We Arrive to Falling Snow - 23 January 2024
The bus trip with Nagano Snow Shuttle was, as always, organised, straightforward and pleasant.
There was a LOT of luggage loaded onto this bus! Based on learnings from our last couple of trips, this time, we packed a bit differently.
Previously we each had a medium sized checked bag for clothes etc for our touring part of the holiday. Mr Seat 0A had a ski bag with both our skis and poles, and his ski boots, snow boots and his ski clothes (a very heavy bag, often around 30kg) and his helmet as a loose item attached to his large backpack (carry on); I had a purpose built ski backpack for my ski boots, helmet, snow boots, goggles etc (about 13 kg) that I had to carry by its handle as I also had a smallish back pack (carry on) and a roller carry on (for computer,ipad etc, which we have to take for running our business like digital nomads while we are away and my ski clothes) and so things were always a bit awkward to carry and also a challenge around the "2 pieces of luggage per person" for the bus. At the end of our ski holiday, we always send the ski items by Yamato/Black Cat direct to the airport so we don't have to lug them around. This time we went with:
- medium sized suitcase each with everything for the touring part weighing around 15 kg ea at the start of the trip
- ski bag with only skis, poles, Mr Seat 0A's ski and snow boots -much lighter at around 24kg
- medium sized suit case with my ski boot, snow boots, both our helmets, both our ski clothes, goggles gloves etc - around 20kg
- a backpack each as carry on
![Nozawa.jpg Nozawa.jpg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/361/361451-529f4711f69bf45a5cb99192c16f892d.jpg)
Sounds a lot, but this is how it looked in the beautiful falling snow that greeted us at the Nozawa Onsen Chuo bus terminal on arrival. It was very easy to move around a we each had 2 wheeled items and a back pack. Simples! The other big bonus was that we only had to pay for 2 items to be shipped to the airport, not 3, but that is a whole other story (she foreshadows).
Nagano Snow Shuttle has a new staging point in Nagano at Oyaki Farm, which is a beautiful new wood and glass structure with a commercial kitchen making oyaki fopr shipping around Japan. Oyaki is a traditional food of the Nagano region - a steamed bun made of buckwheat, with various sweet or savoury fillings. Quite delicious and very popular in the area as an affordable, traditional street food. The bus fare included a sample oyaki for each passenger - we had mixed vegetable. There were barrels with cheerful winter flower displays all around and it was a very refreshing stop.
There was also a small coffee shop there, selling proper coffee, but it was totally slammed and it is unlikely that you would get served and drink your coffee before your onward bus departure. So hot tip if you are going there is to get someone into the line to order while the rest of the party visit the ablutions, see the view etc, and be prepared for takeaway. The reason I mention this is because it van be very hard to Australian style coffee in Japan, and the clientele of Nagano Snow Shuttle to the ski fields is predominantly Aussies - so everyone on the multiple buses wants coffee! The other (quite acceptable) alternative is to go to Starbucks at the earlier highway service centre stop on the trip. I'm not usually a fan of Starbucks, but when in Japan, needs must. See how happy I look in this photo at the road house stop!
I decided to wear a mask when out in public in Japan just out of an abundance of caution as I'd had a couple of lowish WBC readings just before we left and I did not want to get sick. Mask wearing in Japan is back to what it always was - a personal choice if you are sick or want to avoid sick people in crowds - maybe a little more people wearing masks than pre-COVID, but not as many as this time last year!
We were collected by our hotel Altitude Nozawa, and taken up to settle into our room. I forgot to take photos - which will become a recurring theme of this TR! But it's a spacious room by Japanese standards, and we have a lovely view. When the cloud lifts, you can see right across the valley to the mountains on the other side. But fellow skiers will understand just how lovely the view I've posted actually is.
Didn't feel like dinner so ate snacks and had a very early night, ready to tackle the mountain tomorrow.