K9…What it lacks in charm from the exterior and its practical, yet small interior, the comfortable beds, soundproofing and free dinner make it a bargain. We stay at K9 when needed. A 6’2 husband does not make for an ideal choice of accommodation.
Farming in Japan yields lush, well maintained fields of produce. We often see older couples working the fields and hope that farming can be a viable lifestyle for the younger generation.
We were coming up a hill and saw this fellow waving at us. He wanted us to stop and chat, which we did. Then out came this woman who was also interested in us and what we were doing. it turns out that they were neighbours, probably most of their lives. It is amazing how much you can communicate without sharing the same language.
This woman is 86 and her friend is 85. I an in awe of their youthfulness and dexterity. When she saw us, she ran across the road and jumped over the curb. Honestly, i feel older than her as it feels like my jumping days are over. But who knows? A couple of knee replacements might do the trick.
She asked us if we would like to stay with her, but we had to decline as we had already booked a place for tonight. So she quickly ran across the road and returned with ginger cookies and yogurt drinks.
And then when she saw how I was standing, she asked what the problem was…my knees? At which point she ran back to her home and gave me therapeutic stick on patches for joint pain.
We tried to tell her that we had a route that would take us to our hotel. Nonetheless, she decided that she was going to show us how to get to Saito. She got her car and stayed ahead of us all the way. At times we were concerned as she would stop and wait for us no matter what the traffic was like. As we approached town, we somehow got separated and we couldn’t find her.
We shaved off a lot of km from our route by coming directly to Saito, so we had a late lunch at a chain called Joyfull. It is a popular restaurant and we like their food. Barry had sukiyaki. He added the raw egg to the sukiyaki. It is reasonably priced and for 300¥ you can have whatever you like and as much as you want from the drink bar (non alcoholic).
