After we got our fill of waterfalls and greenery, we continued on our journey to Lake Towada to see their fireworks show.
In the lower right picture, A is Misawa and B is Lake Towada. It's not too far from us. The zoomed out picture is just to situate Lake Towada in the larger image of Japan. (Geography is my worst subject, so my knowledge of where things are in relation to the rest of the world is minimal. Maps are my best friend.)
We got to Lake Towada relatively early for the show, so we set up camp and relaxed in the sunshine. It was a perfect day, with sunshine but not so hot that we were sweaty and uncomfortable. We almost nixed the plans due to rain and fog in the morning, but we were so glad we tried anyways. The weather cleared up and it was a gorgeous day.
Lake Towada also happens to be beautiful. It was a windy day so we got to sit and listen to the sound of the waves hitting the shore. It's such a relaxing sound; all my stress melts away when I'm just sitting by the water.
There was a small creek, and lots of Japanese and American children were playing in the water. The lake itself was rocky, so a little tough for little feet to play in. I walked to the edge just to put my feet in the water and quickly walked back from the wet and slippery rocks.
Even without the water play, the place was gorgeous. It looked like they had canoes and small paddle boats to rent, but it was so windy we didn't look into it. We were all amused by this hill that looked remarkably like a pyramid.
I didn't get any pictures, but there was a small festival going on as well. There were some Japanese bands and singers, and all sorts of foods available. Jeff and I tried some noodles, beef on a stick, spicy hot dogs (I think), chocolate covered bananas, and apple shortbread. (Aomori, the capital of the prefecture, is known for its apple orchards, so there were all sorts of apple products available). It was all delicious and fresh. The noodles and beef were so filling that I didn't have room to try anything more, but there were so many different kinds of food to try.
We sat, relaxed, and filled our stomachs while we watched the sunset. It started to get more crowded as the sun went down. We set up camp a little bit away from the festival, so it was much more quiet down by us. But as the sun went down, more and more people continued to come our way.
Impatiently waiting for the fireworks show!
We were generally underwhelmed by the fireworks show. It was slow. They'd set off a handful of fireworks, then there'd be a delay of 3-5 minutes until the next handful went off, and then the process repeated. It was pretty anti-climatic. We were all waiting for the deafening booms and lights filling up the sky, but it really didn't happen. The show did go on for quite some time, especially since it was moving at such a slow pace, but it just wasn't as exciting as we expected. One thing I didn't expect is fireworks on the water. They had a boat out in the middle of the lake where they were setting off fireworks, but another boat kept driving back and forth between the pier and the boat. As it went across the lake, fireworks would shoot out of the water. It looked like they were tossing the fireworks off the back of the boat. I didn't find it as appealing as the huge sparkles in the sky, but maybe I'm just picky?
Even with an anti-climatic fireworks show, it was a wonderful day full of laughter and sunshine. We had so much fun and it was just refreshing to get out and away without running nonstop or having one hundred things to accomplish.
I can't wait to get back out and explore!
No comments:
Post a Comment