From Cherry Blossom to Snowy Mountains...TR Apr 2016

[rbjhan]

Got to Murodo bus terminal at 1pm, and it was packed to the rafters! I estimated 85% of them to be Japanese & Taiwanese package tours. Yikes (at least the mainlanders haven't found this place, yet).

Good thing about package tourists is they always follow the script. All you need to do is leave the bus terminal via the observation deck and voila!


A crater lake.


A small snow wall....

 

[rbjhan]

After the last bus left, Hotel Tateyama organised a walking tour of Yuki-no-Otani for their guests.

The weather was not nice on this particular day. But at least I wasn’t there the day before when all activities were suspended. Remember the crazy wind in Toyama? Imagine what it was like up here…

 

[rbjhan]

Hotel Tateyama


Lobby


My room. It was quite dated (I'm being nice here). The mattress was so firm I could have just slept on a slab of concrete


Kettle was also humidifier, never seen this before.


Toilet only, no bathroom. Public onsen was nice though.


View, that's the entrance to the snow wall.


What if you are hungry at night?
Instant noodle vending machine to the rescue!

 

[rbjhan]

Dinner was surprisingly good considering we were at 2450m above sea level....





Sunset from the dining room

 

[rbjhan]

Day 10
Woke up and looked out of the window…


Quickly dressed and went down to the bus ternimal, this was before the first bus arrived.


Walked outside, wow


That was Mikurigaike onsen. Hmmm, I think Hotel Tateyama was totally worth it.

 

[rbjhan]

Sadly that year snow wall was only 13m tall...


Finally took this picture of Yuki-no-Otani under the blue sky. This turned out to be perfect timing, few minutes later the weather turned again.


Okay it was still very impressive.

 

[rbjhan]

By 9.30am the package tours arrived by the bus load...time to leave.
Trolley bus to Daikanbo.


It started snowing when I got to Daikanbo.
Visibility? Hmmm...


Good days were like this


Daikanbo was basically an observation deck, nothing I could do here...
Took ropeway down to Kurobedaira.

 

[rbjhan]

Cablecar to Kurobe Lake.


Down to 1500m above sea level, and the snow stopped.
Kurobe Dam


There’s another observation deck, but you do need to climb those stairs to get there…


The view above is worth the trouble I’d say

 

[rbjhan]

There's a restaurant near the dam, where you can get this curry rice.
Taste was not bad either.


2 more buses later, I arrived at Shinano Omachi, the end of Alpine Route.


*with that option ticket you can choose to terminate at Nagano too. I chose Shinano Omachi as it's closer to Matsumoto.

 

[rbjhan]

To summarise, the Alpine Route was not only the highlight of this trip. Looking back at all my 10 trips I'd still rank it No.1.
However it was extremely crowded during the opening week, tons of package tours. Day trip is possible but the transport alone from one end to the other will need 4 hours excluding wait time, I would not recommend it. You need to stay at least one night (preferably in Murodo) to enjoy the place.

*Note: this is not a ski resort. No tracks no lifts.
I saw a few very brave ones carrying their ski/snowboard up.....

 

[VPS]

Day 8
This was a Sunday.
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route opened the day before, I thought it would be wise not to go on a weekend, so planned a day in Toyama.
Originally I wanted to bike around Toyama City. That went out of the window the moment I stepped outside my hotel. Holy sxx_ that was some crazy wind! As a Melburnian I am not easily intimidated by wind, but this was STRONG, blow you off the road kind. So I took the tram to Toyama Glass Museum instead.

Foreign tourist gets 2 free tram rides, nice.
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The Glass Museum was totally my cup of tea.
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Designed by no other than Kengo Kuma.

Toyama Kirari / Kengo Kuma and Associates

Completed in 2015 in Toyama, Japan. Images by Yi-Hsien Lee Photography. Toyama Kirari is located at the heart of Toyama City. It is a building that integrates a glass art museum, city library, and a local bank. A...

www.archdaily.com

View attachment 214845

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Morning tea in the museum cafe.
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With some very distinctive Chihuly works in there - love it

 

[rbjhan]

With some very distinctive Chihuly works in there - love it

Part of their permanent collection.

 

[rbjhan]

From Shinano Omachi, Matsumoto was one hour away by local train.


Dormy Inn Matsumoto, my favourite hotel of this trip, about 5 mins walk from the station.


Room was spacious and bed very comfy


Signature free ramen

 

[rbjhan]

Across the street from Dormy Inn there’s an Izakaya specialised in horsemeat, yep, that’s the local delicacy.

Sashimi


Grilled horsemeat


Horsemeat with bamboo shoots


Tbh, I’m not a fan, chewy and not very tasty. Well at least I tried it...

 

[rbjhan]

Matsumoto Castle, oooh I fell in love


End of Day 10

 

[rbjhan]

Day 11
Breakfast


And onsen!

 

[rbjhan]

Naturally I went back to the castle.




That was where the Honmaru used to be




Mascot of Matsumoto

 

[rbjhan]

Soba noodles, now this is a local delicacy I did enjoy.


Booked a 1:20 pm highway bus to Shinjuku, no time for other sights in Matsumoto. I really liked this city though, went back in 2020.

 

[rbjhan]

The bus arrived at Shinjuku about 30 mins late. Luckily I got onto the Metro fairly quickly. Not sure why so many people say Shinjuku station is a maze. Yes it’s massive with many different lines, but everything is clearly marked…

I was planning an Unagi dinner. Unfortunately as the bus was delayed, by the time I checked into Tokyu Stay Ginza I was starving…ran to Ippudo Ramen which is just around the corner instead.


Came back to life after the ramen, time for some shopping! I just love Ginza

 

[rbjhan]

Tokyu Stay Ginza
Hotel opened in March 2016, so brand new at the time!
Fantastic location in the heart of Ginza. 1 min walk from Higashi Ginza station A2 Exit, from where you can take Keisei line to both airports.


Lobby


In room microwave and washing machine was quite handy.


Moderate double, reasonable size in Tokyo.


Look closely you’ll realise this is another prefab bathroom....


It was not cheap(14000 Yen per night iirc), but I’d say normal price in Ginza, you do pay for the location.

Not much of a view but at least it's not a wall of neighbouring building...