit the bus then,

Five Flower Lake

Five Flower Lake: This one is more colourful, probably because it is shallower than the other 2 and thus, it is possible to see the whole lake contents and the transition between blue and green that is the hallmark of water features in this park. There is adequate paths to find different photo vantage points and again polarizers are essential to get the most of this lake. When I was shooting this lake around 11am, the sun starts to fill the valley.

View from top of hill over looking Five Flower Lake

Five Flower Lake

I would then notice a vantage point uphill between this lake and the previous Panda Lake, and walked on the main road for half hour uphill to get there. Was hoping to see a nice view from there, and although it was ok, was missable. Loaded my 105mm and started shooting crop shots.

Taking the bus next, we would have to skip Peacock Riverbed and Golden Bell Lake as the paths are closed and there are no bus stops. Next stop, Pearl Shoal.

Pearl Shoals

Pearl Shoals

Pearl Shoal & Waterfall: Here the bus would tell you to all get off and walk. Actually in every bus there will be a driver and a girl whose job it would be to tell passengers what’s next. More often than not they will be shouting to see whether they should be stopping next.

But at Pearl Shoal, everyone gets off. It starts off as an oversized dam. Water is slowing on the surface of a slope and there are small trees and round rocks breaking the smooth flow of water, giving the look of a slope with sound of crashing water. There are two walkways, one goes straight down and the other branches left. Take left which cuts across the shoal itself. Tried to take some photos there but nothing dramatic. The path drops by way of stairs and I realised this is the famous waterfall. There is almost no way for the sun to be shining on the waterfall, always in the shadows and when I was there, there was a strong backlight and the wide waterfall was in the shadows. Saw in the distance a mountain covered in snow and whipped out my gitzo to do a hard core 5 stops HDR. The waterfall would deposit the water into a fast flowing stream, by which the path then continues all the way to a car park a few hundred metres away where the park buses would be waiting to go to next destination.

Mirror Lake: To tell the truth this one is a disappointment, it is late at noon by the time I got there and noon is not the time to look for mirror reflections. I got off the bus anyway, and snapped a few as creative I can. Next…

Nuorilang Waterfall

Nuorilang Waterfall: The bus stops at the Nuorilang terminus, which is nothing more than a glorified bus stop with some buildings near it. I was hoping there are buses to go to Zechawa Valley but seems that section of the park is closed too. A path leads under the road and into the forest, and soon after a few minutes walk past toilets and a junction, I’m at the Nuorilang Waterfall. Almost like the Pearl Waterfall, this is a long waterfall about 2 storeys high and you are very close to the waterfall. Again we are in the shadow of the sun, so any pictures that includes the sun will have blown up skies. I took a few pictures sans the skies and to add some warmth by using my Singh-ray gold and blue polarizer. It was not that easy as it is easy to get water sprayed onto the filter and bright sunlight made water droplets visible at small aperture openings.

Smaller waterfalls are everywhere at Nuorilang Falls

The waterfall runs about a hundred metres, then the path leads into the woods along the river for a few hundred metres of nice cool walk before reaching the bus stop again, and the routine continues. Its 4pm but the time I got to the bus stop.

Little waterfalls connect different lakes in the Shuzheng valley

Rhinoceros Lake: Next stop on the way to the entrance of the park, is this lake, large as is, starts to look like any other lakes in this park. Next to it is Tiger Lake. These two are connected together by series of mini waterfalls and overflows with trees growing out of it, creating a nice sound of water rushing thru obstacles. Getting sick of taking yet another lake shot, I switched to micro lenses and started shooting plants with colourful lake backdrops. This seems to work!

On the periphery of Rhino Lake

Before long it seems its getting late and the wardens are starting to clear the park. Not having time to look for park accommodation, and not really sure they exist now in off season, I took the shuttle back down to the entrance and looked for a hotel near the exit.

Flowers are everywhere on the banks of the lakes

For dinner, walked into a bright local restaurant in an evening of blackout in town (restaurant runs their own generator!) and ordered rice with Sichuan chilli yak and a dish of local vegetable that looks like black twigs. The yak dish was really good, as was the vegetable. This is china so expect it to be oily, but the cheap tea is free flow to compensate.

Will be an early night tonight while I make it back to Jiuzhaigou tomorrow morning to continue my adventure.

18 November 2008: There is not a reason to start off early today. Got out of the hotel at 8 am, and proceeded procedurally to Jiuzhaigou gate and bought a bus ticket only. I already have the second day ticket from yesterday. The crowd seems to be thicker than yesterday but maybe it is because it is now later than when I started.

Zechawa Gully: Now this trip to Zechawa valley is what I really wanted to do today. I tried listening attentively this time but didn’t hear anything about the gully being closed. The 3 valleys are Zechawa, Shuzheng and Rize valley/gully. I have done Rize yesterday and top part of Shuzheng. To get to Zechawa, take the tourist bus to Nuorilang terminal and get off and hang around the police booth on the road up, first bus seems to be at 9:30am and I waited 30 minutes for it. It should be possible to ask at the gate and get omitted board the bus that goes only to Zechawa valley. Most buses goes to Rize as this is where most of the attractions are.

Long Lake at the end of Zechawa Valley

Long Lake: This is the last stop on the road to Zechawa and is a full 15 minutes away uphill. When we got there, we were probably the first bus of the morning and there were again locals with local costumes for hire. But my attention was fixed on the lake. The sun has not really affected the lake and the wind has not blown hard yet. There was cold morning water vapours rising, I ran to the viewing gallery above the lake next to the carpark and started shooting with wide angles and short telephoto.

Long Lake is just that. Largest lake in this park and perched on top as remains of a glacial lake. The path to the next lake closeby is closed, so I am forced to take the shuttle to it.

Multi-coloured lake bed

Multi-coloured Lake: This little lake is no bigger than a large fat swimming pool and is not too far downhill from Long Lake, but is the most cozy and colourful lake in the park. There are shades of blue and green in high saturation here, and before the wind started to come in, I shot with polarizers with minimal ripples. Very nice place.

The path leads the herd of tourists into the forest downhill to a pick up area a few hundred meters away. Efficient and relatively quick if not for those noisy and slow Hong Kong tourists.

The other lakes in Zechawa are all empty of water so the bus do not stop there. The next stop will be the Nuorilang stop at the centre of the Y shaped park valley. It comes to around 11 am by the time I get to the Nuorilang Centre, lunch time.

I didn’t see the size of the Nuorilang complex yesterday. The bus would stop close to the center and I would have to walk right through it to get to the bus going through the Shuzheng valley to the other sights I want to go to on the way to the entrance. Outside are the cattle class restaurant, chinese eating instant noodles. Inside, there are many stalls selling souvenirs though I don’t think most are made in this place. They just look too manufactured. I don’t bother. I then saw the restaurant and the scale of the place. One would buy a ticket for 50 RMB and then go through a turnstile into the restaurant, I believe serving buffet style meal. Looks like everyone in this park has to eat here. I took out my soy joy and mars bar and decided to continue my trip while the masses chow.

Nuorilang Waterfall: Oh yes. I have been here yesterday buy I was hoping to get a better view from the road viewing platform today. A wide angle nicely frames half the waterfall without taking the road. I don’t know if I took a better shot but surely today’s muted weather was making it a little easier than yesterday’s strong backlight.

After this quick stop revisiting the waterfall, I backtracked to Nuorilang centre and took the bus back down Shuzheng valley.

Tiger Lake on the second day

One of the many waterfalls interconnecting the lakes together

Shuzheng Village: Took the bus to Tiger lake where I left off but again looks like other lakes I saw yesterday. Took the broadwalk down the lakes and shoals with trees growing out of it. Took some photos but nothing to shout about once you have seen the rest. Soon I would be at the village, looking around realising that in this down season, nothing is opened. Wondering if I really wanted to look for a place to stay here if it was possible. It looks as though either everyone here are working for the park and minimal agriculture happens in this village, or the real villagers have been removed and only some or only workers live here. I believe it is a combination of the two. Definitely sparse and probably difficult to find accommodation in here. I spent 10 minutes here.

Shuzheng Lakes

Shuzheng Lakes: Just at the front door of the village are a series of small lakes. It looks to me like a large area with natural dams and barriers making it look like many lakes. Water flow from one lake to another downhill. Maybe it can be easily said to be a flat looking rice terrace with trees growing on the barriers. At this time the trees are in autumn configuration, yellow and red colour, while blue transparent water filled the lakes with gradients. Wide angles do not do too well here, but short telephotos do. The platform is elevated and one side of the lakes so telephoto lens helps to isolate the autumn leaves and just enough transparent blue water to make scene. The area is so vast it is possible to stay on the platform and shoot telephoto and normal lenses the whole day if you are into that sort of thing.

Shuzheng Lakes

Shuzheng Lakes

The lakes are so clear, they make good backdrops for tree shots!

After this would be the Shuzheng waterfalls, denser groups of trees and small waterfalls rotting the landscape.

Reeds on the banks of reed lake

Reed Lake

Other Lakes: I continued walking down the park towards the entrance all the way to the reed river. There are many macro opportunities shooting plants and small fruits and cotton plants. The reed river is now brown waiting foe winter, and photo taking into account the brightly coloured reeds with the dark coloured blue water. Anyway, I took a couple more shots and noticed my D300 battery is below 10% with more than 600 shots in 2 days. As it is approaching 4 pm and already tired, I then took the next available bus to the entrance of the park, ending my 2 day trip before winter arrives.

After checking into Sheraton (again, free nights based on my SPG point exchange) its time to go out to the restaurant I went yesterday. Arriving there the owner recognised me right away and came to me without the menu. I then told him, ok I want local chilli chicken today, a plate of mountain mushrooms whatever that is and an ordinary plate of vegetable knowing here in Sichuan everything comes with dried chilli and Sichuan peppercorns. Asked also for a small portion of their self roasted peanuts. Since I did not have a proper lunch, thought it was appropriate to eat more for dinner! The meal was excellent as usual, and I have the GPS coordinates for this restaurant and once I finished and paid for the meal, we chatted a little about cooking and when is the best time to visit. Incidentally it was this year during summer when Jiuzhaigou is a little cooler than the coastal areas, and because of the earthquake, not many tourists were here. Too bad I missed it and coming at the border of autumn and winter.

In terms of purity I would prefer Siguniang shan, but Jiuzhaigou has a different feel to it. The part is run like a machine, and I can see how amusement park it can get in summer. It is possible to walk the whole park but I don’t see how to do it in 3-4 days to cover the whole park. Taking a combination of walking some part and taking buses where there are no attractions, 2 full days would be required. 1 day is enough if you stop on every stop, take the obligatory photo and bus to the next stop. It should be. I took the slow, take my time approach, taking time to setup tripod and photo and walk when needed and it took 2 days to finish the 3 valleys. But seriously why rush it? If a triage is required, I suggest doing a quick Rize and Shuzheng Valley. Actually Zechawa and Shuzheng Valley is ok too. Obviously you down miss Shuzheng Valley as you will see what is essentially Jiuzhaigou if you visit only this area. Start uphill and go downhill. Unfortunately this is what most people do. At high altitude don’t bother being a hero and move uphill.

Whatever it is, it’s a one of a kind scenery here. Very graceful the way water flows up from the mountains to the lower rivers. I’m guessing from zero geological knowledge that this is because of the high mineral contents causing the water to be colorful and calcify easily. But I leave the explanations and all the myths of naming the attracting to wikipedia.

Tomorrow I will take the slow 10 hrs bus back to Chengdu at 7am. My trip starts to get easier as it goes on! Soon it will be a panda trip in Chengdu. Unless there are anything interesting along the way, its over and out from Sheraton Jiuzhaigou tonight.

19 November 2008: After a nice American breakfast before 6 am, it is time to go to the bus station just next to the Sheraton before the sun comes up. Like most days, sleep early and wake up early. This time I get seat number 3 right in front to the right of the driver. In 10 hours I will be back in Chengdu.

Verdict: when in Sichuan, never miss Jiuzhaigou, but come with plenty of money!

Next part: Guilin, China

Hangzhou should look better in spring and one of the equinox days, but I’ll treat this trip as a scouting trip. Found a hostel (Mingtown Garden Hostel) on the west bank of the lake, strategic for morning pictures on the lake. Lenses I brought goes from 12mm to 50mm on DX sensor, and a rangefinder for night shots. I’m rather self sufficient this trip. I have a towel, and change of clothes. Packs quite small into the backpack. Will be using primarily this E71 for GPS duties, but I just can’t leave the Garmin behind so that is in the bag as well. I really need to think about leaving things behind and not duplicate for the duties I will be performing during trips!

Packed quite heavily for a weekend trip. Normally I’ll just bring a small pack for a night, but I’m trying to simulate my next medium duration trip next month. Going with a 30 litre pack with external attachments. On the left side is attached a gitzo 1541T tripod and my mont bell jacket attached on the right. In a small bag inside the pack is a leica M2 with 35mm f1.2 Voigtlander and in the second think tank speed demon belt pack is a Nikon D300 with 2 lenses. This is quite a heavy setup. Will need to lighten up for the longer trip. The backpack balances quite well, but definitely no room for a sleeping back if I need one. Will be travelling with the ipod touch and just a phone/blog machine this time. No blackberry. That will stay home.

Starting to love my E71. I have already loved my old E61 and the addition of a GPS that is actually working and acquires signal quicker than my handheld Garmin makes it more compelling. The camera on this phone is good enough to put on the web. My usual workflow is to keep Location tagger app on, and take a picture with the built in camera. The picture will be automatically tagged with the GPS coordinates. Using Shareonline, i then create a post to Flickr and just save it as a draft post. I then send it when I’m at a wifi point. I have of course the ability to send it immediately via EDGE here in China. Nicely done.

The train left shanghai at 0810 hrs and here I am in hangzhou at 1005hrs. This is the T coded train, fast but not the D coded bullet train. 2 hours is not too bad. Short enough they sell standing room tickets. The train I took actually goes all the way to Ningbo. Which is not too bas a place to go (search my blog for my report on Ningbo last year).

Crap. Was looking for a bus that goes to the West bank of the west lake. Bus that says line 2 does go there, but since my chinese reading is spotty, found its a tourist bus no 2. And I really really hate tourist buses. This one is shaped after trolleys in San Francisco, and with wooden interiors that look over varnished like a chinese boat. And the most uncomfortable seats in a bus. the aisle is narrow, so I’m hitting passengers with my carbon fibre gitzo tripod when navigating inside the bus. But you pay according. 3 RMB for a bus ride is as reasonable as it gets. Good good. Just need to make sure they move quicker as this seat sucks. The bus swings via the southern shore of the west lake and seems to terminate roughly near Yuquan. By the way, the official number of this bus is Y2. Apparently bus K7 also goes this way. At least to the west of west lake.

Oh what a bad weather. It has been raining the whole day, and its getting heavier now darkness has set. There are no colours to shoot, except perhaps for the nursery where I got to use the tripod for once. I will need to wrap the ends with neoprene when transporting. Reason: I dropped it when trying
to remove something from the backpack, basically careless and dented the ends when it landed on concrete.

The issue now is that near the hostel there are not too many places to eat. There are many 5 star club restaurants, which will probably not welcome a guy with backpack. There are 2 KFCs here though. Says something about the priorities of locals here. Wandered into a local restaurant with rowdy locals. Nothing special about the food except my dish looks strangely like snake meat. Next time I think I will be safe and go into a posher looking restaurant without the ultra thin plastic table cloth. 

Its now dark in hangzhou, as in, night time is already here at 6pm. Set up the gitzo on the northern bank of the large lake and took a few 20 second shots of the Pagoda in the horizon on the other side of the lake. One of the issue I see here is at that kind of night time shooting, it is very difficult to level the camera without any kind of level bubble. My next shopping item would be a innocent looking bubble level, those yellow thing they use to level large format cameras. I think I might be facing south so this will not be one of my choice location tomorrow morning. Will be scouting morning shoot location tonight although I don’t hold too high a hope for perfect morning weather where I will be able to see the sun peeking above the horizon at 6am. GPS maps to the rescue…

It is night and still raining and there is a fireworks show somewhere. I can hear the booming sound of firework propulsion not too far away. It’s probably coming from the north side of the lake as I could see the place being cordoned off after dinner tonight.

Its just over 6am now on a sunday morning and it has been raining non stop all night long. This is the worst weather for morning shots. At a moment there is no light and suddenly feels like someone turned on the fluorescent light just like that. No morning switch on transition at all, which makes for very uneventful photo shoot. This morning is a prime example of that. What could work are very low contrast and colourless pictures with traces of a small boat with a standing rower, will try and achieve that look while hunkered down in this little pavillion/bridge.

If there’s a positive thing about this thing, it would be two things. First is cheap buses, other than the tourist Y buses, the normal buses with no characters, or the K bus here in Hangzhou is cheap as hell. Took bus K27 to Longjing (more about this in a while) and K7 to the train station, and they cost 1 RMB per entry. If I knew this earlier, would have saved 2 RMB (ok, I’m nitpicking) when I got here yesterday.

Longjing Tea Farms: As I had something like 3 hours to kill before the train starts to leave for Shanghai on Sunday after noon, I boarded K27 that goes up to the hills next to West Lake to an area known as Longjing. Famous for tea, its quite obviously so as there are just tea houses on top of the hill. The bus stops at a point that is just next to some theme park dedicated possibly to tea, but a few hundred more meters on the road uphill, I came upon this well that looks like a tourist attraction. Appears as Longjing Well in one of my maps. A little more of a walk and you start to go downhill into the countryside. I didn’t go further, but this would be the adventure for next trip. Bus Y3 also passes by there, and continues where K27 left off. On the way back to West Lake on K27, the bus would pass by some medium sized tea leave farms. There are no swathing vista full of tea plants like the ones in advertisement, but I could see some photo opportunities here. Because of time issues, I couldn’t get off the bus at all stops and take some pictures, but be sure i will be back to explore this next time. So, Longjing tea… hmm…

*end*

View from Ogochi Dam (Ricoh GR Digital)

Okutama is an area of wilderness in Tokyo prefecture, lodged on the western end of it, looks close to Tokyo but according to schedules, takes almost the same amount time to get to as Nikko. The plan would be to hike from the train station to the lake and then back. Figured 4-5hrs hike to get there.

Okutama Forest (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

Traveling light today. Only cameras are the Ricoh, which comes along with me everywhere and a Leica M2 with 35mm Summicron ASPH lens. Weather is 50% chance of rain, which in my experience means sure chance of a drizzle. Whether or not it will get me wet is another story. This trip sees my old GPS tagging along, fresh from its stint in New Zealand last week and a newly charged battery to boot. Shouldn’t have the urge to buy overpriced batteries anymore.

Something about this pile caught my eye, has to be the neoprene suit (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

0804hrs: On the Chuo rapid line to Tachikawa station before switching to a train that hopefully ends up at Okutama. This rapid train seems to stop at Musashi-Kagonei. A swith will be required to get to Tachikawa.

I should be going to Okutama now (Ricoh GR Digital)

0844hrs: Train change at Tachikawa. Surprisingly large train station this. Chuo line is on platforms 3-6 and Ome line that goes to Okutama in on platform 1-2. Only problem for me is that the first train i see on the platform goes towards Okutama but stops short in Kabe. looks like another stop is in order here.

0950hrs: Ok this is getting somewhere. I’m still in train station land. Looks like the least stressful way is to wake the ome line to Ome and then switching across the platform for the train that goes from Ome to Okutama. Finally. More than 2 hours to get there. The elderly hikers decked in goretexes and heavy boots tell me I’m on the right train. I’m dressed in shorts and t-shirt. This time a little smarter. I have me a little packable gore tex jacket i bought from Mont Bell the last trip to Japan. Rightly so as it will be raining the whole day today, drizzling little bit the whole day long.

Okutaman local bus. Does take you to the lake, but I prefer walking (Ricoh GR Digital)

1020hrs Okutama Station: finally got here. There is a tourist centre right outside the train station with maps printed on low cost paper, but none of them in english so this will be a challenge. I took the map anyway, and immediately grabbed a gps coordinate of the station. The train schedule says that there are at least 1 to 2 trains per hour till 11pm so i don’t worry about transport back.

Okutama JR Station (Ricoh GR Digital)

Okutama town is quite picturesque like the other towns on the way here. It is at the bottom, or almost there, of a large valley with nice stream flowing quickly alone the valley floor. The sounds of water are all over the town. Can’t miss it. Steep mountain surround the town on both sides. I should walk down hill and then turn right to get to the dam by walk.

Nice dog I met during the hike but he sure barked like crazy after I shot him (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

There are quite a fair bit of logging going on in Okutama (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

Tamagawa River (Ricoh GR Digital)

1200hrs On the Okutamako trail: have been walking for some time. Mostly on nice mountain tarmac (road) and the sun is hiding behind thick clouds today. It was drizzling on the way here in the train but now that part has cleared. Went on the wrong path a few times. Went deep into the forest in one and had to track back and a second time stumbled across a grave site in the forest. Walk was pleasant. There are sounds of rapids and waterfalls aplenty. In case I forgot to mention, taking a walk towards lake Okutama today. Should be a nice 4hr walk over there and maybe spend a few hours at the lake. Have the option of taking the bus back but you know me. May walk all the way back still. Ok, time to enjoy the Japanese countryside.

Trials in Okutama on the hillside (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

Its very common to see multi-level transport system, roadway bottom of picture, and unused train track on the top, and of course treking track I'm walking on (Ricoh GR Digital)

1412hrs Okutamako: Right now, I have finally reached Okutama lake. Or at least a glimpse of it except the only issue is I’m up on the hill and not on the lake level. It has been drizzling for the last hour or so and I have got the waterproofed jacket on for that length of time.

Construction site near Okutama Lake (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

This machine is quite interesting: Its a mechanized chair set on rails to get you up the hill! (Ricoh GR Digital)

One of many swaying cable bridges over Tamagawa river (Ricoh GR Digital)

The path now is quite high up with sheer drops for 100m at least on my left and I have a feeling I shouldnt be blogging in this conditions. Won’t be fun to drop off the side for sure!

Temple I encountered in the mist somewhere in the forest, spooky as anything you'd encouter in the fog! (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

One of many workshops I met along the way (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

Sometimes the forest track merges with the road (Ricoh GR Digital)

Worlds highest car park (Ricoh GR Digital)

1443hrs Okutama Dam Visitor Centre N35.79218 E139.04822: OK not really at the visitor centre, and the hike is really really disorienting. I have thought I was at the base of the dam an hour back but since I was up on the hill and basically hugged the contours, it took an hour to move 200m in straight line terms.

Sometimes the trekking path does get dark and damp (Ricoh GR Digital)

Sumimasen... you may be chased by fast flowing water (Ricoh GR Digital)

Okutama in the Fog (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

Ogochi Dam power plant (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

No complains. The view from the dam is really nice. Hills and more rolling hills and cloud hugging them. Almost like a chinese painting. Too bad its still raining. I will get a couple of shots and it should be time to pack up and leave this place if I am to get back in time. Behind me is Okutama lake, apparently the source of drinking water for downtown Tokyo. there is not too much to do here except for the hike here. Wondering between continuing the hike or making the journey back. Undecided.

Lake Okutama (Ricoh GR Digital)

1353hrs: Will cheat this time. Can’t be bothered to walk 4 hrs back to Okutama Station. Waiting now for the next bus to arrive and according to the time table at this stop, that will be 1615hrs and cost me 340 yen for the journey. Not too bad. Weather is getting worse. You can tell the dam is a tourist spot. Everyone here drove from somewhere and dressed for the lazy drive too. Looks like I am the only one to hike here from downstream. Nice experience, not sure I want to retrace my path. So bus is the way to go.

Okutama Bus Schedule at the dam (Ricoh GR Digital)

Abandoned van (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

1615hrs On the bus: on time like everything else here in Japan. Think I have said this many times before. like any bus in Kanto, you go in from the middle of the bus and grab a ticket with the number of the bus stop you boarded. Then you look at the LED signboard in the front of the bus and the price for your ticket number will increase as the bus moves along. Ingenious. When you get off the bus just drop ticket, which is printed on both sides, into a little receptacle with your payments at the front of the bus and you have it.

The buses here are not as flashy as the ones in Nikko, actually for Japan standards I might even say it is rickety. Actually it is not half that bad. I’m just fussy. But it does look like we are currently going downhill quiet a bit. Just wondering how much attitude I must have done earlier today! Amazing.

Okutama Station (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

1640hrs On the Holiday Rapid Okutama Train: This was the train I should have caught this morning. Skips most of the stops on the way and goes directly to Shinjuku, unlike the local train I took this morning. It starts moving at 1652hrs so there is still some time to burn. Lets see. 28 mins to Ome. And then the same train to Shinjuku. The station platform is not straight so there are gaps up to a meter at the entrance depending where you are. Last thing you want is to end up under the platform.

Train is moving now. Time to get some nap.

Okutama Bus (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

1757hrs Tachikawa Station: this train, although and express, moves slowly and makes long stops at almost all the stations. Looks like a 2 hour train ride. I slept first half hour at least. Will make the stop in Shinjuku for dinner tonight.

So overall a nice little exercise today. Nice walk with plenty of hills to climb and uncertainty on whether I was going in the right destination, which is great. The only problem is that the weather does not allow any good photo opportunities, which is also good that I don’t bring along a heavy medium format gear. The leica does well with 400 Tri-X black and white film. Only shot a roll of it though.

Shopkeeper at Okutama Station (Leica M2 + Summicron 35mm ASPH)

What I have in mind for a next trip is a trek in Mitake instead. Looks like a large group of hikers prefer to stop there a couple of stops before Okutama. That would a nice plan for my next trek. The path should be shorter but will include mountain climbing. Signing out… Time for some sushi celebration.

Last Photo: Self Portrait (Ricoh GR Digital)

*end*