I woke up at around
5.30am while everyone else in the sleep quarters were still in
dreamland. I pack up my stuff and head to Shinjuku to catch my
highway bus to Matsumoto. Upon reaching Shinjuku Station. I realise
that I left all my hotel/bus reservations with the front desk at the
previous hotel. As I don’t have time to go back, I have no choice
but to continue on without the documents (we will see how this plays
out later on..).
At Shinjuku station I take some time to
kind the Keio Bus Terminal (It is raining too) Because I gave myself
ample time, I am still not late for my bus. At the Bus Counter, I am
supposed to show my bus reservation, but just giving my name and
telephone number worked well too.
The Train
All the way to Matsumoto it is raining.
I reach Matsumoto at about 10.30am, dump my bag in a locker and take
a half hour local train to the last stop on the Kamikochi Line, Shin
Shima Shima Station (A tiny station actually with nothing around it).
From here, it is an hour long bus ride into the mountains.
As it is a weekday, most people heading
to Kamikochi are old people. The bus ride winds up a narrow mountain
road and through several tunnels. Although I won’t be able to tell
me much because I was asleep most of the time. A real pity because
the scenery is awesome.
One of the "Mountain Cabins"
Upon reaching the Bus Terminal at
Kamikochi, I take in a big breath and stretch my achy legs; the
mountain air is so fresh. It is a little disorientating because just
a few hours ago I was in Shinjuku, and now I am 1,500m above sea
level, up in the Japanese Alps. At the bus terminal. There are 3 very
well maintained Mountain Cabins (Bus Ticketing, Visitor Information
Centre and a Post Office), surrounded by luscious green pines.
Surreal indeed.
Trip advisor had advised me to buy my
return bus ticket immediately when I reached, so I bought the last
bus back at 6pm.
Kappa Bridge
It is about 1pm now and I am hungry.
About 300m from the Bus Terminal, is Kappa Bridge, from which you can
catch a glimpse of the Snow Capped Peaks. There is a cluster of
Hotels/Restaurants/Souvenir Shops at Kappa Bridge and I have my lunch
here.
Soba noobdles and Fish. From the Menu, I couldnt tell what kind of fish this was. I only knew it was a kind of fish. So I asked the staff, and he brought out a frozen one just for me to look at. XD
After re-fueling my body, the rain
starts again. I buy an umbrella from a souvenir shop and start my
trek to Taisho-ike. The walking guide tells me that I will take an
hour to walk there and another hour to walk back. Maybe I am slow, or
take too much time to stop and take pictures (you would think they’d
include this in the walking timings? Tourist done just bee-line to
ANYWHERE right?) I take considerably more time to get there than what
the walking guide stated.
There are a few bridges and small ponds
on the way. The path is mostly flat paved with gravel . It is a
leisurely walk. I encounter a few people on the trek. But mostly I am
alone in nature.
The rain obviously dampens my mood.
Especially when I am three-quarters way to Taisho-ike and it starts
pouring like mad. The wind threatens to flip up my umbrella several
times too. Luckily the umbrella is pretty sturdy.
Comparing the "Expectations" and "Reality"
Finally I reach Taisho-ike. As it is so
cloudy, there is no view of the snow-capped peaks as I would have
liked. There is a restaurant/café overlooking the Lake so I
seek shelter there till the rain stops. I had a lovely mini
cheesecake and a not-so-lovely blend coffee (i.e. coffee powder). I
was the only one in the café for almost the entire time. Very Chill
:D
My Lovely Tea
At about 3pm, I decide to head
back. It is not raining anymore. However, the clouds have stubbornly
refused to leave. I can only manage peeks of the blue sky. I still
take lots of pictures anyway. The weather is very nice at around
20deg Celsius.
Bear Warning
I take another route back but it still
takes me about one and a half hours to reach back to Kappa Bridge. I
buy a little souvenir to remind myself of the pleasant time I had at
Kamikochi.
The Sky has cleared up a little!
I still have about an hour till my bus
comes, so I buy a post card and send it back home via the post
office. It has been a while since I wrote a postcard. I doubled
checked with the Post office guy just to make sure I was doing it
right.
A Bus Terminal in the middle of the Mountains
Since I am still early, I requested for
the bus station to let me ride on the earlier bus back to the city. I
would have definitely loved to have spend one night in Kamikochi to
give myself more time to explore some of the other trails (more
chance for better weather too!) Perhaps the next time I guess.
By the time I am back in Matsumoto it
is dark. I wander around the train station, but to my horror, all the
shops started to close around 8pm! I am really not used to it.
Most shops in Singapore close at around 10pm.
I take some time to decide on where to
eat my dinner and finally settle on a Japanese Restaurant for some
Tonkatsu and Soba. It was alright. The soba was good.
My Dinner
After which I search for my hotel. Not
to brag, but I am really getting quite good at finding my hotels. At
least much better than before, Haha.
What was waiting for me was one of the
biggest nicest hotel rooms I have ever stayed in Japan! What a
delight considering my previous “hotel” was akin to a dormitory.
I am still reeling with joy from the awesome room, when I tried the
shower. It was the kind with 2 knobs, 1 for cold and 1 for hot. As
usual, I fire up the hot knob and wait for the bathroom to steam up
before adjusting the cold knob. The hot water takes about 10mins to
come out, and it is scalding-ly hot. To my horror, once I turn the
cold knob, the whole shower turns cold! I repeat this multiple
times with the same result. I am really angry now. Nothing gets me
more riled up than my bath not turning the temperature I want.
I put my clothes back on and call the
reception. The girl comes up and tries the shower (NO NOT LIKE THAT)
and she also get visibly frustrated. She tells me “Sorry I can’t
help you” in the very nice Japanese way that all Japanese staff
say. But to me, it just sounded like “Fuck you, why can’t you
shower in extremely hot or extremely cold water”. If it was
winter I would have absolutely kicked up a fuss. But since it is
summer, I just settle for it. “Ok.. what else can I do, right?” I
say. She nervously exits the room before I change my mind.
BIG BEAUTIFUL BED
So now, it is back to me versus the
shower. I curse and swear at it with all my might. As you can
imagine, the shower ends badly with me almost in tears and
alternation between scalding hot and freezing cold water. I also
attempt to supplement the poor water pressure with a CUP. What a way
to end the night.
