Japan Alps Continued

On my second day in the Japan Alps National Park I  borrowed a bike from my ryokan and explored Matsumoto a bit.  The main highlight in the city is the castle.  It is ranked as one of the top 4 castles in Japan, and I wasn’t disapointed.  The other castles I’ve seen in Japan (Osaka and Odawara) are new reconstructions.  The inside of those ones looks more like a gift shop or a museum, but Matsumoto’s castle looked very old and well kept.  It was much better than I had been expecting. 

After my trip to the castle, I went for another bus ride into the Alps Park.  I went to Kamikochi, which is probably the most popular spot to go hiking in the park.  There were a lot of people for a weekday, but the scenary was very beautiful.  It actually made reminded me a bit of Minnesota with all of the pine trees.  The hike trail followed along side the river/stream and made for a very picturesque walk. 

After Kamikochi, I decided to go to an onsen and relax for the evening.  I went to a place recommended in my Lonely Planet and it turned out to be my favorite place in Japan (so far, anyways).  The hotsprings part was mainly outside and there were at least 12 different baths on the woman’s side.  Each bath was a different temperature and had lots of minerals and things in the natural spring water.  The setting was perfect!  Everywhere you looked you saw the beautiful mountains surrounding you and all of the fall colors.  After soaking in the hot springs, I had a chance to relax in the main building.  They had a great room where you could eat icecream, drink tea, sleep, or get a shiatsu massage.  Unfortunately the massuese was busy when I was there, so I had to settle for a reflexology machine.  But it was still nice.

My final vacation day was mainly spent on the bus.  I checked out of the ryokan at about 7:00 am and caught a bus to Takayama.  I wandered around Takayama and went to the morning market, looked in the cute traditional style shops, and had some great soba.  Then it was time to take a bus back to Matsumoto, and then another bus back to Tokyo.  (Followed by a train ride back to my apartment in Tsujido.) 

It was a busy vacation, but I really enjoyed it.  It was nice to get out of the city and a bit of the tourist trail.  I saw a lot of Japanese tourists, but maybe only saw 5 foreigners the whole time I was in the Alps.

Japan Alps 1

A few weeks ago, I had a 5 day weekend and took a trip out to the Japan Alps National Park.  I took a bus out to Matsumoto and stayed at a great little ryokan there.  (A ryokan is a traditional style guesthouse with tatami floors, futons, and onsens.)  The couple running the ryokan were so sweet and took such good care of me.  Lending me a bike for the day, giving me maps, finding cheap tickets for sightseeing things, even lending me there dvd player and movies.  My room was really cool.  It had tatami floors, a comfy futon, and a traditional tea set.  They also give you a yukata to lounge around in, which is basically like an informal kimono. 

I bought a 3 day unlimited ticket for the bus, so I could explore as much of the national park as I wanted.  The first day I went to Shinhotaka to go on the cable car ride to the top of the mountain.  The bus ride out there was amazing!  I lucked out and made it to the park at the height of fall color season, so it was breathtaking.  I didn’t realize how popular the cable car would be, but I ended up waiting about an hour to ride up the first leg of the trip.  (It stopped in the middle of the mountain and I had to wait another 70 minutes to take the second car up to the top and the viewpoint!!)  But I befriended these nice Japaneseladies who were waiting behind me in line.  They only spoke a little bit of English, and I only remember a few words of Japanese, but a lot of smiling and laughing made us friends for the day.  The view from the top was worth all of the waiting! 

After the cable car, my new Japanese friends invited me to their hotel to go to the onsen.  It turned out that they were staying in one of the poshest hotels in the park and the onsen was unbelivable!  It was a totally natural setting with the spring water pooling up inbetween big boulders, and a river running by on one side.  We even saw a monkey walk by!