We got on the bullet train to Nagano a little late, so we had dinner inside the Shinkansen. We bought these bento boxes from the trolly dudes as it looked really appetizing.

It was bland. Blergh.

And then we changed at Nagano station for the normal JR train to Nozawa Onsen, one of the best and hottest hotsprings and home to the highest skiing fields in Japan. It took roughly 7-8 hours to get from Shin-Osaka station to Nozawa Onsen, and by the time we got there all of the buses already stopped running so we had to catch a taxi. The taxi driver was really unfriendly. He pouted when he saw our luggage, and he didn’t even say arigatou when we handed the money over! Stupid driver thinking he can be rude to us just because we’re tourists >__>

Anyway, he was an exception. He was the only sourpuss we’ve ever encountered in our trip.

We got to our ryokan (YEP! We stayed at a traditional Japanese inn) with the tatami mats, futon, sliding doors: the works! The other good thing is whilst everything is traditional, the toilets are Western style. Awesome possum!

We were so buggered that we just hit the hay that night. The next morning we went with our skiing instructor Phil to the snow (around 1 hours drive from the ryokan) and had some fun!

Our instructor Phil:

We were there for about 4-5 hours, and by the time we got back to Nozawa Onsen we were so hungry and aching all over it’s not funny. So first it was off for some ramen while the snow was falling outside:

And then it was off to the hotsprings just behind the ryokan, right across from our room:

That night we slept like babies. The next day, however, was dedicated to walking around that quaint old town. It was exactly, EXACTLY like the town around Spirited Away.

And then, it was an hour’s bus ride from Nozawa Onsen back to Nagano station, and from there about 4 hours via shinkansen to Tokyo!

We met a couple of new friends on our first night there, and had sushi and sake together!

And here’s our chef. We asked him what his name was, his reply was “Hiro”. We exclaimed “Hiro? Like the one in Gundam Wing???” and he replied with a big “YES!” We then teased him and told him to join Iron Chef coz, you know, he’s just full of win.

So that’s it! Next I’ll post about our exploration of Tokyo, including Ginza, Shibuya, and *le gasp* Harajuku!