One of my big goals last trip was to hike up Mt. Konpirasan, one of the hills surrounding Nagasaki Harbor. It looked easy enough, especially with the retreat center already part way up one side. There was plenty to see last time and I didn't get to it, which was a good thing. I wasn't in any way ready for it: more physically demanding than I thought and a few opportunities to get lost or fall into a cave.

Among my preparations for Japan this time was the purchase of a new GPS and local topo maps. The satellite images of Nagasaki on Google Earth were updated since last year and I was able to scope out many of the sights you see here ahead of time. I was able to select waypoints and a basic trail in advance and plug them into the GPS. It was still possible to get disoriented, but I didn't deviate much from the route I had set up.

There were some unusual critters like an iridescent blue lizard and the spider I've seen all over Japan, Nephila Clavata. The spider is supposedly harmless, but imagine a 2-3" long body with the colors of the Maryland state flag. The ones on Konpirasan looked alert, well fed, and able to process a small bird. My skin crawled the rest of the day.

Also in the beautiful and creepy column was the bamboo forest at the end of the hike. Bamboo is everyhwere in Japan and to me it's probably beautiful because of its novelty. In the woods it tends to be invasive. It grows tight and its leaves create a think slippery carpet on the ground, so it can be a challenge to traverse. The weirdest thing about it is the sound it makes when trunks bump against each other. Imagine a chorus of drumming on five-gallon buckets. The first time I heard it the forest was initially still, and then a gust of wind set it all in motion. I wasn't back to a normal level of calm until I got back to a street.