The next morning we checked out of our hotel. Jeffrey had to have a picture by this piece of art before we left. Of course he likes it so much because he recognizes it from Disney’s Little Einstein show (kid show that teaches about art and music).
Taylor then drove 1.5 hours up a windy and narrow mountain road in the rain and fog. It was actually really beautiful but I was too busy freaking out because the roads were so narrow and it was still a two way road. I had a heart attack each time we passed other cars. We had two stops we wanted to make it to today, both were near Senzu station, but the train and bus schedule would not have worked for us today. Despite my panic, Taylor did a great job driving the route.
Our first stop was to visit Yume no Tsuribashi suspension bridge. We parked and walked through a quiet little village made up of what seemed to be some Japanese hotels and onsens and some small cafes and restaurants. Really quiet there on this rainy morning. There was a paved trail from the village that you could walk along to get to the suspension bridge. Probably about a 30 minute walk up.
holding his breath in the tunnel lol 
Then we made it to Yume no Tsuribashi or The Bridge of Dreams. This used to be used as a community road for residents here. Now, the entire area of Oi river including the Sumata pass (the area we were in) has been developed for hydroelectric power plants and foresting. Oma dam was built at the lower reaches of the river under the bridge which made Lake Oma dam. There is a legend that if you pray at the middle of the bridge, your wish of finding love will be granted, hence its name by the locals.
Oma dam 
We crossed the bridge and intended on turning back, but there was a line to cross over so we just decided to continue on and do the short trail loop around back to the village.
There were a lot of stairs 
Jeffrey’s signature pose 
Apparently Jackie’s too 
Hiryu Bridge 
yikes…
We made it back to the car and headed to our next stop. A train station that is surrounded by water! This seemed so unique to me I wanted to see it in person. They had a parking lot where you could do a tiny hike over to the station.
A far cry from the train stations in Tokyo
Above the station there was a cute little cafe where we got some coffee and cheesecake.
We had just enough time to enjoy our coffee and make it back down to the station to see the train pass by. Apparently, the railway line that goes through this area has the only Abt system rack railway in Japan. This system is needed because this train runs on the steepest railway in Japan. The Abt system is a type of railway with a special gear-like rail that spreads between two usual rails on which an electric train with a appropriate gear-like rail on its bottom, runs (I wish we had time to actually ride on it!) The gear rails allow the train to go up and down steep slopes. After our morning drive…I understand the necessity.
We originally planned another hike in this area but because of the time and the weather we decided to just had back home. I endured another 1.5 hour drive back down the mountain road and we made it out to the highway. We caught some peeks of the ever elusive Fuji-san and stopped at a nice rest stop. It was like the Buc-ee’s of Japan…huge parking lot, tons of trucks, gas station, nice restrooms, gift shop, food court, convenient store…just a ton there. We had some yummy ramen and curry and ventured on home.
This is the end of our first trip to Shizuoka!
BRB, Out to Japan – Jackie
Awesome and amazing! 🙂
That bridge looks scary!! Props to Jeffrey for crossing by himself!
Great trip!