Geibikei
babibubebo | 29 10 2006Geibikei (猊鼻渓), along with Genbikei (厳美渓), are two famous gorges in Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku Region of Japan, with Geibikei being the more famous of the two. Geibikei is about 30 minutes by bus from Ichinoseki Station and 30 minutes by train on the Ofunato Line also from Ichinoseki Station. Geibikei’s main appeal is that you take a boat ride down a shallow river that runs between cliffs as tall as 100 meters (about 328 feet).
Round trip the boat ride takes about 90 minutes and at the half way point you can get off the boat and walk around some before coming back. The boats run from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm in the spring and summer, until 4:00 pm in November and from December to March run from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Bringing food and drinks is allowed but be warned there are little to no trash cans, so you will be holding your trash.
The boat ride and scenery is very beautiful and relaxing, though as you might imagine, the 100 meter cliffs can make for some difficult lighting situations if you are trying to take photographs. That being said, you should still l be able to get some good shots. I went during the fall which was beautiful, but if you can bear the cold, I imagine after a fresh snow this place is really nice as well. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »