Fukushima Prefecture Part 2

Fortunately, my campsite location was literally outside of the first cave I wanted to enter today: Irimizu Shonyudo (入水鍾乳洞 – Irimizu Cave).

A lot of people and tours go to the other cave mentioned below, but this one is farrrrr better. This one you actually get to go inside and squeeze through small cracks. Mind you, this cave is not for those afraid of the dark, small spaces, bats or cold water. Plenty of all of those. Luckily only the bats scared me.

Luckily I’ve lost a few kegs over the few weeks so I managed to squeeze my way through all of the tight gaps (they can actually be pretty tricky) and I struggled through quite a few of them, because, you know, big shoulders. I would recommend that if you are planning to go, do Course B, which is roughly 1 hour return caving for just 700 yen (can’t figure out how to do the symbol on this keyboard).

The nice entry dude saw me arrive late the night before and recognised me. He asked a few details about my trip and gave me two water bottles before I went off. Special water from the cavern itself, I assume it’s pretty pricey.

Next stop was Abukuma-do (阿武隈洞 – Abukuma Cave). As with most things worth seeing, it’s up a grand hill. But this one wasn’t worth seeing to be honest. And it didn’t help that a busload of 47 tourists jumped off just as I arrived. Anyway you walk through casually and take a few photos and videos. The large cave part was pretty spectacular but the bustling tourists snapping away took away from the mood.

Power stick, Power Bread and Power Cup in m’belly I headed for the next destination: Hitachi in Ibaraki Prefecture.

More bugs on the way.

Stopped in at a Sento for a shower and a few winks of sleep. Sento vs Onsen: “Onsen” means a hot spring. At an “onsen” spot, hot water is always taken from a natural hot spring. Most of “sento”, on the other hand, use tap water heated by boilers.