Next Level Ablutions
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So let's talk about toilets.
Next Level. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You walk in and the lid pops up automatically. Running water sounds starts playing and the seat is heated. You do your business then selectRead more
So let's talk about toilets.
Next Level. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You walk in and the lid pops up automatically. Running water sounds starts playing and the seat is heated. You do your business then select either front and or back wash, followed by a blow dry. Then you stand up and the lid closes and it automatically flushes.
Like a car wash for your tushie!
Next Level 🎚️
Downsides: if the water is set too hot and you can't read Japanese, chances are you're going to make it hotter by pressing all the buttons.
#Steamedwonton 🥴
But no lie I haven't come across a dirty public toilet. We've been in tiny towns, shonky hotels, airports and countless train stations, including *the* busiest in the world. They are all at a standard of high end Australia restaurants or hotels. So clean. All dispensers and taps are automatic too.
You know that hesitation going to public restrooms in Oz? Absolutely NONE here.
Incredible.
The absolute shit. 👏💗Read more
Today is on a fixed schedule as we have reserved seats for the shinkansen. We have to be at 11:24 at Tokyo station to get on the train out of the city. Before we leave the capital behind, we want to visit the Tsukiji outer fish market that's actually not too far from our hotel. Before, there was also an inner fish market where the freshly caught tuna were auctioned and the day price was set. Nowadays, the inner market and auction has moved closer to the harbor, but the outside market remains at its original location and is still a thriving area for fresh fish. We arrive shortly after breakfast and many food stalls are already open selling shrimp, crabs, oysters, etc. If breakfast wasn't included in our hotel, this would have been the perfect place to have breakfast (or lunch).
The entire marketplace is only a couple of streets big. We crisscross through them and watch how chefs prepare fresh shrimp with a gas burner. As today is Wednesday, some of the stalls remain closed as it's their closing day. After the market, we quickly stop at a nearby shrine. It's a shrine to honor the god(s) of the waves and to wish for good return for the many fishing boats.
We return on foot to our hotel to check-out and head for the subway station. Timing wise, everything is going great. We even arrive a bit before schedule in the hotel and can enjoy one of the free beers that the hotel offers its guests. It's funny to see that the beer can mentioned "inspired by Belgian beer".
After a refreshing drink and some cooling down in the air-conditioned lobby, we take the subway to Tokyo Station providing us with enough time to catch the shinkansen to Nagano. Because this will be the first time we have to use the shinkansen, and we have to use the pre-ordered tickets instead of our IC-card, we wanted to have enough time. Of course, things turned out to go incredibly smooth. From the subway station we quickly switched to the shinkansen gates. An employee told us to put both tickets in the machine and we received both back at the other end. Amazed by how the machine knows how to read and interpret the different tickets, we continue to the platform.
Tip for future travelers: in larger stations, the shinkansen trains and local trains/subways are separate from each other. You'll have to badge out of the subway/local train and enter through a dedicated gate to enter the shinkansen platforms. Because shinkansen tickets cannot be bought (easily) with an IC-card, this system is incrediby easy. You pay for your local train/subway trajectory by IC-card when you exit the local gate and use the shinkansen tickets when entering the respective platform. More on buying or reserving seats later.
By now, we've seen the lines on the subway platforms to position yourself so you don't block exiting passengers. On these platforms, things go even a tiny bit further: you have separate lines for train number 1, or train number 2. Just in case there are two trains in close succession of each other. Each carriage is already visible on the platform as they know exactly where the train will stop.
There are different kinds of shinkansen depending on the trajectory. Also, the number of carriages can vary, but it's easy to deduct where to stand based on the info on the screens.
It might seem like a bit overkill, but all this drastically reduces the amount of (de)boarding time and allows for a neater schedule.
Our train arrives and we find our places in the reserved carriage on our ticket. At exactly 11:24 the train leaves the station bound for Nagano. Announcements are made in English, there's plenty of legroom, there is even Wi-Fi on board the train. And above all: it's quiet. In part because the train makes little noise as it blasts over the rails. But also, because nobody talks, or does so very quietly. People receiving a phone call exit the carriage to answer the call.
At the point of writing this blogpost, this remains a very nice an aspect of Japanese culture. Last time I took the train in Belgium, I received a phone call and exited the carriage as well to answer it. It was almost impossible to hear what the person was saying because the train makes so much noise.
In Nagano we have to switch to the Shinano express train to Matsumoto. No more shinkansen, but a very decent "normal" train that takes us to the foot of the Japanese Alps. Soon after there's the announcement for our stop: "we'll soon make a brief stop at: Matsumoto. Please be ready to exit the train before it comes to a stop at the platform". Again, maximize efficiency and (de)boarding times.
We arrive at the station and have to pass through the ticket gates. We don't know which tickets to enter, as we also have some tickets left for our onward journey to the next accommodation. Putting one in provides an error and spits the ticket back out. Let's try all three then? Yes! We get the ones we didn't need back at the other side of the gate. Smart things...
It's time to find a locker for our suitcases as we don't want to take them with us during our visit at the castle. Luckily, almost any station has coin lockers available in different sizes. We even find a modern section next to the information office that accepts IC-cards as payment. After having put our luggage away, we continue on foot to the castle. We're slightly pressed as time is ticking: our next train to our final destination is also a reserved one. We have 1 hour, to visit the castle.
Matsumoto castle is beautiful! Before entering the castle ground, you can see it dominating the environment around it. We have no issues in quickly buying a ticket and walk through the garden leading up to the castle. Before we enter the castle, we have to take off our shoes and carry them along in a plastic bag. Inside is a museum about the history of the castle and the battles fought here. We work our way up the different floors and inspect the impressive woodwork that holds this entire structure together. The square rooms quickly get smaller as we reach the top floor.
When we exit the castle there are some cosplay characters of ninja warriors outside that happily pose for a picture. No money required for taking a picture, those people are happy to pose, dress and perform for free.
We follow the signs for the most scenic photo spots. In the end, our one-hour time limit turned out to be sufficient. We managed to see everything we wanted to! Time to head back to the train station and pick up our luggage.
Just before the train station, we make another stop at a Seven Eleven store to buy a little snack. It's a little to 4PM, and we're having a little craving. On the other hand, we don't want to eat too much as we know that dinner will be served early this evening. I'm buying a sort of pastry with custard cream and whipped cream to eat on the train. Ann decides on a kind of rice ring and some kiwi-juice. I'm falling in love with the custard cream pastry, and Ann discovers that kiwi-juice tastes like candy-juice. Nevertheless, tasty!
No issues in picking up our suitcases or getting through the ticket gates. We board our train that will soon take us to Kiso Fukushima, a small village in the Alps. We'll be staying here at a ryokan: a traditional room style hotel that includes breakfast and dinner in it's stays.
The landscape outside of the train window changes rapidly and soon we're surrounded by green tree-packed mountains on both sides of the train tracks. When the train halts in our little village, the ryokan is just across the street. We enter and are warmly greeted by the owners. They were expecting us! Before even entering the hotel, we have to take off our shoes and leave them at the front door. All shoes you leave at the doorstep should be pointing away from the house so you can easily slip them back on when leaving. We set foot inside our ryokan that is entirely covered in tatami (mats). Whilst checking in, we are given some free tatami socks, and an employee kindly shows us to our room. Even the elevator is covered in tatami.
The lady shows us the elevator, presses the correct floor button and makes a deep bow. By the time the elevator doors open on the second floor, she's standing again in front of the elevator and welcomes us again to the second floor. It's funny to see how she must have run up the stairs to be able to be there by the time the elevator arrived.
Our room is a typical ryokan style room: a low table, and sliding doors covered with a thin rice-milk like layer. There are some yukata's in the room to wear if we like. When we eat dinner, the staff will come and place our beds (futons), transforming the living room in a sleeping room.
We're both blown away by this incredible room. It makes you feel like you're travelling back in time, to the ancient Japan which gives an oddly satisfying feeling. We try on our yukata and belt provided with it. My old judo lessons help me out a bit on how to wear it and how to tie the knot. Not too much later, it's time for dinner. We leave our room, both dressed in our yukata and wearing the special tatami socks to the dining area. There are some other tourists, but we're the only ones wearing our yukata. The staff, however, seems pleasantly surprised to see us in the traditional outfit and shows us to our table.
Staying in a ryokan is a special experience on its own, especially because the dinner is quite often kaiseki ryori which is equivalent to the French 'haute cuisine'. We're given a list of all the different things we will eat tonight and from the appetizer until the dessert everything is marvelously presented. Tiny portions, but with great finesse in taste, texture and presentation. We try our very best to adhere to the many food etiquette that Japan has as we're treated like gods.
The waiter attending our table kindly announces the end of the diner when placing the last dish in front of us. Ask us what we want to drink tomorrow morning at breakfast and invites us for breakfast in the same room tomorrow morning.
We finish our meal and are bowed goodnight by the staff as we leave the room. Time to inspect our beds!
Two thick matrasses are placed on the tatami mats with a cozy blanket on top. Before ending the day, we decide to test out the low table in our room and have a cup of matcha tea. During our relaxing moment, we look up some movies on how to wear and tie a yukata. Turns out there's way more to it than I initially thought. We practice on tying the perfect knot and making sure our yukata's are not wrinkling. Nothing is ever plain and simply in this country.
Although you can sleep in the yukata, we don't want it to be all wrinkled tomorrow morning and switch to our normal pjama's and fall asleep in a tiny town, far outside the busy streets of Tokyo.Read more
🇺🇸 This was definitely one of the least enjoyable days so far. The hike was fairly boring with most of the day spent alongside the highway but also extremely hard after how long yesterday was and the heat was unbearable. It was also a little bit farther than I thought it would be - One day I will learn how to properly read a map. At least Fukushima, the town I stayed at, was beautiful and the Izakaya I ate dinner at was a delight. Yoko-san, the owners mother, spent the entire evening talking to me and was incredibly kind.
🇩🇪 Heute war definitiv der schlimmste Tag bisher. Der Hike war nicht nur relativ langweilig, weil die meiste Zeit neben der großen Straße verbracht wurde, sondern auch anstrengend nach dem gestrigen langen Tag und zudem war die Hitze nicht auszuhalten. Es war auch ein bisschen weiter als ich geplant hatte - Irgendwann werde ich lernen wie man eine Karte richtig nutzt. Zum Glück war Fukushima, das Dorf in dem ich die Nacht verbrachte, sehr schön und das Izakaya in dem ich zu Abend gegessen habe war super witzig. Yoko-san, die Mutter des Besitzers und Koch, hat den Abend an meinem Tisch verbracht und mit mir geredet und wir unglaublich nett.Read more
I left my holdall at the ryokan for forwarding to Matsumoto.
It was still raining so I ordered a taxi to take me to Ise-shi Station where the rain stopped. I took the JR Rapid Mie to Nagoya, a journey which was not covered by the JR Pass so I had to pay the inspector. Different Prefectures have different rules about the validity of the Pass. From Nagoya, I took the Chuo Line to Nakatsugawa and then a bus to Magone.
The countryside was fairly flat and dotted with green and yellow rice paddies.
Magone was one of the main villages on the Nakasendo Way, the name of the Postal Route between Kyoto and Edo, now Tokyo. On this Sunday afternoon, it was very touristy. so I walked through the village to start the hike along the Way. After a short while, there was thunder and lightening so I sheltered, even contemplating returning to Magone to catch a bus. However, a German lady came along the trail at about the same time as the rain stopped and the sun came out so I continued with her until she veered off the trail to look for something.
The trail went uphill for the first 2km reaching the "lucky" height of 777m, and then it descended for 4km to Tsumago in the Kiso Valley. Tsumago was much quieter than Magone, perhaps because all the tourists ahd left by 16.30. The trail itself had been quiet despite this section of the Way being one of the most popular.
The walking was easier underfoot than the Kumano Kodo. The trail could have done with a few more signposts. The trail was mainly along forest trails except for the final kilometres into Tsumago and around the earlier landslide.
I stayed at Daikichi, a family-run minshuku.
There were German and Dutch couples at dinner where we sat on the ground with our legs stretched under the table to eat the Japanese set meal. which included grasshopper, rainbow trout, and horse sashimi.Read more
🇺🇸 Late start due to lower temperatures today. Unfortunately the heat in the open and directly in the sun was still rough so I took an early break to ear Katsu-Carry at a very old-school Bar. The rest of the day was uneventful until about 6km off Narai-juku when the climb towards the Toriitage-Pass, a trail between Kido Village and Narai-juku, starts. The climb was hard but the views and lower temps under the trees were definitely worth it. In Narai-juku all the shops were closed so my Emergency crackers and cashew nuts had to replace a proper dinner.
🇩🇪 Später Start wegen relativ niedrigen Temperaturvorhersagen. Leider war es im Offenen in der Sonne trotzdem noch heiß. Ich habe relativ früh eine Pause eingelegt, um ein leckere Katsu-Curry zu essen - Die Bar war sehr ulkig mit vielen netten Gästen. Der Rest des Tages war nicht sonderlich spannend bis etwa 6km vor Narai-juku, wo der Anstieg zum Toriitage-Pass, ein kleiner Wanderweg über den Berg zwischen Kiso Village und Narai-juku, beginnt. Zwar war der Anstieg schwer, die Aussichten waren aber super und das Klima unter den Bäumen war angenehm nach einem langen Tag. In Narai-juku selbst waren schon alle Restaurants zu (Off-Season halt) also wurden meine Not-Cracker und Cashewnüsse zum Abendessen im Park.Read more
En ces temps de virus, les randonnées sont des valeurs sûres : on ne croise personne, on est tranquilles, perdus en pleine nature. Et en plus, on tombe régulièrement sur de beaux temples oubliés des guides touristiques et de charmants villages historiques. Que demander mieux ? Nous revoilà donc sur un autre tronçon du Nakasendo ! On a l'ambition de rallier Yabuhara à Niekawa, entre 4 et 5h de marche. Notre épopée (on exagère un peu) commence par l'ascension du mont Ontake. On sonne plusieurs cloches pour nous signaler aux ours et on monte, on monte, on monte... Arrivés au col, on a droit à une belle vue (beaucoup de vent !), un temple et un grand Tori surplombant la vallée. Narai nous attend, de l'autre côté. Ancienne ville postale à la grande rue longée de vieilles maisons, on se retrouve une nouvelle fois transportés à une autre époque. On y pique-nique au bord de la rivière avant de continuer notre chemin le long de la paisible voie ferrée. On traverse pleins de petits hameaux aux noms et paysages dépaysants : Kiso Hirasawa, Nagase, Momooka... Nous voilà enfin à Niekawa ! On traverse le pont Melody (on peut jouer de la musique dessus, d'où son nom) et filons avant que le train parte sans nous. Mais on s'est trompé d'horaires, le prochain est dans 2h ! On se rabat donc sur un bus jusqu'à Shiojiri, un train et nous voilà enfin rentré, des étoiles pleins les yeux et les jambes fatiguées !Read more
Auf unserer Weiterfahrt durch das malerische Kiso-Valley machten wir unseren ersten Halt an einem der historischen Post-Dörfer, wo früher die Postkutschen Rast gemacht haben. Die ordentlich nebeneinander aufgereihten Häuschen sind in der typische traditionellen japanischer Bauweise gebaut, mit dunklen, flambierten Holzlatten, die teils massiv, teils sehr filigran aneinander gereiht werden (s. Bilder).
Da es schon späterer Nachmittag war und in dem Dorf die Straße ausgebessert wurde, waren wir fast die einzigen Touristen und hatten das Dorf für uns.
Ich denke auch, dass sich nicht so viele Touristen hier her verirren denn die Anreise ist ohne Auto schon echt erschwert - zu unserem Glück 😉
Ein Stück weiter ins Valley Richtung Süden fanden wir einen Stellplatz an einem der vielen Michi-no-eki/Roadside Station. Die Nacht war zwar kühl aber nicht so kalt wie in der einen Nacht vor 3 Tagen wo ich mich erkältete …Read more
After a Japanese set breakfast, I began my hike along the Yogawa-Michi section of the Nakasendo Way at 08.30 on another sunny and warm day. This section followed the Kiso River in the Kiso Valley after crossing the Nenoue Pass. I hiked the 5km to Nagiso Station in an hour and bought some lunch. before continuing the hike to Nojiri Station. which I reached at 13.30. I saw no other hikers until some time after I reached Nojiri, one of them being the German lady from the previous day. I saw some people in the rice paddies and fields of horticulture.
The trail was a mixture of forest paths, open trails past some lovely houses, iron and wooden steps, and tarmac, especially on the last 5km on a downhill forest road into Nojiri. The first part of the hike up to Nenoue Pass was steep. There were warning signs about bears so I rang the bear-bells and blew my whistle. There was a dead snake on one of the roads.
Many older properties were closed and maybe abandoned.
The scenery was lovely with the leaves on some trees starting to change colour.
After an hour's wait at Nojiri, I took a train on the Chuo Line for an hour's journey to Naira, stopping at all stations including Kiso-Fukushima. Naira was a National Monument and another Post Town as were Magone and Tsumago, with a high street lined with old houses. and shops although it was quiet in late afternoon once any tourists had left.
I stayed at Katou Minshuku where there was one Japanese guest ,who spoke very little English, at dinner and breakfast which were Japanese set meals.
I turned the heater on in the bedroom for a while sonce the evenings were getting chillier, especially given the altitude in the mountains.Read more
Repas dans la ville de Narai
Kanameya
+81 264-34-3329
https://maps.app.goo.gl/soRd5mrrehanC29k8
Visite du village de Naraï toujours sur le chemin naka sendo (mais un peu plus loin 😄)
You might also know this place by the following names:
Kiso-machi, 木曽町
Traveler Great review 😂