Road Food

---

We left early yesterday, in Matt's hot little Subaru Impreza WRX, headed out for Matsumoto, where there is a castle we wanted to see. But our first destination was SNACKS! The food available at Japanese rest stops is not in the same class as what you find along the highways of the USA... We bought cheese rolls, raisin buns, canned coffee, and mochi cakes.

The drive to the castle was pretty....green mountains, small towns and not too much traffic. After a walk around the castle moat and a visit to an unusual elementary school from the 1850s, we headed for a mountain lodge near Kamikochi (not far from Nagano, sight of the 1998 Winter Olympics), but with an important stop first: convenience store for more snacks!

This time we bought: a fermented bean and rice cake, mochi covered ice cream, caramel popcorn, vodka lemon drink, small cheese puffs, fresh vegetables and miso dip, egg salad sandwich (never got a taste..Bill ate it all...), chips, water, and some little sushi-like bread rolls with egg.

We munched our way through these as we drove up into the mountains, past apple orchards with the biggest apples I've ever seen and through many tunnels. We turned off to the lodge, and lost the tour busses (to go up to actual Kamikochi, you must take a bus, no private cars allowed), driving through forests with golden leaves and many birches. The lodge is a mix of youth hostel with a Hawaiian theme and a traditional ryokan (inn). There is a high level bike clinic here this weekend, and Matt knows many of the people staying here.

We went on a two hour hike before checking in, since rain was predicted for the rest of the weekend. The trails were covered in fall leaves and climbed through forest with bamboo undergrowth, past a waterfall and a few ponds.....

When we got back, we went to the nearby onsen, or baths. This one was known for its sulphur water. What a wonderful experience! They are segregated by sex and have an indoor and outdoor area. You rise off before going into, and soap and shampoo are provided. It was a peak life experience for me....I was the only one on the women's side for most of the time I was there: soaking in the hot water, under the stars... After our baths, we walked to a nearby restaurant and had a delicious dinner....

---

Photos

Castle at Matsumoto
Built in late 1590s....

Kaichi School, Matsumoto
Built to educate children as part of the unification process in 1873. Used until the 1960s....

Mixed messages
Notice the angels and the dragons on the front...

The reconstructed main gate
Most old buildings were torn down during the Meiji restoration (1868-1912) to separate Japan from its less Westernized past...so many great structures are only replicas...

Northstar Lodge
We are almost all the way across Japan to the west coast, but still high in the mountains.

Baths
I went back in to take this photo, since no one was there...I stayed much longer than Bill and Matt and they were afraid I'd been parboiled.....!

Beds....very cozy!
We used three mats each....being spoiled foreigners....we slept under heavy quilts..and the pillows had one side filled with buckwheat or beans...

Stream from our window
There is a stream outside the lodge and we left the windows open all night so we could hear it...wonderful!