Life here lately has been really good going lately....
In Golden Week, two of my friends Ryuji and Aki came to visit from Kansai and I took them on a mini tour of the local area where I live. To their surprise, it isn't as boring living in the countryside as one might first think; a plethora of otudoor activities to be had such as zorbing in Ikawa, crossing the infamous Kazurabashi in the Iya Valley as well as the Iya Onsen, of which the open air bath can be reached my cliff railway down to the valley floor, a very spectacular ride!!
The pic on the left is a stunning river running through the mountain village of Deai, enroute to Iya but had to pull up to take a pic.
Right; Statue of the Peeing Boy in the valley with the guys; Satoshi (fellow teacher) Ryuji and Aki.
For 1500 yen you can take the cliff railway down to use the 露天風呂 （Outdoor bath) plus the indoor one which is up at the top in the Iya Hotel, a very good bargain considering how stunning the scenery is surrounding you! (Plus the road to get there is a pretty much a single track road with passing places, skirting around the mountainside, an awesome drive!!)
And so after taking a very relaxing bath at the onsen (hot springs), it was on further along the Iya Valley to see the Kazurabashi (vine bridge), without falling asleep at the wheel after feeling so relaxed and sleepy. As you can see when you cross, you can see the sheer drop into the water below you and the bridge itself is quite shaky. Some Japanese obasan were pretty scared and decided to go back, but to in all honesty it is no way as scary as people I have spoken to make out!!
