December 28, 2024
We had to get up early so we could clear out, clean up and start a long travel day. We were a bit worried about Mae having to do the trip while not feeling well – in some ways she was felling better, but now her stomach was hurting and she was nauseated. To get from our house in Kyoto to our apartment in the Nagano prefecture, we had to take 2 regular trains, one bullet train, one bus and then walk. We would leave our house at 9am, and arrive by 4pm. It mostly went smoothly.
On our second train, a “special rapid express”, the man in the ticket office specifically told me that there was no reserved seating, but that we should sit in cars 9-12. We were happy to see that it was relatively empty and we could all sit together. This train ride was supposed to be 90 minutes long. At some point, maybe 30 minutes before we were to arrive at our transfer destination, a conductor came through and kicked us off the car, saying that we needed to change to cars number 1 to 4. We scurried down the platform, hoping the doors wouldn’t close before we got in. These first four cars were completely full with people and their luggage, so we had to stand for the last half hour – not the end of the world, and we did find a seat for Mae.
We had a decent cushion of time to catch our next train, but we had to spend some of it organizing a fare adjustment. There are several different train lines and companies. Usually you pay by distance travelled. This time, we entered the first station, but we took the second train with a pre-booked ticket with the same company; which means we had travelled far away but had never closed out or finished that first local train ride. To avoid paying for the second leg twice, we needed someone to adjust our fare. We then headed to the Shinkansen area, expecting to find somewhere to get food while we were waiting, but we didn’t know this area had no stores or vendors whatever – we would have had to buy food before we entered this area. However, Norie’s daughter had put together bags of Omiyage – presents of Japanese snacks for each of us, so we tucked into those.
The most interesting snack in my opinion was the cheese stick that I think had fish cake in it.
When we got on the bullet train, I opened my computer to do my usual blogging and confirming of logistics for the next adventures, when I had a terrible realization: the amazing bus tour I had booked for Mae and Kerrie met at 9 am in Nozawa Onsen and there was no way to get them there in time. I know I had checked that there were buses to get here, and I had notes of how long it would take, but somehow, as I was finalizing details, there were no buses to be found on google maps. I struggled with it for a while, then when we arrived at our destination in Nagano prefecture. I went to talk to the information centre to see if I could book a taxi, and apparently there is a shortage of taxis and we would be out of luck.
So, I waited until we boarded the bus, and arrived at our new accommodation to try and sort out a solution. We did find a bus, which was probably one that I saw while doing our initial research, but then last night at around 10 pm we realized that it doesn’t run during the holiday season. In fact, the first day it wasn’t running was Dec 27 – one day earlier. It is a community bus and resumes Jan 5. So, I felt badly for many reasons: 1) The girls would not get to go on their tour; 2) We had this will they go-won’t they go stress all afternoon and evening. We tried very hard to find a solution, but finally had to give up; and 3) The tour was not inexpensive and we would now have to forfeit the money – I did try to cancel, but you can only cancel up to 24 hours in advance. I was kicking myself that I did not confirm these logistics earlier in the trip. It is was it is…
As we travelled along the way to Nagano, we saw the weather getting snowier and snowier out of the train window. When we arrived in Nagano prefecture we could not believe how much snow there was! 40 cm had fallen yesterday alone! The town we were staying in – Madarao – has the nickname Madapow for a reason: a lot of powder! It was quite spectacular. There don’t seem to be streets or entrances to some of the buildings, just more of pathways made through the snow.
It took a while to sort out our equipment rentals, then we set out to find some dinner before some of us went for a night ski. It was snowing profusely, and the first three restaurants were full. Erez stumbled upon a karaoke bar that was just opening up for the night. They took us in right away and got us fed fairly quickly, then we headed to the slopes for a couple of hours.
The conditions were incredible: so much powder! Kerrie decided to try skiing for only the 4th time in her life, so I stuck with her. The three boys had a great time together (Zev stayed behind with Mae), and Aubrey ended up doing his own thing mostly. The night skiing was only two runs and at most extended about one-third up the mountain. It was a great intro to the area. We then walked home, carrying our equipment and collapsed (and of course tried to sort out the bus tour mess – Erez was great – running to the hotel down the road to talk to their front desk since ours was closed). Our accommodations are good – we are in a three bedroom apartment with a combined living area/kitchenette. It is called Hotel Madarao – we are in the small “Apartments Madarao” building – there are only five in our building. It seems to be a part of a company called Oz Snow (lots of Aussies here), It seems they are a one stop ski tour operator. They organize ski trips in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Their website is https://ozsnowadventures.com.au/destinations/australia/
Here are a couple photos from last night
Tomorrow we try a different ski town – Nozawa Onsen.