Teetoo- Japan 2023 Trip Itinerary (still updating)
- Nov 1 – Arrival at Nagoya, around Nagano Station, Stay : Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagano-Zenkojiguchi
- Nov 2 – Bus trip to visit the famous Snow Monkey Park, Nagano, Stay : Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagano-Zenkojiguchi
- Nov 3 – Easy trek at Togakushi 5-shrines, Nagano, Stay : Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagano-Zenkojiguchi
- Nov 4 – Visite to Zenkoji Temple and hiking at Hakuba Happo Pond, Stay : Hotel Hakuba
- Nov 5 – Relax at Hakuba Mountain Harbour and Oide Park, Stay : Hotel Hakuba
- Nov 6 – Drive to Sea of Japan, Ben-ten Iwa rock, Stay : APA Hotel & Resort Joetsu Myoko
- Nov 7 – Drive to Kiyotsu Gorge and Naena Waterfall, Stay : APA Hotel & Resort Joetsu Myoko
- Nov 8 – Drive around Lake Nojiri, train ride to Lake Suwa and Tateishi Park, Stay : Beni-ya Hotel
- Nov 9, 10 – Train ride to Shizuoka and Nihondaira Terrace sunset, Stay : Nippondaira Hotel
- Nov 11 – Train ride to Fuji City, walk around Atami City, Stay : Super Hotel JR Fujiekimae Kinenkan
- Nov 12 – Shy Mount Fuji, cheap seafood at Co-op and Numazu City festival, Stay : Super Hotel JR Fujiekimae Kinenkan
- Nov 13 – Mount Fuji, Shira-Ito Falls, Fujisan Sengan Shrine, Mount Fuji World Heritage Center, Stay : Super Hotel JR Fujiekimae Kinenkan
- Nov 14 – Mount Fuji, Hamamatsu Station and bus to hotel nearby airport, Stay : Hotel Route-Inn Tokoname Ekimae
Hotel Hakuba has got to be one of our favourite hotel as it has a partial view of the Japanese Northern Alps. As the sun rose above the mountains, it casted a brilliant orange glow on the tip of the Alps summit – it was really a sight to behold. It was gone in a jiffy as the surrounding sky slowly changed to Pocari Sweat blue and the clouds began to form.
Today is gonna be a “rest” day as our legs has endured constant walking for the past 4 days. Hotel Hakuba’s carpark has go to be the most picturesque with the Alps as a background. We typed in the mapcode for Iwatake Gondola Lift Noah (Mapcode: 535 100 804) and reached in no time because it was quite near our hotel. Tickets for a 2-way trip on the gondola costs 2,100yen per person and time for another trip in the small cable car… but thank goodness it was a smoother ride thus it was less terrifying. We reached Hakuba Mountain Harbour in less than … minutes. It has, amongst others, the famous City Bakery, Hitotoki no Mori, Yoo-Hoo and Giant Swing, a walking path and a couple of other eateries.
We made our way to the most popular and instagrammable of them all – City Bakery. There were two long queues when we reached. Do note that the longer one is ONLY for taking photographs at the excellent viewpoint and the other queue (faster one) which is for dining guests. We proceeded to get whatever food they have left available and luckily found ourselves a table that overlook the amazing orange carpet of trees. From our table, we observed alot of poses both nice and “elaborated” from the visitors at the cantilevered “walkway” that overhangs from the dining area. While my wife enjoyed the food and view, I made my way to see what the Yoo-Hoo swing was all about. Scary swing into oblivion.
We hung around for quite some time before making our way to a ropeway that take visitors down to Hitotoki no Mori area. It has an eatery, artworks and public/camping space that overlooked Hakuba town. We didn’t makan there as we’re still stuffed. Then we made our way up the short ropeway again to another open space with large flat seating area to just chill and relax. There were also activities such as downhill mountain bikes and carts. It was refreshing to just chill for a day watching the clouds go by.
After a few hours, we came down to ground level and proceeded to drive to Oide Park (Mapcode : 382 690 182), well, hoping that the clouds lingering around the Alps might clear but no a chance, buddy. Oide park consists of a suspension bridge over Himekawa River with an invincible Alps as the background. We’ll take what we can get as it is still a beautiful sight walking up to an observatory which is indicated in the park map. Again, we sat there doing nothing – just feel life being at that moment.
The relaxing river sounds made us hungry and we scurried across Oidenotsuri Bridge to a nearby house that has been converted to a restaurant nammed Kappa Tei. It even had a working water wheel just in front of the lone outdoor table. We quickly grabbed the outdoor table as we love al-fresco dining. We ordered a Salmon Sashimi and Shinsu Beef bowl (recommended by owners), the beef being locally produced and is wagyu level goodness. And they were right, it was the BEST beef I had in Japan ever. Melted in the mouth, it is indeed a must have whilst the salmon dish was ok ok la. We finished off with ice-cream (so so oni) while enjoying the outdoor seating. Excellent food!!
We made our way to an Aeon Big, which is fortunately nearby our hotel, to grab some pre-cooked dinner (coz we lazy go out again d). Since we had abit of time before sundown, we visited Kengo Kuma’s architecture genius in Snow Peak Landstation Hakuba. I always liked sharp edge buildings and this fit the bill with daring edges that could kill unknowingly birds. It houses hiking products by Snow Peak and a Starbucks. Snow Peak is crazy expensive for our Malaysian exchange rate and although I really wanted the thermo bottle – I couldn’t see the justification of spending RM350 plus. So kuai-kuai go out and enjoy the camping grounds just outside the premise.
There was still light upon reaching the hotel, so I took a casual stroll around the vicinity hoping to get a nice sunse but not happening. So balik hotel to cap off the day with Aeon in-room dining lo.
- Useful links:
- From our experiences :
- Start your day early at Hakuba Iwatake Mountain Resort as the places to visit might take some time to walk to each attraction
- Mapcodes are codes you can enter to your car’s GPS unit sort of Google maps but needn’t key in the words. I prefer using mapcodes.
- Wear comfy walking shoes
This looks absolutely amazing. Did you inquire ahead of time whether the gondola would be running after 10/31? It seems a lot of “summer” services are scheduled to end there. We are planning a trip early November this year.