These three days we were more busy than our first few days in Shimosuwa. On the 13th, we took the train to Kamisuwa, the next town over. We wanted to ride the swan boat that goes around the lake. First we stopped at Tully's in the station for some coffee. Then we walked to the swan boat port. It's a bit spendy to ride the boats, but I think it's worth it. The ride was very peaceful and the views of the cities around the lake were very cool. After riding the swan boat, we went to a soft serve place beside the lake which offers about ten interesting flavors. I got vanilla & green tea, mom got melon, and Hayley got mixed berry. We visited a souvenir shop briefly before heading back home on the train.
The next day, we headed to Okaya in the late afternoon for the big taiko festival. 300 people play taiko drums, flutes, and dance on the stage. It was really amazing to see. They even had like pyrotechnics and smoke that would come out now and then. Some of my friends came to the festival too. Brendan and Justin from my town, as well as Max who also came to the Matsumoto taiko festival. Amy was there, too, but she was actually participating in the dancing, so we only got to chat for a minute. It rained some at the festival, which was kinda disappointing, but oh well.
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| Interior of the swan boat |
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| View of the alps from the lake |
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| An egret or heron stalking in the grass :P |
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| The taiko festival stage was so big! |
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| I really want to play that big drum, haha. |
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