Hey Steemit,
Carl here again with yet another episode of Xcape. In this episode we’ll continue our journey through Hakuba, Japan and also explore Nagano City, which is a short 1 ½ hour bus ride from Hakuba.
After a fantastic first day on the slopes we woke up the next morning sore and stiff. This can be expected for any first-time skiers as you will most likely be using muscles you do not typically use every day.
When I got out of bed and looked out the window I was surprised to see how much it had snowed the previous night. Check out my photos below.
Excited I chucked on a jacket and ran downstairs. I can only compare my excitement to the feeling you get when you run around in a sun shower on a hot summer day. Having never experienced heavy snowfall this was quite a feeling and I think you can tell by my photos that I was enjoying myself in this new environment.
After getting some breakfast at Red Door Lodge, we headed to the slopes for a day of ski lessons. Having received some training, the first day we had managed to pick up the basics of skiing.
If I can make a recommendation to any of my viewers it’s perhaps to get some lesson before trying to go down a ski slope. On the first day we actually arrived an hour before our lesson. After about 10 minutes of peer training we felt we were ready to progress from flat to sloped terrain. In hind sight that was a mistake which I realised at the top of the mountain slope.
I lost count, but I can say with certainty that I fell over at least 50 times and took nearly 1.5 hours to get down a 200m slope. Fairly battered and bruised I eventually made it to my lesson where I received actual coaching from an actual professional.
One of the first things you’ll learn in ski school is how to form a basic stance, stop and get up when you fall over. Here are a few pointers:
Basic Ski Stance
How to Snow plough
Standing up after a crash
After our ski lessons we were able to roam about and ski most of the mountains beginner to intermediate slopes. This was when we really began to enjoy and appreciate where we were. The scenery was amazing and I'm sure you'll get some fantastic photos of you and the snowy mountains in the background. See below.
I'd definitely recommend you take the chair lift up to the top of the mountain as the views from the top are absolutely stunning. Don't worry you don't have to ski down if you're not feeling brave. Check out some of my photos from around the mountain.
Our time in Hakuba passed extremely quickly and before we knew it, it was time to part ways. I was sad to leave but I’d had a blast and was eager to do some more skiing or snowboarding in Japan again. On our last night in Hakuba we decided to try out a Japanese pizza restaurant down the road from Red Door Lodge called Pizzakaya.
Dinning at Pizzakaya
Given that your food choices will be fairly limited in Hakuba I would suggest this restaurant if you were in the neighborhood. From memory I order a blue cheese pizza (top) and my friends order a traditional pepperoni pizza (bottom). They also have more adventurous Japanese flavours such as a seafood pizza complete with caviar if you’re interested as well as a range of sweeter pizzas style desserts. The atmospherics of the restaurant was also very cheerful which is perfect after a day on the slopes. Check out what we ordered below:
To Nagano City
The next morning, we departed Hakuba onboard a local shuttle bus bound for Nagano City. The trip will cost you approximately 3000 yen ($30 AUD) and takes about an hour and a half which is the quickest and easiest transport out of Hakuba.
Nagano city like most rural cities has distinct charm. The city is surrounded by mountains, which you’ll pass through on your way into the city. I also really liked some of the quirks to the city like the traffic lights which sounds cute jingles when pedestrians cross the road or the antique local family stores which are located throughout the city.
Whilst in Nagano I’d recommend you go see three attractions. The first location is the Zenkoji Temple with the other two being Shibu Onsen and the Jigokudani Monkey Park.
In this episode we’ll explore the Zenkoji temple which is one of the oldest temples in Japan and dates back to the 7th Century. Not only this but the temple houses one of the first Buddhist statues ever to be brought into Japan, when Buddhism was first introduced in the 6th Century.
Whilst visiting the temple I recommend you explore the beautiful Japanese Gardens and admire several of the ancient artifacts inside the temple. One of the interesting attractions inside the main hall of the temple is the underground tunnel, which you can walk through. Inside the tunnel it is pitch black, which is meant to symbolize death and rebirth when you exit the tunnel. It was extremely disorientating, however I managed to find my way out after a few minutes. We were told that if we touched a metal key which inside the tunnel we would be gain enlightenment, however we never did find that key. I was fairly enlightened by the experience though and the beautiful scenery definitely gave me a new sense of appreciation of travel and life. Check out a few of my photos below.
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