I dreamed of going to this location for such a long time ! It seemed to have everything I love: remoteness, nature, a mysterious, unique and ancient vibe. But I didn’t knew where it was, only that it was really far away. It took me three years but finally, I went.

There used to be a lot of those little hydro power plants like this in the area. Nowadays, nobody knows about them anymore. We asked around but most locals didn’t knew about those little power plants, they just knew they used to be around. They said they did play around them in the water when they were young. One of them remembered exactly where one of them was and we followed his indications. Far in the middle of the forest, we ended-up with nothing. Clearly, there used to be something, but it was not there anymore. Only a pretty scenery. But I couldn’t believe that none of them were left.

Then, we kind of drove back and I suddenly had this weird feeling. I stopped the car and run towards the river side. Looking through the trees, I spotted the red roof of a tiny building. My god, this is it! It is still there! So hidden yet so alive and well!

Mimi-chan and I were very excited. It became our favorite haikyo of the year instantly. She was reluctant to get down to the river but knew I had to. I went down, felt a bit, removed my shoes, walked into the river for a while, went in the back of the little building and checked all the surrounding. I wanted to enjoy the maximum of what this place has to offer. It was a little paradise, cut from the world, living its own enchanting life by itself.

I tried to get the closest possible to the river but at some point it would have required me to get completely topless and I didn’t do that. I wasn’t alone, you know 😉 But now I really want to go back to this place, with a big family and let the kids play in the water. Maybe with floating rubber ducks. A lunch and a swim would be lovely here, surrounded by all the magnificent colours of koyo and the ray of lights trembling through the leaves. I will make this happen.