Japan Day 7 - Matsumoto Castle and Bus to Takayama

After my breakfast of cold fried chicken, we checked out then walked about one kilometre to the castle that this city is named after. It was a sunny day but quite cool, maybe 5°C? 

Completed in the late 16th century, Matsumoto castle is a famous historic site in Japan. The castle hasn’t changed much. The outside of it is original as well as the inside inside and it  is surrounded by a series of moats.

Characters and historical characters roam the grounds and we got our picture taken with some of them. Ninja!

There are seven floors and each successive one is reached by a series of stairs, some of which are so steep that navigating them was quite the challenge.

On top of that, we had to remove our shoes and the floors were bitterly cold. I went down a whole lot faster than I went up, that's for sure!

The fall colours were gorgeous and I stayed after our tour was over to take more pictures.

There were ducks and swans on the water, and huge fish were begging for food by swimming to the side and opening and closing their mouths.

After I had exhausted all possible photographic angles, I walked back to the downtown area and scouted around for a place to buy some lunch. I found a huge department store and headed to the basement – the grocery department. It was ginormous and sold all manner of baked goods as well as freshly cooked and packaged deli items. 

Travel to the next city on our agenda was via bus this time. The trip was over 2 1/2 hours and I slept for a good part of it. I woke up to some gorgeous scenery and a road that twisted and turned like nobody's business. 

We got off at Takayama and were met at the bus station by the owner of the inn we are staying at. He dropped us off downtown where we wandered down some old streets.

We stopped at a sake tasting shop. You can help yourself and the tasting is free but you must buy a cup for ¥200. There are several sake shops in the area, all with the same tasting model.

We found a place that sold the powdered green tea I enjoyed in Tokyo so I bought some for myself as well as for gifts. 

Our inn is amazing! The bedrooms have tatami mats with traditional futon beds. The inn also has its own onsen, a traditional Japanese hot spring bath. Before you use it, you must wash and rinse yourself. Men and women bathe separately in the nude. 

Our supper tonight was included and what a meal it was! We had a huge variety of things and I did try everything.

I really didn't care for the eel. It had a most strange texture and I would have spit it out if I could have. I also didn't care for the other raw meat. The vegetables and salads were wonderful and there was grilled salmon as well as beef that was cooked in individual pots in front of us.

The sauce made for that was most delicious. I also took a big mouthful of wasabi not knowing what it was or how to eat it! Yee-ikes!! It was so hot my eyes were burning. 

After dinner we had a chopstick contest to see who could pick up the most chocolate covered candies in 60 seconds. I am getting better but I came in second last place.

Some of us retired to a neighbouring room where we made three origami crafts: a crane, a samurai helmet and a frog. Ah, memories of great 2 social studies!

I get a room by myself tonight and it is quite lovely. Breakfast is included tomorrow and is at 7:30 am. Time to hit the hay! Or should I say tatami mat!

Japan Day 6 - Snow Monkeys and the Train to Matsumoto

Today was a nice late start - 9:30 am. We took a bus to the Jigokudani Monkey Park, about 45 minutes away. As I went through the station, there was a store that made me stop and stare. It was like a modern day 'Mr. Selfridges' in that 2 clerks (or greeters perhaps?) were just inside the door standing at perfect attention waiting to greet customers. Go figure!

Nagano, home of the '98 Winter Olympics, is surrounded by mountains and the fall colours were spectacular. Fortunately, it was a nicer day than yesterday and the sun even came out for a while. Along the bus route we saw apple orchards, persimmons, grapes and many greenhouses. 

A sign said the monkey park was 1.8 kilometres away. I'm sure that was the longest 1.8 km. I've ever walked. My step counter registered well over 5,000 steps before we were there – that can’t be right. The path went up and up, then down and level for a while. We first walked past residences, then got into a forest with the tallest, straightest trees I've seen in some time. It was muddy and slippery in places and it was hard going. But then I saw quite an elderly couple walking towards us and the woman had a crooked leg. Still she walked on so I figured if she could, I could!

The snow monkeys were absolutely delightful! There are about 160 monkeys in the area. They stay there because they are fed by staff to attract tourists and scientists also study them there. There weren't many bathing in the hot springs but I did get some lovely photos of some of them in the steam. 

They were all over the rocks, paths, bridges and down below. They seemed to spend most of their time grooming one another or eating.  Sometimes they came up behind you without you realizing it, especially if you were concentrating on picture taking. And once in a while, some of them began to fight for seemingly no reason at all. The little ones were so darling.

Many times the monkeys had their back to you but then would turn and look right at you and melt your heart. They moved fairly fast and I got a lot of bad shots but I think I got a few decent ones too.  I shot a lot of video because a still pic just doesn't tell the same story. 

All too soon we had to leave. Fortunately the way back seemed to take less time. We stopped at a restaurant enroute and I grabbed a muffin to tide me over. I could have eaten lunch there but didn't want to miss the bus and then the train to the next town. 

I was surprised at how there was never a trash can around when you needed one. This sign explained it all. Despite the lack of garbage cans, there never seemed to be litter all over the place. We could take a lesson from Japan!

We had about an hour once we got back to Nagano and I had a bite to eat. I'm surprised by how many restaurants and businesses don't have English menus or understand any English at all. I would have thought that tourism would have changed that. 

The train ride to Matsumoto was less than an hour long fortunately and I spent the time composing emails for later when I have Wi-Fi. Matsumoto is a city of 400,000. That's huge to me but not to others. Our hotel belongs to the same chain we stayed at in Tokyo. 


Some of us went for supper at a restaurant in the train station. It was located in a department store called Midori. I was surprised by the decor and menu. Like last night, we had to remove our shoes. We then sat at traditional Japanese benches at a low table where we could put our legs under the table. Most of us ordered fried chicken (the specialty of the area), which came with rice, soup and plain cabbage. It was the biggest portion of chicken I have EVER been served! 

I also ordered a drink which I thought was a plum wine cocktail. It turns out that the word 'Highball' is a type of rye whiskey, not what I was expecting at all! I asked for a doggy bag to bring some of the chicken back for breakfast tomorrow.

15,000+ steps!