Hokuriku: Day 3

I hate getting up early, and it's even worse when it's on vacation.  But today it was worth it.  Jigokudani Park (Hell's Valley) is so named because of its steep cliffs and natural hot springs, but the reason people go there is to see something much cuter:  bathing monkeys!

I woke up at 5 in order to catch the earliest train that would take me to Nagano. I was too tired to stay awake for the whole journey, but caught some of the breathtaking scenery from the window of the train.

From Nagano Station there's a 40-minute bus ride up into the mountains, and from the bus stop another 40-minute walk.  The Monkey Park is only accessible on foot, but at least the walk up the mountain is a pretty one:

Once inside the park, I'd imagined I would have to keep careful watch if I wanted to see any monkeys, but it turns out they were everywhere.  Take, for example, this photo.  Looks like just a regular old mountainside, right?  Nope!  Look carefully along the bottom.  All those tiny little brown spots are monkeys!

Can you see them here?

A little further up a path and you reach the main attraction: the natural hot springs where the snow monkeys (Japanese macaque) keep themselves warm in freezing temperatures.

I had expected they wouldn't allow visitors to get too close, or that I'd have to be careful not to let tiny little monkey fingers snatch away any of my belongings but, to my surprise, neither of those things were true.  You could get right in their faces with a camera and they would just go right on bathing/swimming/digging/grooming/pooping like you weren't even there...I think we weren't interesting enough for them.  There were also a lot of signs as you entered the park area warning you not to eat or offer any food to monkeys while inside, so fortunately they haven't learned to expect anything from you.

I stayed till I was too cold (and had snot running down my face...) then headed for the bus back to the city. After picking up a cup of coffee I made my way to the bullet train platform.  And without even planning it, I had chosen the very best time of day to go back: I got to watch the sunset from my nice comfy seat on the shinkansen.  And as I neared Tokyo, I even caught a glimpse of Mt. Fuji, silhouetted by the last rays of sunlight.

What a nice way to end a long weekend.  Back to work tomorrow...

Hokuriku: Day 2

Spent the day in Kanazawa.  Yesterday was a long day, so I decided to sleep in.  Once I was out and about I headed for Kenroku-en, known as one of the "Three Great Gardens of Japan" and also for the way the trees are tied with rope in winter, to help protect them from heavy snows.

In fact, trees and bushes are tied like this all around the city, but they are especially beautiful in this park.  I was a little sad I couldn't see them covered with snow, which is said to be the best time of year for viewing.

The garden is next to the castle grounds.  They have an awful lot of restoration work going on and some places were off-limits, but I took a walk around anyways and enjoyed the architecture of some of the warehouses, as well as a view of the mountains in the distance from a lookout point.

The side of the main warehouse

From an elevated spot within the castle grounds you can see the Japanese Alps

Next stop: the 'tea house' districts, which is actually just another name for the geisha entertainment areas.  I went in order to photograph the Edo-style exteriors of the buildings along the narrow streets, but didn't actually go inside any of them.

Higashi-chaya district

Supposedly you can still go there in the evenings for geisha performances but I have no doubt that it's all targeted at tourists.  Some of the remaining tea houses are like little cafes while the others tea houses have been converted into shops selling cosmetics, sweets or local handicrafts.

The exterior of one of the shops with traditional "kaga" latticework

From there I walked most of the way back to the station so that I could enjoy the scenery of the neighborhoods and the river.

The newly remodeled Kanazawa Station.  A bullet train track connecting this town with Tokyo has just been completed and trains begin running in March, shaving a couple of hours off travel time and bringing in a lot more tourism...

Exhausted after a day on my feet, it was nice to be back in my hotel room.  Now that I've had my dinner, I'm going to have a nice soak and then an early bed time.  (I've got to get up very early in the morning for an attempt at an adventure. Check in again tomorrow to see if I'm successful...)

Hokuriku: Day 1

"Welcome" posters at Toyama Station, featuring some of the local specialties or popular sightseeing spots.

My day started at 6am, which is when the overnight bus dropped me outside of Toyama Station.  Nothing--not even Starbucks--was open yet, so I spent a minute admiring their version of safety cones (see below) and then got on a train headed for the coast.

Toyama: home of the cutest safety cones you will ever see.
These were part of a construction area.  The scarves are real, by the way...

At 8:30 my train arrived at Amaharashi, overlooking Toyama Bay.  The name, I learned, translates as "rain or shine".  It's named after a local monument: a sort of stone shelter built on the beach more than a century ago which shields occupants from rain or intense sun.

It was raining, which made me feel right at home.  For Oregonians, a rainy day at the beach is pretty much an ordinary day at the beach.  Amaharashi also takes things a couple of steps further in its resemblance of Oregon beaches, with its pine trees and famous large rocks out in the water.  But one of the most-boasted-about qualities of this particular spot is that you can also admire the Hida Mountains in the distance.

Toyama Bay and waves waving.

The large-ish rock on the right is called the "mother" rock; the smaller rocks nearby represent her children.  There is a similarly-shaped "father" rock further down the coast, not visible in this shot. The Hida Mountains are in the distance.

Next, I made my way back to Takaoka where I stopped to see Zuiryu-ji, a zen temple designated as a National Treasure.  This temple is less particular than others about letting tourists wander around inside one of the main halls, and there were few places that were off limits.  I get a kick out of taking my shoes off, lining them up neatly at the bottom of the steps, and then wandering around a centuries-old cultural property in my socks...

Zuiryu-ji's San-mon (main gate)

One of my favorite shots from today: a view of the Butsuden ("Buddha hall")
from a window in the Hattou (a hall for ceremonies, lectures, and daily services).

After the temple I was off to the other side of the town to see their "Great Buddha" statue.  I liked his mustache, but that's really all I have to say about that.

From there, off to the hotel.  Spent the afternoon kind of lazing around and then took a walk to find dinner.  I bought new rain boots when I was Stateside over Christmas and have been waiting to try them out, so I was very pleased to see that if things go as planned, I will get to wear them in both rain and snow this weekend.

A "boot selfie" in the hotel elevator.  This one's for you, Wendy. ;)

More tomorrow...