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Brenton Kovacs's Travels
13th
More rain. Its not heavy, so i dont get that wet walking to the subway station. Once in Nagoya i find the maze of underground sopping malls takes me right to the bus station, so no getting wet.
The bus ride takes a route across the Alps, well through lots of tunnels. I would like to say there were some stunning views, but the low cloud and rain made sure i did not see much.
Once in Toyama the short walk to the hotel was in the rain as well. It seems the west coast is a lot wetter than the east coast of Japan.
So checked into the hotel and quite surprised at how nice it is. Not to small and very comfortable. I go for a short walk to see what's around the hotel.
14th
Lots of walking today. Still raining on and off, but the city of Toyama is not that big or touristy, so its a nice place to walk around. Big wide streets and footpaths. Cherry blossom trees line all the waterways, making for a beautiful and picturesque walk. Took in most of the mains sights, then ventured out into the suburbs to do a little window shopping. It seems that not many western people visit the suburbs, as i attracted a fair amount of attention.
15th
Toyama city offers free bike hire to tourists, so i take them up on this offer. I collect the bike from a shop around the corner from the hotel, and decide to ride towards the snow capped mountains for a better view. After heading north for about 10ks i come across a huge shopping mall, so i think this will be a place to rest for a bit. As i am parking the bike i cannot help to see a huge black cloud that was following me. Just as i get inside it starts to rain very heavily and the wind picks up and starts blowing a gale. Oh well at least i am dry and warm in this walmart sized shop.
After wandering the aisles i head for the food section to get some lunch. They have a nice little dining area where you can eat food bought from the shop. They even have a microwave to heat your food. So i sit and watch the rain slowly abate. After a really enjoyable coffee i head off. Heading west to see the Sea of Japan, i manage to follow the course of a river most of the way to the coast. Then i turn south to follow the pine forest path along the beach to the harbour. Yes it does rain and yes i do get fairly wet and cold. The umbrella only helps a little, but offers not protection form the rather cold air. By now i have lots the feelings in my hands as they are frozen.
I finally arrive back to return the bike, and head back to the hotel for a warm bath. Oh the relief to be warm again. Worked out the ride was around 35ks, so will be interesting to see how sore i am tomorrow. Thoroughly enjoyed the ride, even if the conditions were not favourable.
16th
Finally a blue sky day. So i take off for a long, time consuming journey up into the mountains to see the snow tunnel and mt tateyama. The trip takes about 3 hours. Its a combination of train, cable car and bus. So many people are heading here as its is the first day of being declared open the the public, so the queues are very long. The first train is nothing special. the cable ride takes you way up the mountain, then the bus ride is about 20 ks to the final destination. The bus i by far the slowest, winding its way through the narrow snow corridor until we reach the snow tunnel. This area has some of the heaviest falls in the world, and the snow tunnel is pretty amazing. This year the snow tunnel is 19 metres high. Now that is a lot of snow
After visiting the tunnel i head off on foot to see the frozen lake and some mountain views. Its not that cold up here, probably around 5 to 6 degrees. Walking through the ankle deep snow is hard work so i dont notice the cold.
Now its time to queue again to get down the mountain. I arrive back at the hotel around 7pm. What a great day.
17th
Today i take a rather long walk to the Mt Kureha Park Observatory. Its around 6ks from the hotel, and i may be lucky as no rain is forecast. Its a pleasant walk through the suburbs of Toyama, and i get to see a lot more than i bargained for. The gps map did not show the exact location, so as usual i guessed wrong and went in the opposite direction. It was for the best though as i found a path that lead through the park that took me past some pretty impressive bamboo forest. Plenty of birds here as well. Finally i reached the Lookout, its a pity that it was cloudy, as it obscured the view of the magnificent alps.
Made it back to Toyama and headed to the train station to meet up with Shauna and John who have travelled from Tokyo.
18th
Today we all head up the mountains to see the snow tunnel. I have already seen it by myself, and decide to see it again with Shauna and John. The weather is looking good. The travel time is a lot less this time as there are far less people making the trip, so no long queues.
We arrive at the tunnel, only to be blasted by snow and ice from strong wind gusts. The temperature is minus 8, and the wind gusts make it even colder. But we still have blue sky, and it makes for some great scenery.
To warm up we head back into the hotel that is located in the main building, where we enjoy a nice hot drink. On the way back we all manage to fall asleep in the bus, and are only awoken by the bus stopping at the final destination. Yes it was a great day, enjoyed by all.
19th
Shauna and John are heading back to Tokyo for their last night in Japan. So i meet them at the train station and wave goodbye. The rest of the day is spent avoiding the rain.
I am going to miss Toyama. It is a really nice clean city, with a lot going for it. Tomorrow i head back to Tokyo and onto the airport where i will meet up with Shauna for our 8pm flight to Hawaii.
More rain. Its not heavy, so i dont get that wet walking to the subway station. Once in Nagoya i find the maze of underground sopping malls takes me right to the bus station, so no getting wet.
The bus ride takes a route across the Alps, well through lots of tunnels. I would like to say there were some stunning views, but the low cloud and rain made sure i did not see much.
Once in Toyama the short walk to the hotel was in the rain as well. It seems the west coast is a lot wetter than the east coast of Japan.
So checked into the hotel and quite surprised at how nice it is. Not to small and very comfortable. I go for a short walk to see what's around the hotel.
14th
Lots of walking today. Still raining on and off, but the city of Toyama is not that big or touristy, so its a nice place to walk around. Big wide streets and footpaths. Cherry blossom trees line all the waterways, making for a beautiful and picturesque walk. Took in most of the mains sights, then ventured out into the suburbs to do a little window shopping. It seems that not many western people visit the suburbs, as i attracted a fair amount of attention.
15th
Toyama city offers free bike hire to tourists, so i take them up on this offer. I collect the bike from a shop around the corner from the hotel, and decide to ride towards the snow capped mountains for a better view. After heading north for about 10ks i come across a huge shopping mall, so i think this will be a place to rest for a bit. As i am parking the bike i cannot help to see a huge black cloud that was following me. Just as i get inside it starts to rain very heavily and the wind picks up and starts blowing a gale. Oh well at least i am dry and warm in this walmart sized shop.
After wandering the aisles i head for the food section to get some lunch. They have a nice little dining area where you can eat food bought from the shop. They even have a microwave to heat your food. So i sit and watch the rain slowly abate. After a really enjoyable coffee i head off. Heading west to see the Sea of Japan, i manage to follow the course of a river most of the way to the coast. Then i turn south to follow the pine forest path along the beach to the harbour. Yes it does rain and yes i do get fairly wet and cold. The umbrella only helps a little, but offers not protection form the rather cold air. By now i have lots the feelings in my hands as they are frozen.
I finally arrive back to return the bike, and head back to the hotel for a warm bath. Oh the relief to be warm again. Worked out the ride was around 35ks, so will be interesting to see how sore i am tomorrow. Thoroughly enjoyed the ride, even if the conditions were not favourable.
16th
Finally a blue sky day. So i take off for a long, time consuming journey up into the mountains to see the snow tunnel and mt tateyama. The trip takes about 3 hours. Its a combination of train, cable car and bus. So many people are heading here as its is the first day of being declared open the the public, so the queues are very long. The first train is nothing special. the cable ride takes you way up the mountain, then the bus ride is about 20 ks to the final destination. The bus i by far the slowest, winding its way through the narrow snow corridor until we reach the snow tunnel. This area has some of the heaviest falls in the world, and the snow tunnel is pretty amazing. This year the snow tunnel is 19 metres high. Now that is a lot of snow
After visiting the tunnel i head off on foot to see the frozen lake and some mountain views. Its not that cold up here, probably around 5 to 6 degrees. Walking through the ankle deep snow is hard work so i dont notice the cold.
Now its time to queue again to get down the mountain. I arrive back at the hotel around 7pm. What a great day.
17th
Today i take a rather long walk to the Mt Kureha Park Observatory. Its around 6ks from the hotel, and i may be lucky as no rain is forecast. Its a pleasant walk through the suburbs of Toyama, and i get to see a lot more than i bargained for. The gps map did not show the exact location, so as usual i guessed wrong and went in the opposite direction. It was for the best though as i found a path that lead through the park that took me past some pretty impressive bamboo forest. Plenty of birds here as well. Finally i reached the Lookout, its a pity that it was cloudy, as it obscured the view of the magnificent alps.
Made it back to Toyama and headed to the train station to meet up with Shauna and John who have travelled from Tokyo.
18th
Today we all head up the mountains to see the snow tunnel. I have already seen it by myself, and decide to see it again with Shauna and John. The weather is looking good. The travel time is a lot less this time as there are far less people making the trip, so no long queues.
We arrive at the tunnel, only to be blasted by snow and ice from strong wind gusts. The temperature is minus 8, and the wind gusts make it even colder. But we still have blue sky, and it makes for some great scenery.
To warm up we head back into the hotel that is located in the main building, where we enjoy a nice hot drink. On the way back we all manage to fall asleep in the bus, and are only awoken by the bus stopping at the final destination. Yes it was a great day, enjoyed by all.
19th
Shauna and John are heading back to Tokyo for their last night in Japan. So i meet them at the train station and wave goodbye. The rest of the day is spent avoiding the rain.
I am going to miss Toyama. It is a really nice clean city, with a lot going for it. Tomorrow i head back to Tokyo and onto the airport where i will meet up with Shauna for our 8pm flight to Hawaii.
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