Today was the last day of us being in paradise. We woke up at 6am with 70 degree weather, said our goodbyes to Ken and his wife thanking them for their hospitality, and headed to the airport. Even though the flight was at 10am, we weren’t sure how long it would take to drive to the car rental place, drop off the car, and take the shuttle to the airport. In the end we had over an hour extra which made things super stress free.
Flight to Handeda was easy but figuring out our tickes to Nagano was a bit hectic. Tokyo station is ALWAYS busy with people running back and forth. My plan was to collect Joanna and my unlimited 7 day rail passes today and use them to come back from Sapporo but I miscalculated and forgot to include today as a travel day. The ticket from Tokyo to Nagano was only $72 whereas it would cost $350 one way to sapporo.
Part of the bullet train experience is buying bento boxes from the train station. They’re a bit pricier but are really tasty and beautifully put together. This bento store had a good way of listing the ingredients for people who were unsure about what they were getting.
I LOVE riding the bullet train and really wish we had something like this at home. It would make travel so much easier. It arrived exactly on time and left several minutes later. Jack pointed out Mt Fuji in the distance which looked very cool.
I booked our stay at a Japanese Ryokan (traditional inn) through Air BnB in Yamanouchi 45 min outside of Nagano. We started getting closer to our destination and everyone was commenting on the piles of snow outside of the train and the tragedy of leaving the warm Okinawan climate. The host said he would come pick us up from the train station. When we arrived I asked the dude holding the sign if he was Daisuke, showed him the address and he let us into his van. I wasn’t feeling too confident and showed him the address again and he laughs and said “chigau” (wrong) and we got out of the car. Daisuke was standing behind this van for us.
Daisuke is the owner of the the Koishiya Ryokan which has been around for almost 100 years and the town has been a famous hot springs town for 1300 years. He said that samurai would come for the onsen (hot springs).
After we got settled in, he drove us to what he said was the best onsen in the area. You are not allowed to take pictures but let me describe the scene (I’d say close your eyes but you have to read this with your eyes open). Imagine hearing running water from a waterfall, thick steam rising from the hot springs, and light snow falling from the dark sky. The snow collected on the trees above and every once in a while a small pile would fall on your head. I thought being butt naked outside was going to be freezing but the combination of the +100f hot water and the snowflakes falling on my face was so picturesque and relaxing. It really felt like something out of a movie.
The best I can do is post these two pictures I found online of Yudanaka Onsen. It doesn’t do it justice at all but I guess you gotta be here to see for yourself ¯_(ツ)_/¯
