After catching a 2pm bullet train from Kyoto and a connecting "scenic wide view" train from Nagoya, we arrived in Nagano around 7pm. Leaving us just enough time for the customary ramen (near the bus station) to kick off the snow leg of our tour. As always it was delicious and suited the cold evening perfectly. We got into Hakuba around 9pm and caught a taxi to Pension Arles, which to our surprise was right across from the best cafe in Echoland (maybe Hakuba)...‘Sounds Like’ Café'. It definitely has the best coffee in Hakuba from what Rudy remembered.
During our time in Hakuba we
visited several ski fields including Happone, Iwatake, Goryu, Hakuba 47 &
our new favourite, Cortina. This may have been just because of the big snow falls from the night before, but Cortina which was a bit of an adventure to get to, had some of the best tree runs on our trip & we shared the
experience with our ‘housemates’ Emily and James. Cortina also marked Carla’s
first foray into black runs. The day concluded with less than a minute to spare. A "Chinese downhill" dash from the top chair, through the black runs to a Hakuba bound bus, that fired up its engine just as we stepped in. Missing it would have meant we would have got back to Nagano/Tokyo at some ungodly hour. That was close!
Snow during this leg of the trip was fair
with some 10 - 20 cm snow falls but it was still a bit light on compared to
previous years we had in Japan. Oh well... we suppose we'll have to keep coming back to try to match the epic
snowfalls of 2013!
Pension Arles was a great
place to stay. Our hosts were so very accommodating, it reminded us both of our mum's, however at times it may have been just a little too much! But we know they meant so incredibly well so we were very grateful for the cultural experiences they afforded us including origami, home made traditional "oden", language pronunciation, and a personalised igloo tour from Aruru-San.
It was great meeting Em &
Jimmy from the Sunshine Coast who were on their first trip in Japan! We’ll be
sure to catch up with them when/(if ?) we get back !
We also made friends with
some of the local animals including reuniting with Kouta Chan and his new sidekick Cinnamon Chan, (golden retrievers at Mon Pigeon - a little rounder than remembered)
& meeting Zero-Chan at the local board shop, a huge one year old Doberman
Pincher who looked menacing but was just a pup wanting to play.
Echoland in Hakuba is a great
place to stay and has become, since Rudy was last there, a little busier with a
few more bars and restaurants. One funky one in particular was called MockingBird, where we had a great night of laughs with Em & James before eating out at the local
Isakaya. Possibly the best one in Hakuba and only a block or so from MockingBird.
Despite the many Westerners
that now venture to Hakuba, we found the locals to be very accommodating, especially the barista at Sounds Like Café who would love to have a chat despite being busy on the morning coffee orders.
As always, we left Japan
wanting to stay longer and wanting to do more, so we'll be back to the land of Japow!
Next issue: The Colorado Courier.
