City Slickers

...alternatively titled, “Why I shouldn't be allowed out of the greater Tokyo area!”

So I'm up in the mountainous north on business. The hotel we usually stay at has just gotten wifi so I feel way less cut off than I normally do when I come up to these wild parts – at previous times I couldn't even get mobile phone reception.

My colleague and I thought it would be a good idea to visit the local hot-spring. We've been there many times before, but we've always gone by taxi. We figured it couldn't be more than a 15 minute walk tops. We were well prepared, let me tell you: dressed head to toe in chic black - ideal on these dark and winding mountain roads; no light source except for our mobile phone screens (maybe 6cmx4cm: veritable spotlights); and having completely neglected to tell anyone at the hotel where we were going.

Cut to us 30 minutes later, climbing out of a two-metre roadside ditch, with a distinct smell of cow poo hanging in the air. Needless to say we cut our losses and eventually found our way home. We made a vow to keep this little adventure from our more rural colleagues. We don't need to be giving them any more ammunition against the crazy foreigners.

At least the stars looked really beautiful from the bottom of the ditch! I'm all about the positives, me.