My 2nd solo trip to Japan (Part 3)

Continuing on with my August trip.....

6 Aug (Monday) - Aomori / Oirase
Today was a killer. Totally exhausting!
Took an early train at 7.16am to Hachinohe, offloaded my stuff at the hotel & set off for Oirase by bus. The journey took me 1.5hrs but there was lovely scenery along the way.

I dropped off at a viewing point to take some photos and decided to take a short walk along the nature trail to the next nearest bus-stop. Wrong move. The trail took me 2 hrs!! Thought I was going to be lost & die in that trail liao.














I met a japanese couple in their 50s who probably felt i was very pitiful to be doing the hike alone & walked with me. They are serious hikers, checking their map for viewing spots along the way. I just wanted to finish it asap! We finally reached the end point at Lake Towada. You've no idea how happy I was. The couple were very kind and shared their lunch with me. After that I took a bus to Aomori to attend the famous Nebuta Festival held in summer. It's one of the 3 major summer festivals in the Tohoku region.

Aomori was crowded. There were tourists & people in festival costumes. A traditional festive feel at the place. When the actual procession of floats & dances started, people were cheering. It's like Singapore's Chingay parade I think. I really enjoyed it. I liked the colorful floats and the lively atmosphere.

With many people feeling "high" due to alcohol & the festive mood, fights broke out too. I happened to be near one. Saw the security trying to control a group of rowdy guys. When I walked off, a group of police holding baton sticks were rushing towards that spot. Not sure what happened later...

Having followed the procession in the opposite direction & snapping photos along the way, I lost my bearings and took a while to find the train station. Reached the Hachinohe at 10pm. Dead tired, yet I could still watch TV till 12am. Slept for solid 8hrs w/o dreams or waking up in the middle of the night.