JAPANESE ALPS: KAMIKOCHI

We were here: two days in mid-October 2008.
Recommended number of days: at least 2. I would have stayed one more day.
My score: 3/5, but if I lived in Japan, I would certainly repeat it frequently.

Just 60 km east of the traditional Takayama, and with dozens of routes varying in length and difficulty, from simple flat walks along the river bank, to multi-day treks that require sleeping in high mountain shelters with snow throughout the year, Kamikochi (上高地) is one of the best and most well-known starting points to visit the Japanese Alps, a mountain range in the northern part of the central part of the main island, Honshu. Although it is not so extensive nor its peaks are so high, the climate and deciduous forest present many similarities to those found in European high mountain areas. It is because of this similarity that sometimes we may not distinguish if we are in Japan, in the Pyrenees or in the Alps, and this is good and bad: the bad thing is that we may have seen comparable landscapes before, and the good is that does not mean they are not magnificent, especially in autumn, when the trees turn their leaves in yellow and red, forming a beautiful set. If it also good weather accompanies, which is likely, the result is one of the most recommended areas for hiking in the country, advisable for those who want to escape the bustle of the Nipponese megapolis, because, yes, Japan has more interesting things apart from cities.