I visited Yufu River Gorge (Yufugawa keikoku, 由布川渓谷), while staying at my in-law's house in Beppu. I took photos, but still images can't recreate the serenity I felt... Now, thanks to egawauemon's always great video, it all came back.Can you believe it's only 30-40 minutes from Beppu station? It may remind you of the place where Totoro lives. Unlike Yufuin (too much tourism), it's not commercialized at all. They only sell locally grown vegetables and that's about it. No character goods. When we came back from long walk, nobody was there to watch veggies!
From where my daughter is standing in this photo, we took off our clothes, hid them behind rocks, and walked in swimsuits to see "Touch Stone." The water comes up to your waist in some points, and moss-covered rocks are really slippery, but there wasn't any mosquito or leech. Only fishes.
When we were about to leave, a warm humid wind blew through the valley. It gave me a very sinister feeling. It felt as if one huge invisible snake made out of nothing but heat came down to me.
7月初旬、別府の義母の家から涼みに行った由布川渓谷の動画がWORLD CRUISEのegawauemonさんのサイトに出ていた。動画だとだいぶあの幻想的な感じが戻ってくるね。市街から車で35分。とは思えない別天地。トトロのねぐらみたいなところだ。今の由布院は観光化され過ぎて目が回るけど、ここはその辺で採れた野菜置いてるだけでキャラクターグッズとかもない。戻ってきたら野菜売ってたおっさんもどっか消えてる！
上の写真で娘が立ってる辺りで服を脱いで岩陰に隠し、水着になって、途中腰まで浸かりながらチェックストーンまで歩いた。
帰りしな一陣の生ぬるい風が谷を渡り、ふわっと体を捉えて去っていく。色も形も音もない熱だけの大蛇のように。誠に不思議な感触だった。
[九州を旅する- WORLD CRUISE in KYUSHU via Paul Simon]
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