Friday 22nd August 2008
Lots of photos
Today Tim wishes to visit a dam.
Yes, you read that correctly, a dam. I can't believe it. We've travelled all this way, to stunning countryside, and he wants to see a monstrous concrete construction. But I humour him as he has done a lovely deed sorting out this short break.
It wasn't too bad. And the weather was gorgeous.
From Wikipedia: The Kurobe Dam or Kuroyon Dam, is a variable-radius arch dam on the Kurobe River in Toyama Prefecture on the island of Honshū, Japan. It supports the 335 MW Kurobe No. 4 Hydropower Plant and is owned by Kansai Electric Power Company. At 186 metres (610 ft) high, it is the tallest dam in Japan. It was constructed between 1956 and 1963 at a cost of 51.3 billion yen. The project was a difficult engineering feat for the rapidly growing post-World War II Japan, and claimed the lives of 171 people.
We walked across the dam and looked over the edge. It was a heck of a long way down! Apparently during the tourist season the officials let huge amounts of water rush out to provide a spectacle of sight and sound with rushing white water and the roar of its power filling the valley. We must have visited at the wrong time.
A small train took us through a dank tunnel to a station a little further up the mountain where we walked in woodland for a while admiring the view through the trees of deep emerald water.
We'd taken a picnic with us and were looking for somewhere to sit and eat it when we were suddenly surrounded by delicate and strikingly beautiful butterflies.
Almost immediately one landed on me. Not to be outdone, Rhiannon tempted them by putting some squash on her finger and within minutes one came to her too. Not only did it land on her, it stayed calmly on her hand for well over half an hour while we continued our walk through the dancing butterflies to a pretty clearing for our picnic. She was ecstatic – now she thinks she really is a Princess like all the Disney characters she idolises.
After our rest we said goodbye to the butterflies and continued on our way to a cable car (called a 'ropeway' here) which would take us to the top of the mountain.
Once again, the views were magnificent.
So all in all, what promised to be a dreary day, turned out to be rather magical.
