Wednesday, April 13th: Mountains
After a quick breakfast at the Tokyu Hotel (¥997 buffet, was ok) we bought bus tickets for the 13:50 bus to Takayama and then went to the post office to mail another package of stuff, this time with some of our own clothing. We are starting to downsize because the end of the trip is less than a week away. From there we got on a bus to Matsumoto Castle (did not need to, it was very close). Matsumoto-jo, like Okayama-jo, has the local nickname of "crow castle" because they are both black. They also both have moon viewing room additions, which show how peaceful Japan had become under the Tokugawa Shoganate. The Matsumoto City museum was included in the castle fee, so we hit that quickly too, though there was not much of interest there other than the Teramu (sp?) balls we bought and the display of festivals local to the city.
The two hour and twenty minute bus ride over the Japanese Alps was spectacular, cheap, and it shaved over two hours off the train time we expected to make (the train must go around the mountains). There was still plenty of snow up in the passes, though it was sunny, and in some places the snow was piled up higher than the bus! There was a brief stop at Hiruma (sp?) Onsen for 20 minutes (long enough for a potty break). From Takayama we caught a 17 minute local train to Hida Furukawa (¥230) and then a taxi to the Yatsusan Ryokan because we had all the bags and because we were not exactly sure where it was.
Yatsusan is awesome. A haven, welcoming, civilized, beautiful. We settled into our room and then had a many course dinner in a private dining room. After dinner we took advantage of the on site onsen (hot baths), and then crashed in our 10 mat bedroom (10 mats is just the main room, there is also a sitting room, a smaller 6 mat room with fire brazier and dresser, and the bathroom). The ryokan has two public onsen, each segregated by sex. One has baths inside and out, the other is more like a bath in a steam room. There is also a relaxation hall with big comfy massage chairs (Thrive) and some games (chess, backgammon, go, etc).
The two hour and twenty minute bus ride over the Japanese Alps was spectacular, cheap, and it shaved over two hours off the train time we expected to make (the train must go around the mountains). There was still plenty of snow up in the passes, though it was sunny, and in some places the snow was piled up higher than the bus! There was a brief stop at Hiruma (sp?) Onsen for 20 minutes (long enough for a potty break). From Takayama we caught a 17 minute local train to Hida Furukawa (¥230) and then a taxi to the Yatsusan Ryokan because we had all the bags and because we were not exactly sure where it was.
Yatsusan is awesome. A haven, welcoming, civilized, beautiful. We settled into our room and then had a many course dinner in a private dining room. After dinner we took advantage of the on site onsen (hot baths), and then crashed in our 10 mat bedroom (10 mats is just the main room, there is also a sitting room, a smaller 6 mat room with fire brazier and dresser, and the bathroom). The ryokan has two public onsen, each segregated by sex. One has baths inside and out, the other is more like a bath in a steam room. There is also a relaxation hall with big comfy massage chairs (Thrive) and some games (chess, backgammon, go, etc).
by Scott Nolan | Permalink 
