Niigata

I received by email an invite to volunteer at the Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024. An invite to volunteer at the Olympic Games in Marseille came a few weeks later.
Leaving Sendai and travelling west, the coach took us to a dairy farm in the hills near Zao where we made ice-cream. We put a small jar containing cream into a larger jar which was half-filled with ice. Salt was added to make it colder. We shook the large jar for 10 minutes using a hand-towel since it got colder. Both jars were opened and we ate the ice-cream which was stuck to the sides of the small jar.
The next stop was at a viewpoint of a waterfall surrounded by the autumn foliage.
We stopped by a small shrine and a hot-spring foot-bath in Zao.
There were lots of ropeways since Zao is a ski resort. The coach climbed around many hairpin-bends to reach the summit and the Okama volcanic crater lake near Mt Kattadake.at 1720m. There was a little snow in some gullies, and the temperature had dropped. Steve ordered our lunches from a vending machine in the cafe at the summit.
In the afternoon, continuing our coast-to-coast journey, there was a long drive to Niigata, the final 90 minutes in the dark through many tunnels and then rice paddies.
We arrived at the Hotel Sunroute at 18.30.
I had dinner with two others in a booth in a restaurant. I had a steak followed by ice-cream sprinkled with parmesan cheese plus a red-bean mochi.
There was a thunderstorm during the night.Read more