Camping in Mie

Recently, I went camping for the first time ever! It was awesome! There were a total of nine of us who went. We went to a campground in Miyama, Mie Prefecture. We left really early in the morning on Saturday September, 28^th. The weather was perfect! Not too hot and not too cold. We took two vans. I believe it was about a three hour drive or so.

As we approached the camp area, I was in awe of the beauty. The drive itself was beautiful on the way into Mie. For me, the most impressive aspect was the river that goes through the campground. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all! Where I’m from, the rivers are always muddy, dirty, brown, and disgusting. I would be lying if I said I was excited to swim in a river before I got there. However, the river in Miyama was impeccable! First of all, apparently mountain rivers in general are cleaner than rivers in populated areas which makes sense. Also, this river was not a dirt river, it was a rock river! Therefore, the water was crystal clear! You could see the bottom flawlessly no matter how deep it was! On top of that, the water was the most beautiful turquoise blue in the deep spots. For someone who has a fear of entering natural water sources (I’ve had this phobia since childhood), I was anxious to get in!

The beauty of Miyama.

This water was incredible!

So let’s back up. When we got there, we immediately started setting up camp. We put up three tents (three people per tent since there were nine of us…luckily there were three girls haha!). We hung up hammocks, started preparing food, and set up all the tables, chairs, and coolers. I must say, for people who have never been camping (except for a couple), we really went all out and set it up right!

Building tents.

Hanging hammocks.

Success!

Our first day mostly consisted of setting up, cooking and eating, exploring the river area, bathing in a nearby onsen and at night, having a drinking party with a fire and s’mores. It was so much fun! One of my favorite parts was looking up at the stars at night. It was like being back at home in the countryside where I live! It was so beautiful!

Lunch: Shellfish, mushrooms, and onions over rice
(other people ate beef instead of shellfish...I'm so difficult lol)!

Skipping rocks.

Dinner: Meat and veggies BBQ.

Drinking party! We may or may not have been told to
quiet down once...

S'mores!! Believe it or not, we had to order the
Graham Crackers online!

I thought sleeping in a tent would be uncomfortable, but actually it was really nice! I started raining gently during the night, and I really enjoyed the sound of the droplets on the tent. It soothed me in and out of sleep.

We woke up pretty early the next day. It was still drizzling in the morning, but by like 9 am, the rain went away. We cooked and started cleaning up in the morning. While our homemade curry was cooking, we played a little badminton and relaxed. I went to the river and stuck my feet in.

Group shot at breakfast time minus Akira who is
taking the picture. 

Tenchou cooking the curry haha!

Badminton!

Sticking my feet in. :)

Lunch time: curry! XD

After we ate lunch and got things pretty much packed up, everyone went canoeing (except for me haha…like I said, I have a water phobia, and I didn’t know how deep the river would be, and I was afraid of falling in. I can swim, but it’s kind of hard to explain). So, I was the designated picture lady. The river was actually pretty shallow I some spots, so while I took pictures, I enjoyed walking around in the river. After all, one canoe got tipped over haha!

Have fun guys! The water was actually pretty shallow,
so I probably could have done it.

Yeah!

Noo! Haha!

 Then came the most exciting part….swimming in the river! Normally, I wouldn’t have done this, but the water was so clean, and I could see the bottom. So even though there were times I was scared (and I slipped on a rock and fell on my ass), overall I was able to swim in the river…a first for me! We left the campground and followed the river by car until we found a good spot. The spot we chose to swim had shallow and deep parts, waterfalls, and tons of huge boulders to climb. The water was freezing cold, but we swam anyway. It was really fun! We swam until it got dark.

Lot's of fun rocks to climb on.

NATURE!

Absolutely beautiful!

Go Yuki!

Fun times.

We went back to the onsen to get warm and cleaned up before heading home. We stopped at a rest stop for dinner. It was nice to feel like I was on a little road trip; driving long distances is something I commonly did back home, but haven’t really done here. Even the car ride itself was fun because we could talk and listen to music. I got home around 11:30 at night. It was the perfect first camping trip!

What a perfect little camping trip! I
only wish we had more time!