Minakami is a winter/ski town about 3 hours from Tokyo. During the summer months, there are activities as well, such as rafting and canyoning. I never knew what canyoning was like until I was doing it. Basically, it is like rafting down a class 1 or 2 river without the raft. We also did some cliff jumping and rock climbing.
To get there we took a fast train on Monday afternoon. Check out that nose.
This is the town we were in. During off-peak months (when we were there), everything closes by 5. This might make for an awkward realization if you have no food at dinner time. We stayed at a hostel about a 10 minute ride from the center of "town".
Luckily we got there early enough to stop at a Super Market. Always a good time. As you can see, my dinner consisted of Sushi, Sake, and noodles.
After enjoying some dinner, we found something pretty amazing... a mechanical bull! Below is Colin trying his best to stay on. Unfortunately there are no pictures of me on the beast. This was my first experience with a bull and it was certainly something everyone should try. There were a buch of British and Aussie gymnists there too riding the bull. See my Minakami pictures here. 
The next morning at 9am we set out canyoning. Here you can see me, Colin, Rachel and Carey.
Probably one of the best photos of the trip. All eyes are on Rachel (2nd from left), except for Carey... she's busy drinking (on right).
Here am I about to go down a huge drop. I know it was over 10 feet, but that is all I know. I'm sure it was at least a 100 feet.
After a full morning of getting beat up by the water, we tried an Onsen (hot spring). We were here. It was very beautiful and very relaxing. It was so relaxing that I fell asleep sitting upright on a wooden bench. 
Minakami was a great place to go. It was vastly different from the hussle of Tokyo and I would recommend all to expereince this place.
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