Iya Valley

This past week I had the great opportunity to travel to Shikoku with the grade 10 students on their field studies hiking trip. We spent the week hiking and making soba. The first day was spent traveling down to Shikoku which is near Osaka in Southern Japan. We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) down and then hopped on a local train to reach our destination in the Iya Valley. From the train station we drove an hour on the narrow cliffside roads that followed the river to Ryugugake Park where we stayed. To get to the lodge we had to cross a great bridge that was suspended high above the river. We spent the night at the lodge and then left early in the morning for our two day hike. We hiked from about 10am to 3pm the first day, we made it to the top of three different mountains the first day. At the top of Tsurugisan was a hiker's hut. The top of the mountain was 1955m (6,414ft). The hut was great, it was run by a family, we ate a great meal and then watched the stars before going to bed.

The next morning most of the students woke up early to watch the sun rise. It was a spectacular sunrise. After the sunrise we ate a great breakfast and then were off on the other section of our hike, climbing a few other peaks before making our decent. At the end of the hike we got to cross two vine bridges, they were a little scary because of the large gaps and loose boards. But no one died and everyone had a great time.
The next day we traveled a little ways down the valley to make Soba noodles and rope. There were about eight old ladies who taught the students how to make soba, most were in their upper 60's to 70's. The students started by grinding the buckwheat and sifting the grounds to add to the flour to make the noodles. Then water was added to the mixture and the dough was kneaded until smooth. Once the dough was ready it was rolled out into a thin sheet. The thin sheet was then folded and cut into thin noodle strips. The strips were then cooked and cooled before being added to stock and served for lunch along with smorgasbord of other goodies.
After lunch the ladies taught the students how to make rope from grass. I was terrible at making the rope to the old ladies put me in charge of tying and trimming the sections of rope. Once our rope was completed we used them as jump ropes. The students (and I) had a blast jump roping in the road. After that we headed back to the lodge. The next morning we caught the Shinkansen back to Yokohama. Overall it was great to get out of the city for a week and have a great hike with a great bunch of kids. 
The other great thing is that the day after getting back to Yokohama I get to go back on the Shinkansen and travel back to Osaka for a tennis tournament. After the tournament I will be staying in Kyoto and sightseeing... So look forward to some great pictures from Kyoto!