Nagano to Kanazawa

It's a long drive to Kanazawa today. Firstly the route takes me west to Hakuba, which is a popular ski resort, although quiet at this time of year. The first photo is of an Open Garden area there.
The route then takes me north through Otari to Itoigawa on the Toyama Bay coast. Quite spectacular views of both mountains and coastline. I have video only of this.
From here it's west past Toyoma to Kanazawa. Lots of traffic, some congestion and not much scenery. I take a photo of a Honda S660 roadster (for you Joe) which looks pretty cool.
I reach Kanazawa and pass my hotel on the left. I strain my eyes looking for hotel parking but there are workmen outside the hotel so I park in a street lot. Around $7AUD for the day, which is much better than hotel rates. I move my car to the hotel tower park the next day. Basically my car goes into a lift which goes up and dispatches my car somewhere on a higher floor. Problematic if you want to grab anything out of the car later! When you ask for your car, the process is reversed and the car rotates on a carousel in the lift. So you can drive it out directly without reversing.
Anyway I check into my room at Hotel Mystays. It's a double SMOKING room of an impressive size (last 2 photos) but the cigarette smell is overwhelming on first entry. A/C helps but the smell is in the pillowcase and towels. That's the only downside as the hotel has a small gym and a free laundry. I use both of course.
It also offers room service so I order a grilled pork on rice and lettuce meal for around 8AUD. Very filling! This hotel is better at catering to international tourists than the others I've stayed at. Highly recommended as long as you book a non-smoking room!Les mer