A few images from yesterday’s 55 km brisk ride up to the village of Amehata and back.
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Water levels of both the Amehata River and Lake were low and we noticed that the work crews on the dam were dredging sections of the river below the road. It was our guess that they were reusing the accumulated sediment created from the last typhoon as aggregate for other construction projects.
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One of two tunnels that we rode through. We didn’t encounter any vehicles on these occasions but coming back was a different story.
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The Amehata suspension bridge is the second one that we’ve been on. If you might recall, the other was on our trip to Narada.
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It would have been nice to see the river flowing but with the dam floodgates diverting the water for the work crews, this was the view from the bridge.
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For 200 yen, a tour through this Japanese ink stone (suzuri) museum and shop was well worth the price of admission for a chance to see some of the intricately carved works. The mine near the village is known throughout the country as one of the best sources of silica slate which the ink vessels are made from. The suzuri are used in the art of Japanese calligraphy but it’s the hardened charcoal stick that produces the ink when combined with water.
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Sai tries her hand at the art form which she was taught as a young school girl.
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The character symbolizes sky or heaven above.
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Another 2km up the road was Kennshino Falls. At 500 meters high it was quite impressive. According to legend there supposedly is gold up at the second basin of the falls.
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We start heading back down towards the main hwy but have to be cautious about the narrow roads and vehicles coming up in the opposite direction particularly along the wet roads through the tunnels. Otherwise it was an absolute blast hurtling down the descent.
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Afterwards, we stopped at a tourist info center in nearby Hayakawa beside a nice restaurant where we treated ourselves to some warm bowls of ramen. Soo good.
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Our rides up to this point have been outstanding and the mountainous terrain certainly makes up for the flatlands back at home. A little more than two weeks remain in our stay here and we hope to make the most of it.
Followup footage from our ride up Inokashira Rindo (Mountain Road)