The mountain that nearly killed me

Today was a perfect day to visit the small island of Miyajima. It's the one you see in all the brochures for Japan with the enormous Torii seeming to float in the water. Made of pure cypress, it is embedded in the sea floor and has been tended to for 800 years. Makes a 125th birthday seem a bit callow in comparison, yes?

So, to get to this island, there is a 10 minute ferry ride. The day was cloudy with 70% chance of rain predicted. Thank goodness I don't pay attention. I went anyway.

And wouldn't you know it, I ran into my third wedding since I've been here. I noticed a gathering of old and young in exquisite kimono and trying to be discreet, took a couple of photos from afar. The person I thought was the bride had a very unusual obi (the sash) and I wanted to ask if it would be OK to take a photo of it. Turns out, she wasn't the bride but the sister of the groom, she and her mother spoke English because they had lived in Cupertino for 5 years, and they very graciously invited me to join the family when the bride appeared. The photographer fussed and fussed with her garments and her pose. The poor girl was probably exhausted. The ceremony was already over and she had changed out of the white garments into this brilliant red. I felt so privileged to get close for a photo or two and thanked the family profusely when I left.

Deciding to do part of the hike for which the island is famous, I set out without a clue what was to await me as I climbed ever upward. The map they give out to tourists is a total sham. The scale is so far off, you end up walking until you drop for what looks like on the map only a few meters. They also fail to mention that you have to be a 20 year old tri-athlete to make this climb. And just as you are about to tear your hair out in despair of ever seeing civilization again, suddenly around the bend appear - you guessed it - stone steps leading upward and upward and upward. I gamely pressed on, though by this time, even the picturesque water falls, the periwinkle butterflies, the cobalt blue dragonflies, the lichen covered boulders and the fern glades had utterly lost their charms.

Note to hikers: always carry good Belgian chocolate with you so when you die in the wilderness, at least you die happy.

I truly was in despair of making it - no joke - when suddenly I heard voices. I climbed toward those voices with my last remaining strength, clinging to the hope I would see someone who could rescue me.

Can you spot the little crab?

Oh yeah, there were lots of deer too.

As I crested the top, there was an older German couple, Werner and Hannah, along with a young Chinese man. I thought at first they were together, but it just turned out to be one of those amazing coincidences on which turns the difference between deliverance and disaster. Long story short, Chinese guy who now lives in Melbourne (funny I know that but not our saviour's name), realized my serious distress and told us the magic path to take to get to the rope way which would get us back to the town in fairly short order. Everything is relative of course. In short order meant instead of three hours more of climbing stairs, feeling our way over boulders and nearly falling off precipices, we only had to do that for an hour. By cheering each other on and cheering each other up, we made it. Werner and Hannah, unnamed Chinese guy, literally saved me. I will always be grateful and remember their kindness.

The rope way is a hanging gondola suspended over a sheer drop mountainside. The view is spectacular and if you get over your suspicion that it is all going to fall down any instant, it's fun.

So what started innocently enough as a gentle stroll through a park that happened to be on a mountain, ended up being a 5 hour ordeal. Was it worth it? Well, now that I've lived to tell the tale, yes. And if I had grandchildren I would bore them silly with this story at least once a year when they whined about having to walk somewhere instead of taking a car.

I'm serious about the chocolate thing though. If I had good chocolate with me, they would've eventually found me with a smile on my face.

And about the weather, which is how this story started, we actually saw the sun by the end of the day. It was brief, it was hesitant, but it was sun.