Note 5 October 2015
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The journeyer becomes a tourist.
This note finds me @ Fukuokakata Airport
Your intrepid traveller is going home I am reflecting on the latter part of the journey where I am sure I turned into a tourist.
A traveller comes and sees what they see.
A tourist comes and sees what they came to see.
I crossed on the ferry from Yawatahama Shinkoku to Beppu Kyushu promptly falling asleep when I arrived slept a solid 15 hours catching the first train out next morning to Aso.
The day is sunny. The town is full of tour buses with well dressed Japanese - rubber necking. I decide not to trust my luck and I catch the next bus up to the crater. It is 4.5 kilometers long and 1.8 kilometers wide it is making funny noises and it smells like Rotorua . The barricades are up 2 kilometers out I am disappointed.
The caldera around the mountain is wonderful a flat plain surrounded by a circle of mountains. It was created after a huge eruption subsequently collapsing the surrounding mountains forming the plain.
. I am a bit of a stand out. My 2 sets of clothes are not high fashion. The smell has gone I did laundry at the hostel. Bit crushed but.
I meet Europeans who are on tour - I am trying to adjust. Not doing real well. I decide the only way to do this is to ask them a lot of questions - that works. I keep my peace.
I decide to head straight for Nagasaki the site of the second A Bomb. Local train, Shinkensen, limited Express. I sit with a Japanese military officer who fly's Helicopters and he has two kids. We share our biscuits and coffee chatting about our wives, kids and grand kids. Too soon, he is gone and I arrive at Nagasaki.
2 days I spend sightseeing that lovely city. The tragedy of the American A Bomb dropped (on Pam's actual birthdate) 9 August 1945 killing immediately 73,000 people and the tragedy lives on with cancers and burns. Today Nagasaki is touted as Japan's most liveable city. It is beautiful.
Traveling from there to Fukuoka very confusing some call it Hakata and others Fukuoka. It is a large city nestled in the hills with a ferry link to China and Korea.
It is Wednesday. I planned to get here and visit the Asia Art museum touted as one of Asia's best. The Art Museum closes on Wednesday. "OK" I say. So I head for Karutsu a town south of here famous for its art and pottery. Half way there the train fills with people dressed in national costume. Oh no, It is festival day the town is closed.
It was easy to get into the mood of the craziest street parade with beautiful floats pulled and pushed by the whole town. Some of the floats are hundreds of years old.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/festival/karatsukunchi.html
Anyways After the parade a few museums and shops opened with stock to sell. I caroused the rare collections of fantastic bowls cups plates and urns.
Holy moly the prices brought tears to my eyes.
A luxury car sells for the same price as a bowl!
What if the kids dropped it?
After sauntering around Fukuoka for a day I did get to the Art Museum and the folk museums.
Finally I visited the Kashida Shrine (6thcent Hakata town) to pay my respects say a mantra and ask for health and happiness for myself, wife and family.
I posted a special wish for you. I ask for health, happiness and long life.
For Nikki and Kevin who plan to marry I lit a candle rang the bell and said a mantra for their union I ask for happiness, health and harmony
88 Shrines.
Lessons learnt. I wished to experience the Japanese way of life. Their food, language customs and traditional behaviour. I experienced their stubbornness telling me what was expected. I respected that as I am a guest in their house/land and I was treated as one.
I walked over mountains covered in pines, spruce, maples and elm valleys with musical streams, moss, ferns, magic rocks walking in fields of rice, cabbage, onion, lettuce, flowers and some fallow for the winter. I saw people walking small dogs dressed in smart designer outfits, kids of all ages on the trains sleeping on their way home or going to School. Matrons, fathers mothers children going about their daily choirs. Farmers working, home gardeners trimming their trees in competition with the neighbour. Football,, Baseball, and La Crosse fields covered with kids of all ages. Every second shop houses a scissor wielding hair artist with a flash menu and prices to match. This is a rich land full of culture, art, ceremony and spiritualism.
It was good to feel the wind and sun on my face, the aches in my body after long days on the path. To find a house willing to take me in to feed and make me comfortable with a bath, good meal and a hearty breakfast to get me on my way. There were many who showed kindness, patience and understanding some went to great lengths to offer directions, offering gifts of sweets fruit clothing food.
Of course the whole reason for walking is to visit the Shrines. They are all different and all have a history. Immaculately maintained with no pond life. The shrines make for something to aim for enriching the journey the Henros create a brotherhood amongst themselves. But most of these Shrines are built on top of a hill or a mountain.
The lesson: compassion and patience
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I am back home with beautiful wife and family Gold Coast Australia
For now goodbye my friend
Malcolm.
