Getting to Hakuba required 4 trains. Our first train was a short 3 stop one and then we got on a long express train. This train took us across the countryside, and we got to see Mt. Fuji along the way. We picked this route because of that fact. It added a little time to the travel, but we thought that would be a good experience. We got to the end of that train, grabbed some food at the station, got on our next train and headed to Hakuba. The train was full of school students, and we were surprised by the number of them traveling at 8pm back home for upwards of 30-40 minutes on a train. We finally got to Hakuba station where we were picked up by the owner of the Airbnb (Paul from Australia) in his large US Tacoma truck, and he took us to “The Shack”.
The next day we headed over, by car that I got to drive, to Iwatake. This is a ski resort, one of many in the area, that is open in the summer to walk around. This area was used as the primary point for the Nagano Olympics for the skiing events. We were able to see the ski jump area during our drive. It is apparently still used every year for competitions. Took the gondola up the mountain and wandered around most of the day. It was ok. We did a nice hike in the trees, but overall I was underwhelmed. Then we hit an actual grocery store and got food for our time there. The Shack, where we were staying, was a very nice. It was a small cabin type place. It had a loft with twin beds and a king size bed on the main floor in a separate “room” (the bed just fit). We made dinner and had a pleasant evening.
The next day we drove to Togakushi. This was suggested by the owner of the place we were staying for a nice drive and great hike. So we traveled over there. It was through the mountains, and while it was very curvy (which my kids aren’t fans of), it was a beautiful drive. When we got there, we hiked through the shrines there and around the area. There was this great walk through a line of cedar trees that had been there for over 400 years in most cases. It was very pretty. We went by a nice lake where there were a lot of people painting the lake from different points of view. They clearly were in some kind of group, and we think there as a sign that said you had to have permission to paint the lake. We did a lot walking that day but got to see some really cool shrines. Walking is a big theme on this trip while in Japan. When we got home my wife and I went on a little walk together in the area of our place and saw a manmade waterfall that was along the river that had 8 tiers to it. It was to go along with the hydroelectric station that was there as well.
The next day it rained. It rained A LOT. So we spent the day mostly inside at The Shack. We finished up laundry, we packed up since we were leaving the next day, we had a dance party (exercise), and then we decided to go out for dinner. We went to a traditional Japanese ZEN restaurant, sat on the floor with our shoes off, and had a fine meal. It wasn’t great food, but it was nice.
The next morning we didn’t have a train until 12:25 and out hosts let us stay past the normal checkout time. That was nice to get things finished up and not having to get up really early(well everyone else that is, I always wake up early). We caught our first train and headed south. Then we picked up a train that headed to Nagoya, and then a Shinkansen from there to Okayama. IT was a long travel day (9+ hours), mostly because there was an hour plus delay on our Shinkansen due to the rain the day before. It apparently messed with all of them the entire day. So, we had an extra long layover that we were not expecting in Nagoya. My wife and I had a bit of an argument on the platform, because could have caught an “earlier” train that was at our normally scheduled time, but we wouldn’t have had reserved seats. I thought she wanted to wait for our train with the seats, so I didn’t get on it, but then when the doors closed she said she wanted to get on that train and hope for the best as we traveled. It wasn’t too bad, but a bit heated. Also the travel was wearing on us all that day. But the real entertainment occurred when we got to our place in Okayama. We decided to take the streetcar to the pace since it was very late and a 1.9km walk wasn’t in us at that point. When we got into the place we saw it and thought, “where is the rest of the room?”. It was tiny. It had a bunkbed, a couch/futon, a single bed, a small refrigerator and stovetop and sink. And those things barely fit in the room. There wasn’t room the pull a small suitcase (carry on size) between the beds and the wall. The bathroom was the same size as the rest of the apartment. It was crazy small. I think without the bathroom my dorm room in college was bigger and I had a small dorm room. But we were tired and so we slept.