random tales from strange lands this is a tale of my attempt to follow the summer to different parts of our world and how it appears to me

I ended up in a tent on a lake shore, only a few other people around and a few trees leaning to the sun. Not bad for a destination that i didnt really know anything about! :) I had been in Kobe city for a couple of days, catching up with Josh & Sue (who i met on my wandering in Shikoku island). Sue had a map of Japan unfolded on the floor & we were thinking of where to visit - a big expanse of water, without many towns around - sounds great! We broke the hitch-hiking habit & got on the trains to find our way north & west to Biwa-ko, Japans biggest lake. Our little spot on the beach felt a bit abandoned - old tourist buildings, obviously not too popular now and only a few locals fishing along the shore. There was enough firewood around for us to cook a simple dinner & provide light & warmth well into the night. Sadly we didnt have any marshmallows to roast on the fire - have to wait til i get home to do that! The still night & calm water seemed very inviting for a midnight dip too - maybe the first time ive been night-swimming in a lake? A bit different to the sea for sure, but still fun. And a fire to warm up by afterwards :) After waking in time for a beautiful sunrise, we were surprised to have a local woman turn up with a notebook & explain to us that we had to pay a camping fee. Damn! We saw later there were signs in Japanese & Portugese (for the Brazilian immigrants), but none in English. It wasnt that expensive anyway considering the view that we had through our tent door & over our dinner table the previous night :) We kept on asking 'How lucky are we??' :) Very lucky, for sure! The sun was shining bright throughout the day, so we lazed on the beach, threw juggling balls, photographed the trees, insects, sky and had a good siesta. A very productive day :) Our 2nd night at the lake was at a different spot where we wouldnt get hit by a camping fee. But we did get hit by a few bucketfulls of water from the low, heavy skies. That didnt stop us from lighting a little fire & crawling into the tent. Not quite as perfect as the previous night, but still another beautiful experience in a quiet corner of Japan.