February 17 - Itoigawa - Hakuba

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It is calling for pouring rain today and the freezing level is very high. We don't want to go out on the hill today, so we decide to hit up the Japanese Sea coast instead. Brad says that this weather system is common right before a big storm. They get rain, then wind, then loads of snow. It sounds like we might miss the next big dump though because we will have to head back to Tokyo. Hopefully we get some snow to ride Cortina though. We make some breakfast and are at the train station nice and early to catch a train to Itoigawa. When we leave the hotel, it is sunny outside, but we grab some umbrellas to prepare for the future.



We buy our train tickets and it isn't very expensive (840 yen each/ $10CAN) to get out to the coast. A train pulls up with two cars on the tracks. It isn't a very fast looking train. In Japan, they have bullet trains, which I hear are insanely fast. This is definitely not a bullet train. We meet a couple more Aussies traveling very fast through Japan.



Along the train ride, we see valleys and mountain tops. The ride itself seems stunning. We don't make it very far when everyone gets off the train at the Minami Station. We didn't know there was a transfer, but we ask and the train station employee says that our train will be about 2 hours. Two hours!!? What are we going to do for 2 hours? This train ride might end up taking us all day long! It is cold here and it is raining. I really want to find some hot tea, but it looks like this is a desolate town. We wander one way and we don't find anything that resembles a place that looks like they would have tea, let alone open. We walk the other way and we might have a chance. I get a glimpse of three Japanese men that I saw on the train and they walk into a house. Maybe this is a restaurant? It is so difficult to tell when the English words are not included. We see lights on, so we decide to try our luck and see if it is a restaurant. We open the door and it is! There is even a little giftshop in here. We casually look at the gift shop and the Japanese men that we followed, tell us to buy these nuts. You have to buy these nuts, they persisted. They are Japanese walnuts. They tell us to soak them overnight and then fly them up and this will open up the shell. They say that are very good, especially with whiskey. Their English isn't the best, but it is good enough to have some conversation.



We decide to buy a bag of nuts and give it a shoot. The Japanese men help us translate with the owner of the restaurant and we are able to get some hot tea. They say this is called bitter soba tea and show us the Japanese spelling. It doesn't taste very bitter, more sweet and it is delicious. We hang out here, drink some hot tea and visit with some new friends. Darren wants to try this dumpling looking dish on the menu. He gets a couple, even though we aren't hungry. When the dish arrived, I admit, it doesn't look very good. It looks like wrinkled egg whites with a cream sauce on the outside. Plus, we don't even know what is inside!! I make Darren try the first bite and he instantly says it is delicious. There are noodles on the inside and it is a wasabi sauce. It is incredibly delicious! The Japanese men said that it is often made with rice, but they make it with noodles here. Soba noodles are a huge thing in this area. Japan has many, many times of noodles. I don't know them all, but we are on a search for a soba based ramen type dish before we leave.



The two hours ends up going by fast. I am pleasantly surprised with how this stop turned out. I love making new friends and finding hidden gems.



We get back on the train and this is a single car. We are able to watch the scenery for a bit and then an older Aussie man sits beside us. He has lived in Japan for many years now. While he did have some interesting things to say to us, I think he really liked to pull words out of his ass. He told us about this very cool fire festival he went to where they sacrifice a virgin (not actually anymore), but is to represent history. He told us about how this area has a very active techtonic plate underneath it and that two plates run perpendicular underneath Mt. Fuji. It all sounds very interesting and then he starts saying very random things and I lose interest. I really want to just look outside. As we near Itoigawa, the Aussie man tells us that they recently had a fire in their historical town. A noodle house caught fire and the wind caught it and it spread. They lost quite a few buildings.



We get off the train and it cold and rainy. The wind catchs us and we shiver. It doesn't seem like there is a lot to do here. We might be catching the first train back. We want to do two things here 1) See the sea 2) Eat seafood. We first stroll down to the sea. It isn't a far walk. We get there and it looks like an ocean. The wind is picking up the water and blowing it across. There isn't much to look at, so we continue walking and try to find a seafood restaurant. We are walking around with our umbrellas and it is difficult. The wind picks up the umbrella and tries taking it away from us. I typically expect the wind to come in from the ocean, but this wind is coming from the other direction. We don't have any luck finding a seafood restaurant, so we go back to the train station to get wifi. We try finding some places and pin them on our map.



The first place we go to is down a little alley. We peak inside, but they are closed. It seems like half of the restaurants are closed right now. We go to the next restaurant on the list. They don't really speak English here and they don't have an English menu. We try working with the waitress to figure out what kind of food we are getting. There isn't alot of seafood here and I can tell that Darren is really disappointed. He really, really wanted fresh crab. We do have a reservation for sushi tonight, so it says it is okay. I get fried chicken and Darren got fish. We were told to go to the front counter and get some appetizers and tea. The appetizers are mainly an assortment of pickled goods. They were okay, but not my favourite pickled stuff here. The food came and we both got soup, a bowl of rice, a bowl of salad and then our main dish. How do people eat this much? I watch others around me who order similar things and they don't mix their rice with the food. They eat this on its own. I admit, the rice here is much better then the rice we have in North America. The waitress comes up to us and asks if we want a fork. We turn the forks away and I have to admit, I'm a little offended. I think our chopstick skills are pretty good. Maybe not as great at theirs, but we definitely don't starve. It's just hard to cut things up with chopsticks. The meal was okay, but we are slightly disappointed overall that we couldn't find seafood.



We walk around for a bit since we have some time before the train comes. We walk through part of the burnt area and there are a lot of buildings gone. We don't walk very far because most things are closed or don't look very inviting. There really isn't much to do here. We head back to the train station and walk through their gift shop. We buy some sake to drink later and then it is time to get to the train.



We get back on the train and our Japanese friends are here. They show us pictures of all the sushi they were eating. It looks great! We should have followed them again. Heading back to our transfer station, I fall asleep. It is a pretty calm ride and easy to sleep.



At the transfer station, we find out that we have to wait an hour, even though there is a train going to Hakuba. However, it is an express train and it will cost us about 1,700 yen more each! This is a huge difference, so we decide to wait for the regular train. As the express train goes by, we see numerous cars and only a hand full of people inside.



Our Japanese friends wait for the next train also. We finally learn their names: Giro, Masahero and Maiko. They are friends who like to meet up to go skiing. Giro studied in the United States for awhile and he definitely has the best English. Two of them work as mechanical engineers and the other is in advertising. They have been to Canada and the US to go skiing. Giro invites us out to go into the backcountry tomorrow, but we turn him down. We don't have any backcountry gear with us and honestly, the avalanche risk is too high for my comfort - rain loading onto metres of snow...no thanks. Although, it would be an amazing opportunity to go with someone that knows the backcountry. I do wish it was better. We exchange contact information and will try to meet up with them tomorrow if we go to the hill. They are staying 3m from the lift at Happo.



The remainder of the train ride goes by fast and we are happy to make it back to our hotel with enough time to get ready for sushi. I find out that Adam and Angela will also be at the sushi restaurant.



We head over for sushi with Dom and Veronica. I have to admit that I'm still pretty full from lunch. We haven't done that much exercise today. Darren and Veronica have a tough time agreeing on what we should order. Veronica is very persuasive too. Both Dom and I want some cooked sushi though. Neither of us are huge on raw fish. We decide to get a platter, which is mainly raw fish, but has some cooked stuff. Then we got a couple of sushi rolls, so those are cooked. We also get some hot sake. The food comes and I barely eat any of it. I'm just not feeling it, but Darren LOVES it. So, that is great. Darren and Veronica basically eat all of the raw and weird looking stuff. Dom looks like he is going to pass out when anyone eats something out of his comfort zone. Then Darren decides to order a piece of blow fish. The head chef here is certified to cook blow fish, a fish that is deadly if not prepared properly. Darren and Dom share a piece. Dom looks like he is going to faint or choke. He barely swallows his half of the sushi, but then once we lives, he looks like a reborn man! He is thrilled. Both Darren and Dom get a tingling feeling where the fish touched their mouths or lips. This just adds to Dom's excitement! The neighbours beside us are Japanese and heavily into the sake. A dish comes to their table and it looks good. However, they tell us that they are fish heads. Gross! They hand us over a plate and the only one brave enough to try the fish eye is Darren. Again, Dom looks like he is going to pass out when Darren sucks back the fish eye. Darren said it he just sucked on it and layers of it peeled off, then he spits on the remainder ball. Veronica trys part of the fish head and I go to try and then change my mind - it is too jelly-like. The Japanese table beside us laughs. They are brave food eaters, that is for sure.



We finish up our meal at the same time as Adam and Angela. We all decide to go for a drink at a local pub. As we pass the road for our hotel, Dom and Veronica say that they just want to grab some more clothes and then they will meet up with us. We didn't see them again that night. We head to Lucky Pete's Pub by the train station. An Aussie or Kiwi owns this place. He tells me that the serow is actually called kamoshika, but is very similar to the serow. We hang out with our New Zealand friends. We really enjoy hanging out with these two. They are probably in their 40s and have 3 teenage kids. It is a nice change of pace hanging out with them as the people at our hotel are very young. Dom and Veronica are in their early 20s. They are great people, but just in a different place in life. We feel like we have a lot more in common with Adam and Angela. We have a couple of drinks and then we are told that a taxi for Adam and Ang will be 40 minutes. The owner of the pub looks at a bus schedule and a bus is leaving right now for their part of town. We have an abrupt goodbye and wave at Adam and Ang as they drive away on the bus.



Another good day in Japan. I am excited for tomorrow.

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