While the Typhoon approaches, the rain pours down. Belly bad. Blurry days. Vivid dreams.

Normally you find hair ties on the ground, but this country is so clean. Need to buy them. Hanging in front of the convenience store. Go out on a hike under the transparent umbrella. 1200 year old tree next to Shinto shrine. Cycling around a bit with music from my phone in the basket. Microwaved double cheeseburger from the convenience store.

Try to go to mount Fuji, but it’s closed. Bus drivers move their hand from left to right each time they start driving again. Onsen closed, restaurant closed, bowels too open. When the sky clears up you can see the Fuji, majestic. When I close my eyes the imprint of it remains.

Each time the clock strikes six the village speaker plays the Westminster Chime. Originally created for the first church of St. Marys in Cambridge.

Now bowels close, everything is open. Eat at the restaurant. Little fried fish. The convenience store plays Nocturnes, sit outside and drink a beer. Distant thunder, but very calm in front.

In the evenings I join Machiko for Arati. A hindu ritual.

This evening we do the long version cause it’s the last night.

Arati

We wave the light for victory to Ganesa (Vighnavinayaka), who is the remover of calamities and who is all-auspiciousness.

We wave the light of victory to Subrahmanya, whose other name is Kartikeya.

We wave the light of victory to Venugopala (Gopala, a form of Kesna, the player of the flute), who longs for his flute. He is the remover of sins and stole butter (from the Gopis, when he was a child.)

We wave the light of victory to the remover of calamity (Venkataramana, a form of Visnu, whose temple is on the Venkata mountain), and to Sitarama and Radhesyama (different incarnations of Visnu with their consorts

We wave the light of victory to Gauri manohara (Sankara) and various other forms of Lord Siva.

We wave the light of victory to Raja Rajesvari.

The other names are different names of the Divine Mother.

We wave the light of victory to the son of Atjana (Atjaneya), Hanuman.

We wave the light of victory to Dattatreya, Trimarti avatara (a sage who is an incarnation of the trinity Brahma, Visnu and Siva).

We wave the light of victory to the Sun (Aditya, Bhaskara).

We wave the light of victory to the planet Saturn (Senisvaraya).

We wave the light of victory to Sri Sankaracarya, the celebrated Guru

of non-duality.

We wave the light of victory to Swami Sivananda.

We wave the light of victory to Swami Vishnudevananda.

We wave the light of victory to the sage Agastya, who was very dear to Lord Kania,

We wave the light of victory to ayyapa swami, who was the son of both vishnu and siva, and ruled the religions.

We wave the light of victory to jesus, Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, Curu Nanak (the Guru of the Sikh religion) and to all Gurus and prophets, Jaya jaya arati Venugopala

We wave the light of victory to Venugopala (Gopala, a form of Kyona, the player of the flute),

& Neither the sun shines there, nor the moon, stars, and lightning, So from where does this light come? When That shines everything shines after That, By this light everything else Is.

Seven holy rivers are Invoked: Ganga, Yamuna,Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri

Dedication Song

O god of gods, Thou alone art my mother, father, relative, friend, learning, wealth and everything. Whatever actions I perform with my body, speech, mind, senses, intellect, my nature or my emotions, all these I dedicate to the Supreme Lord. Abandoning all duties, take refuge in Me (the Lord) alone, I will liberate thee from all sins, grieve not.

From Bhagavad Gita XVIII, 66

The next morning I take out the stone to the lake, in front of mt. Fuji. Because I couldn’t go up. Clouds move away, butterfly and two birds of prey.

The Typhoon is almost here, but became a tropical storm. Take the bus anyway. Try to get to Kota. Meet a newly wed couple from the USA, on their honeymoon. Also trying to get somewhere. All the public transport is closed. After waiting for hours for a bus that never arrives. We decide to walk to the train station. No trains running, but at least we can get some better intel. I switch my Crocs to Sport mode. Apparently they also call it ‘Sport Mode’ in the USA. When you wear the band of your Crocs backwards, behind the heel. Lots of people wear AC vests. When We finally get to the station we hear they will run one fast train at 19:30. Very lucky! Nowhere announced

After waiting a couple more hours the train arrives. Gotta transfer. Goodbyes. Next train. Arrive at the accommodation a few stops from Kota station. Food, onsen, bed.