From 宮古(Miyako) to 盛岡(Morioka) to 気仙沼(Kesennuma)!!!

Hi everyone! I hope you're doing fine!!

After the 10 day volunteer program in Yamada Machi and a very relaxing day at beautiful Miyako Bay, it was time to continue my journey to my final volunteer work location: Kesennuma!

The trip was divided into 4 main courses from Yamada to Kesennuma. First I took the bus for Miyako with Anita and Nobu , this was a short 20-30 minute ride. From Miyako we took more time until we arrived at Morioka which is a bigger city than the previous ones.

The second part of the journey was silent. Few people were on transit that day and we were tired. I could think about a lot of stuff in the train. I had a mixture of feelings and emotions from long ago... The whole journey in Japan was coming to an end and it was until this moment, on this train that I had some time to think deeply about everything that happened and what was left... Obviously the ride was not enough to think about everything but two feelings were always present during this journey to Kesennuma: happiness and nostalgia.

Some pictures from the second train, as you can see it was practically empty...

 

The destinations were different for each one of us, so once in Morioka I had to say goodbye to Anita and Nobu. At the station I waited a few moments for Tomoko. She was coming to the station to help me with the next trains and to give me some instructions for the next days. When we met we had some free time so I decided to wash some cloth and have a nice special Ramen from this region, it tasted so good! It was sometime with no Ramen and I was starting to miss this kind of food!

I spent half of the second train ride with Tomoko. It was great to travel with her! Most of the maps here were only written in Japanese and sometimes just Kangi with no Hiragana like the one below... So her company was very fun and helpful!

After Tomoko's main instructions, taking a lot of notes and doing a lot of questions about the next train I had to ride for Kesennuma, she left and I was on my own. I was tired but it was impossible to sleep because if I missed the stop I wouldn't be on time for the next and last train for Kesennuma and I would have to find a place to stay in a totally unknown place, the good thing was that I was not stressed at all, I knew everything was going to be nice and fun!

I got off at the right station. This was a relatively big place, I searched for the train I had to take and after checking that everything was in place I got on waited for the little train to depart for the last and long ride. Here's a shot from the moment...

Besides thinking of many things, I had a lot of time for taking some landscape pictures... I felt I was traveling in another time, this place had a very special vibe that I will never forget!!!

 

 

Here some stations from all the journey and some shots from the last course...

 

 

I was very careful... I checked each station's name and grew nervous as I was getting near the final stop. After a very long but awesome journey, a unique experience in Yamada and a lot of expectation about the next and last days in Tohoku we arrived at the station before Kesennuma...

Just minutes after arriving at Kesennuma I realized I bought the wrong ticket for the train! I had to talk to the staff at the station and explained what happened. Everything was fine, I paid the ticket and this was the only small problem I had during the whole trip...

A unique experience and a lot of special people were waiting for me in this new place!!!

Next time I will talk about what happened in Kesennuma!

Be happy!!!

A different landscape... 宮古 (Miyako)

One of the 10 days in Yamada-Machi we had the chance to see a different landscape from the Tsunami devastated zone and the Kindergarten's town  where we volunteers (Anita Nobu and me) worked.

I think it was Saturday morning… At 8 am we took the bus to Miyako for a small trip at the tourist area of the town. Here’s a picture from the last bus stop located in front of the train station…

The Miyako Bay has a beautiful landscape, it was hard to believe that the Tsunami was over 10 meters high in the place and we were attended by people who worked mainly with tourists. They were having a hard time, the Tsunami had mostly destroyed their economic activities…

The situation was hard but everyone here was helpful, kind and very grateful that a pair of foreigners were having a mini vacation during that time. One of the must tours here is riding a boat around the bay so we took the service and here’s a video from the moment of departure…

Some shots from the ride…

 

 

Later we wrote support messages for the people and we walked around the beach. There were just 2 damaged buildings here, one used to be a hotel (serving as a refugee center at the time) and the other was a restaurant, now completely destroyed. Beside this 2 buildings there where no signs of huge destruction from the Tsunami so I felt like I was in a totally different place…

 

 

After the walk around the beach we climbed the nearby hills where the view was wider and perfect! I remember that day was very hot and the trip around the forest was a breath of fresh air!

 

 

We walked until we reached an aquarium and after spending some time watching strange fishes we headed to a bus stop, rode the bus and got off at the starting point from Yamada in front of the train station. Here we could finally eat lunch… I could not hold back, I decided to eat some ramen but Anita and Nobu picked some very special stuff…

After the meal we where very tired from the long walk and we waited for the bus back for Yamada where we had some days left for volunteering.

Finishing the volunteer was hard… In just 10 days I made strong bonds with the people from the area and everyone I met… Saying goodbye to the Kindergarten staff and the children made me felt some emptiness in my heart but I was also very grateful and happy for the unique opportunity I had with the experience…

At the end we rode the bus to Morioka where I would say goodbye to Anita and Nobu and later I met with Tomoko. She gave me some instructions for my next destination to Kesennuma, where my final volunteer program in Tohoku and Japan was about to take place…

Next time I will tell you about the trip to Kesennuma :)

Something is sure… I will return to Yamada Machi and Miyako someday…