Apart from hiking in North Alps, another big agenda of our Japan trip was the Fujirock Festival. It was Asia’s biggest open air music festival drawing in international big names in the 3 days of non stop concerts. The last and only festival I did was Glastonbury 2002, and FJR certainly lived up to my expectation.
First evening, we were united again with MUSE, who visited HK
only back in March. It was definitely on top of our to-see list. Their powerful music sored through the valley, and the 3 gigantic plasma screen, displaying some really cool graphic that amplified the meaning of every song. The song “Invinsible”, which I have shared the powerful lyrics before, was my personal pinnacle, image of mass demonstration went hand-in-hand with the words ‘Together we are invincible!”.
Second day, Kaiser Chief, set the stage alive, Ricky Wilson, the lead singer was a chubby guy on the outlook, but he demonstrated so much energy that I though he must be steroid. He jumped off the stage and launched himself to the crowd again and again, bemusing everyone but the security guards.
On the final day, we waited for an hour to make sure we are in front of the stage when Mika came on. Martina danced wildly to her idol. Chemical Brothers came on in the penultimate concert. I heard they were good before, but I was never into dance music. But it turned out to be my favorite concert in the whole festival, the techno x laser x computer graphic on the plasma screen simply brings the week’s experience to a whole new level. Green stage was turned into a gigantic dance club or a massive rave party. Their set last for 1.5 hrs and after which we were so exhausted.
Here are some advices for anyone who stumble to this post and is planning to go in future:
1. If you can afford it, consider to stay in hotels instead of camping, as the camp site is outside the gate of the festival anyway, it makes little different to your experience if the tent is just a spot you go back to at the end of the day.
2. Even if it didn’t rain, bring a pair of boots with you, the Kate Moss festival look has imply caught on so well in Japan.
3. Don’t miss the cable car ride to the mountain top, the “Day Dream and Silent Breeze” stage was a real treat for us. Plan to spend 3-4 hours there away from the crowd.
4. There was some romantic installation art in the forest board walk, don’t miss them, especially in the evening.
5. Japan has a great system to courier heavy stuff anywhere around the country, people simply sent their camping stuff ahead of them.
6. Unlike Glastonbury, we were able to enjoy hot bath in Onsen, the quality of the festival food was excellent, the toilet never overflow, have a great time!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Fujirock Festival 2007
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Japan Hiking Photos - Takayama
For you to enjoy, photos from our hiking trip to North Japan Alps:
Murodo Takayama Region
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Climbing the Hotakadaka
The plan was to trek the entire way from Murodo to Kamikochi, the classic North Japan Alps traverse, but many elements made us change our mind. With typhoon and earth quake happened just before we started our walk, we had not idea what the 6 day routes will be like. Also the snow patches have been very resilient this year, due to short of rainfall. The trek may not be too enjoyable for Martina. Maybe a project for future years. So our hiking trip became a two parts affairs, we did a one day walk in Murodo a plateau at over 2o00m attitude then transported to picturistic Kamikochi to climb the highest mountain on our original route, Hotakadake at 3190m.
To do that Martina had to walk up an one hour long snow field to get to a beautiful mountain hut in the Karasawa valley. Complain of the harshness of the condition as she may, she did find the valley to be incrediblly beautiful, with towering peaks cradling three sides of the snowfield. The hut, Karasawa Hutte sits right in the middle.
The next day, I went up the peak on my own, over an interesting rock scramble to another mountain hut that sits at a saddle point on a ridgeline. Climbing up ladders and chains, I finally got to the top. On a good day, I will be able to see every single peaks from Tatayama to Hotakadake, the journey that we planned to have taken. But the cloud rising from the valley, I have to be content with the sea of cloud beneath my feet.
Hiking in Japan is an enjoyable experience, the mountains are beautiful of course, but the huts located at the remote mountain top and alpine meadows provided us with comfort and good food is what impressed me the most. Got to come back some other time.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
2007 Freeyasoul Adventure - Japan Alps
We are now planning the long awaited Japan Alps trip in mid-July, you might have already got my invitation already, here some more pictures to temp you to this 6 days hike. Our trip will begin in Murodo and ends in Kamikochi. Reserve your holidays now!
Tatayama - 立山
Gosikigahara - 五色ヶ原
Kurobegara-dake - 黒部五郎岳
Yari-ga-take - 槍ヶ岳
Oku-Hotaka-dake - 穂高岳
Kamikochi - 上高地Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Planning a Japan Adventure
Finally I've got my future settled this week, I am moving on to a new job in mid November and will finished with my current company after this month. That gave Martina and I about a week to go on holiday before rushing back to do the Trailwalker. We've chosen to go to Japan this time, I've not been to Japan despite my adventures all over the world. I have been a third world countries travel specialist for all these years and Japan just doesn't quite fit into my profile. But with only a week to spare, it was a rush to some of my projects in store.
Though it has been an amazing discovery to find out what adventure can be done in Japan. I have learn that there is a strip of mountain called the Japan Alps in the mid north of country in the Nagano Perfecturewhere there are some beautiful alpine scenery. There is a 6 days traverse across the alpine ridges and finsihed in a moutian resort town called Kamikochi. The beauty is you don't have to carry too much as you can stayed in moutain huts at above 2000m high, with food and bedding served to you.
Though unfortunately as I though I have found the highlight of the year, the local hostel, Nishiitoya Mountain Lodge, told me it was a too late the time of the year to get some reasonable hike, snow is due by November. May be something for the next Freeyasoul Adventure.
Now I am planning to do something less ambitious and explore the Odaigahara plateau in the Mie Perfecture near Osaka and Kyoto. This time I am hoping to do a 2 days route from Osugidani to Odaigahara, it would be up a gorge with steel chains bolted on the cliff side for us to pull on, 8 waterfalls and river crossing by traditional boats along the path. Though a local hiker from IOC Kansai has informed me that due to a typhoo 2 years ago, the route was still a closed. So right now, I am a bit stuck, but reading throught the walking guide of Japan by Lonely Planet, there are tones of day hike around the Kyoto region.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Adventure Dispatches Around The World
While searching for information about Gobi March, I bump into a brilliant journal of 2 girls and 2 guys from Hong Kong who completed the Gobi March this year. They were very much like you and me, taking part in Trailwalker, Action Asia Challenge, AA Sprints on the weekends, then one day something compell them to sign up for this notorious event. The blog is a chornical on how rucksacks displaced handbags, highheel turned vibram and city girls turned ultra atheletes. Take a good read!
Congradulation to Alex who completed his first sprint distance triathlon in Finger Lakes, USA. He started his triathlon training about the same time I started my swimming training, so as it said we were virtual training buddies. The last few months. Good luck with your journey to be an Ironman.
Then there is ahdont experimenting with his own series of whiskey desert. Well done for passing your multi-engine license! (not that I know what that is.)
Kin is half way through his journey of cycling from Lhasa to Kathmandu. I can't help but be envious, "I smile the whole way when I was biking away from Lhasa. It feel like as I was still a kid and got a new toy."
When you are struck in a dull office slaving away, don't forget to google "adventure" for a mental getaway.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Kin's Adventure in Shangarila
While I am writing my own 'supermarket adventures', I also like to write about some real adventures from people I know. My mate Kin (see Moganshan Race) has been traveling from Sichuan to Tibet by jeep and then will join a bike trip from Lhasa to Kathmandu. My freeyasoul travel companions, Martina, ahdont, Jacy and Tammy will probably let out a sigh when they read about this. We loved Nepal and Sichan (at least some of us), what a nice trip it would be to fit Tibet in between. Anyway, here are some quotes from Kin:
Due to the attidue 
I had nose bleeding of the century. Blood just keep running out nonstop until I plug a roll of tissue in my nostril. I was looking so stupid that the other guests in the hostel was stairing at me.
On their stupid driver
When trying to blend in with the localsThe most stupid thing he did was to reverse the van on a very narrow highway with a cliff on a side. He knows nothing about reversing and the van ended up with two wheels dropped in a ditch. Luckily not on the cliff side.
There was a water fall with water melting from the snow mountain. The locals says those are blessed if they go around the water fall three times. Of course, three out of five of us were stupid enough to do it. We were armed with Gore-Tex jackets and trousers but with the volume of the water fall, we were all soaked with icy cold water.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Flying on the Shoulder of Giants
I've been saying that I wanted to learn paragliding for years, last time when I did my research, I found out that the two flying school in Asia that is to be recommended by a veterant pilot are "Exo-fly" in Bali, Indonesia and "Nirvana Adventures" in Kamshet, near Bombay India. To learn flying in either places would make a great holidays but something feels missing.
Today I read an article in Action Asia about a flying school, Sunrise Paragliding, in Nepal, based in, not just anywhere in Nepal, but Pokhara at the heart of the Annapurna region. Now, I realised this is the missing element, when I hear about manic paragliding off the peak of Everest, I kind of thought this would be nice to do, but it will take me years to learn to fly that good let alone being fit enough to scale Everest. But with this flying school, you learn paragliding by reading thermals coming off terrace rice fields and picking 8,000m peaks as your point of reference. What a wonderful idea. The basic training last for 9 days with International Certificate.
Then you can move on to do some amazing adventures in the form of Paratrekking. It is a tour of ten days, in which everyday you trek to a launch site and take off, and then fly around the Himalaya, supported by porters in transporting your gears, you moved deeper and deeper into the Abode of Snow each day.
Another adventure is Parahawking, you get to fly with specialist trained falcons who can glide you to the thermals. Another thing to add to the to-do-list for my strife to have an adventurous life.
More from Freeyasoul on :Nepal Paragliding
Monday, May 29, 2006
Travel Blogs
I read about these travel blogs on the flight back from Singapore, and I just took a quick look at them and found them to be worth recommending, so take a look to cure your wanderlust. I have added them all to my google personal page.
VagaBlogging
- By Rolf Potts a travel columnist who write so well that earn him the right to be constantly on the road.
Worldhum
- A collection of travel writers with rich travel stories. They are currently doing a count down on the top 30 travel books
Writtenroad
- 'a virtual café with an international readership' ran by an award winning travel writer
More from Freeyasoul on: Travel
Friday, April 14, 2006
The Savage Beauty of the Sahara - Christian's adventure continues
Just read a dramatic piece of travelogue by Christian. An airlift rescue of his fellow traveller in the Sahara dessert. Well done Christian, for your part of the rescue efforts.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Explore Beijing
