Day 04a: Kurobe Gorge (Sep 2017)

---

Tuesday, 19th September 2017

Toyama >> Kurobe-Unazaki Onsen (33.8km, 12 minutes, 2,360 Yen)

Shin-Kurobe >> Unazuki-Onsen >> Shin-Kurobe (25.2km, 50 minutes, 1,100 Yen) - Not covered by JR Pass

I started my day early on the Shinkansen train from Toyama to the Kurobe-Unazaki Onsen Station. This was as far as my JR Pass could take me. Beyond this point, I had to continue the rest of my journey via the private Toyama Chiho Railway to my destination at Unazuki-Onsen Station. The train that I took was a very old school local train, stopping at every single stations along the way for the bumpy 12.6km journey. After travelling for about 25 minutes, I reached the train station which was made of wood exterior.

This is a small gateway station along the Kurobe Gorge where sight-seeing trains departed at regular intervals throughout the day. Since I had already rode on a similar tourist train in Kyoto two days ago, I decided to let my legs do the walking for the rest of the trip. I headed to the free outdoor foot spring baths and waved goodbye to the visitors on-board the sight-seeing trains before pausing for an educational visit at the nearby Electric Museum (free entry).

My walk in the morning took me to places within the vicinity including the iconic red girder bridge as well as the massive Unazuki Dam. The walk passed through long stretches of caves as well as various vantage points overlooking the gorge beneath. This was a nice walk in the countryside where nature and man-made structures dotted the landscape in a perfect harmony.

---