MAGIC HOUR

I had to make a business trip to Sichuan Province in China. It was my first time visiting inland region of mainland China.

I am not good at spicy food. A long time ago, I went to a Sichuan restaurant in Hong Kong where was targeted Sichuanese people, but I ended up with terrible diarrhea and regretted it very much. Since then, I have been to Sichuanese restaurants in China several times, but I have repeated the same regret. So, is it really okay to go there?

Sichuan Province has a breathtaking natural landscape designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site named Jiuzhaigou. In fact, it had been at the top of my travel wish list before the COVID-19 pandemic, but I had hesitated to visit there due to those painful memories.

Visa-waived travel to China was reopened this year, but I kept putting the business trip off until my schedule was semi-forcefully finalized. It would be nonsense to me going all the way to Sichuan Province just for work. At first, I only thought of seeing pandas. In the end, I was who I was, so I squeezed few days to visit Jiuzhaigou. Apparently, pandas are only awake in the morning.

I am an unfashionable middle-aged guy. Aside from the running shoes I abandoned after I gave up jogging, I live with one pair of black leather shoes and one pair of light blue trekking shoes. Even though I squeezed in more private travel days than workdays during this business trip, I could not possibly go on a business trip with the light blue trekking shoes, besides the black leather shoes were not suitable for trekking. On the day the airline ticket was issued, I purchased a pair of black trekking shoes that was discounted as a dead stock. This should suffice for the business trip.

Recalling that my elementary school field trip book mentioned “comfortable shoes,” I wore the new shoes until the trip every day. Was it getting better because the numbers of shoes had increased, or was it getting worse because I no longer alternated between two pairs? No one cared what shoes an unfashionable middle-aged guy wore anyway.

I managed the business trip with the new trekking shoes and started my private trip from Chengdu. Due to the travel restrictions past five years or so, many Japanese-language travel guides of China have not been updated. I had assumed that I would travel to Jiuzhaigou by plane or bus, but there were almost no flights from Chengdu or Chongqing in Sichuan Province. Upon some research made, I found that a high-speed railway line was opened just last year. Even my Chinese colleagues in Sichuan were unaware of this.

Early in the morning, I headed to Chengdu East Station to board the first train to Jiuzhaigou. Foreigners can use completely ticketless system on China Railway, and some ticket gates allow to pass through by scanning foreign passport. However, perhaps because the Jiuzhaigou route has higher percentages of foreigners, the passport-compatible ticket gates were heavily crowded.

The biggest disadvantage of having private travel along the business trip is the schedule. Since I could not change my schedule at the last minute depending on the weather, I decided to spend two full days in Jiuzhaigou and wait for good weather. I was not sure how reliable the Chinese weather forecast was, but it forecasted that only the first day would be sunny.

The journey from Chengdu East Station to Jiuzhaigou takes more than four hours by high-speed train and car. Although I only remembered roughly 30 minutes when I transferred to shared van service at Huanglong-Jiuzhaigou Station, I eventually arrived at the hotel. Maybe because I had asked my friend’s business partner to make the reservation, they had prepared a room for me even though it was before check-in time. The weather was sunny as forecasted.

To make the most of the sunny weather, I dropped off my luggage at the hotel room and headed straight to Jiuzhaigou. I had planned to take plenty of my time for trekking if good weather forecast continued, but since the forecast was not that great, I decided to visit all the main attractions on that day. There were electric buses operating within Jiuzhaigou, but I was not sure how they worked, I ended up walking a lot. On the first day alone, I walked 26 kilometers.

As typical of famous tourist spot in China, Jiuzhaigou was extremely crowded. However, as I walked 26 kilometers, I was able to enjoy quiet lakes. I thought what Jiuzhaigou famous for was the dead trees lying on the deep blue lake bottom. It was very moving to see the beautiful lake away from the crowds. However, I did not have much time to enjoy the view as I had to keep moving.

On that day, it started to be cloudy in the afternoon, and the mountains were hidden behind the clouds. By evening, it had started to drizzle. During my business trip, I had been eating Sichuan cuisine every day, and my stomach was feeling rough. I was starting to crave　Cantonese cuisine which has mild flavor. Unfortunately, I could not find any Cantonese restaurants in the hotel district around Jiuzhaigou but there was a McDonald’s. I was drawn to it like a magnet and walked toward the M.

In the next morning, it was still drizzling. I was too tired, so I slept in again and I had missed breakfast time. There was no point just lying around in the hotel room, I headed back to Jiuzhaigou just before my entrance timeframe was ended.

I boarded an electric bus without many expectations, but the sun began to peek through the clouds. There was no wind on that day and lake surface was literally “clear as a mirror.” Gradually, the mountains became visible, and I happened to realize that I could see snow-capped mountains reflected on the lake surface. It was an absolutely breathtaking view. The sunny weather lasted only a few hours in the afternoon, but I ended up walking 18 km on the second day.

When I returned to the hotel in the evening, heavy rain shower started. The electric buses became suddenly crowded, they passed the bus stop along trekking route with full of passengers. I had an umbrella, so it was not too bad. Yet, after waiting the bus for about an hour, I returned to the hotel soaking wet.

I was completely exhausted by too much of walking in past 2 days besides the heavy rain. I was able to see waters of Jiuzhaigou clear as a mirror, but I was far from clear mirror in mind and body. Still, it was a much better outcome than the other way around.

Due to declaration of emergency in Hokkaido for COVID-19, I had to give up my June visit to Rebun Island. At the time, I thought it was a reasonable decision made. However, I am one of those people who easily get tempted when it comes to travel desires.

I could not give up the beautiful scenery of the remote island, alpine flowers, and Rebun Island specialty, the Bafun sea urchin.

Even though I had visited Kushiro as an alternative to Rebun Island in June, I checked 10-day weather forecast for Rebun Island every day. After the emergency declaration was lifted, there was a series of sunny marks on a weekend in early July.

I had been wished to visit Rebun Island for more than 10 years. Considering the lack of tourists owing COVID-19, this year might be my first and last chance to visit Rebun Island when there might still be some alpine flowers left. After a short deliberation, or I should say without much of thoughts, I decided to make reservations to visit the Island. It was only one week before departure.

I flew from Tokyo Haneda to Wakkanai using All Nippon Airways (ANA) credit points. Due to connection problems, my return route had to be via Wakkanai and Sapporo using JR train. Nevertheless, I was still able to book a discount ticket on the JR limited express from Wakkanai to Sapporo, and I was able to get a frequent flyer award ticket for a flight from Sapporo Shin-Chitose back to Tokyo Haneda. I had just enough time to spare at work and could take 1.5 days off.

The gods of Rebun Island might be telling me to come to the Island.

After all other reservations were completed, the weather forecast turned out to be predominantly cloudy at the last minute. It was not going to rain, so there would be no problem to see the alpine flowers. Bafun sea urchins were in season although they could be affected by the weather.

On the first day, it was cloudy when I arrived Wakkanai. On the bus from the airport to the ferry terminal, an old man sitting next to me was reading a guidebook, which made me a little nervous. I had already planned the routes to/from Rebun Island before June although the trip had to be canceled, but since this July trip was so rushed for all arrangements, I had not made any research on the Island itself.

Fortunately, I was given a booklet made by the ferry company and a handmade guide by students of Funadomari Elementary School on Rebun Island. With these, I should be able to get around the Island.

During the voyage to Rebun Island, Rishiri Fuji on Rishiri Island was visible from the ferry. There were clouds and I could barely see the top of the mountain. This might not be a good start. I arrived at Rebun Island in the cloudy evening.

The sunrise was very early at 3:00 a.m., and I checked the sunrise time. It was cloudy and I felt gloomy. According to the weather forecast at this point, the second day would be cloudy, and the third day would be sunny.

I got up again in time for breakfast, and my stay on Rebun Island practically started. First, I went out to rent a car. The sky was covered with thick clouds.

Putting the beautiful island scenery in the clouds, I headed out to see the alpine flowers. After walking along the trekking trail for a while, the fog started to lift. Behind it, I could see blue sky.

As I waited for a while, it cleared up.

While I was taking pictures of alpine flowers on the trekking trail, I could see the west coast of Rebun Island. It was just spectacular view.

I returned to my car and decided to go around the Island. I already had ideas of where I wished to see, so I decided to skip lunch and drove around the Island before the clouds might come back. Most of the places I wished to visit were on the west side of the Island, and the weather was generally clear. There were still a lot of fresh greenery and flowers even in July. It was wonderful.

On the other hand, the east side of the island had a lot of clouds in the afternoon. There were several places on the east coast where Rishiri Island could be seen over the ocean, but its Rishiri Fuji was in the clouds again on this day.

In the evening, the east coast clouds were finally lifted and I could finally see the Rishiri Fuji. It was beautiful in red sunshine.

There was no end what I wished to see on Rebun Island, but I was very satisfied on the second day alone considering limited time available. Beer tastes good at night like this.

The third day was cloudy in the morning. Cape Sukai (Sukai-misaki) was the most impressive point on the Island to me, I decided to visit there again. It was another sunny day on the west coast, although with more clouds than previous day. I had done enough photography, so I gazed at the scenery.

Before the noon, I returned the rental car. The weather on the east side of the Island seemed getting even worse. Finally, at the ferry terminal, I toasted with a bowl of rice topped with Bafun sea urchin and a beer.

The return ferry made a stop at Rishiri Island. I had hoped to see the Rishiri Fuji up close, but it was in the clouds again.

The weather on Rebun Island was not exactly as predicted, but I was able to come to the Island at miraculous timing. It was probably a good thing that I did not give up coming to the Island, looked for an opportunity, and took the next-best chance in July.

The only regret was that I missed eating kelp ice cream that was recommended by the students of Funadomari Elementary School. I bought some kelps picked by Rebun fishermen, so chewing a piece of them while eating an ice cream could a good substitute.

After all, the gods of Rebun Island told me to come to the island.