After our whirlwind day in Tokyo and our previous urban stops to begin our adventure we were ready to get out of the city and see a little bit of countryside.  We took a Japanese Rail (JR) Shinkansen Train, or “bullet train”, to Nagano before transferring to a local train to Yudanaka. From there it was a quick bus ride that got us within a 5 minute walk of our accommodations for the next 2 nights, Nozaru Hostel.

Luckily, there are volunteers from a local English conversation class posted up at the Yudanaka train station to help tourists navigate options for getting to their accommodations. We were greeted by a smiling older gentleman eager to help who handed us a map with all of the regional hotels and hostels labeled. He pointed us to the correct bus and even told the driver where we were going to make sure we got off.  That last step proved invaluable as we were happily sitting in our seats as the bus waited at our stop while we sat there completely unaware we needed to get off. Thankfully the driver was able to get our attention and motion that our ride was over.

Immediately after getting off the bus in Shibu Onsen, a nice local man noticed us reviewing our map and had us point out where we were headed. He motioned for us to follow him and he walked us the rest of the way to our hostel. Luckily the only Japanese we know is “thank you,” so we were able to show our gratitude even though we couldn’t communicate anything else.

Most other tourists seemed to be picked up by their hotel or grabbed one of the many waiting taxis.  The budget travelers that we are, we opted for a more affordable lodging that did not offer pickup and chose the much cheaper bus over the convenience of a taxi.  Thankfully there were plenty of nice people to help us along the way and we were very appreciative.

Our home for the next two nights was a traditional Japanese Inn complete with futons for sleeping on the floor (not the kind that college students ruin annually) and the requirement to remove your shoes before entering the lobby.  We had our own half bathroom and awesome heater table, on which we played many games of Phase 10. To shower we needed to go downstairs to the “onsen” (hot spring bath) area.  It was a nice change of pace from our cramped Tokyo apartment and definitely a unique Japanese experience.

It was about 3:00 pm local time when we arrived in town and after dropping off our bags we ventured out for food. We soon learned that all of the restaurants close between lunch and dinner so we were left with no option besides the beer/convenience store to grab a snack while we waited for the restaurants to open.  Ritz crackers were identified as the best option along with 2 cans of some form of alcoholic beverage with pictures of a peach on one and a grapefruit on the other.  The peach drink tasted mush less like lighter fluid than the grapefruit drink but both were a welcome treat after a day filled with trains and buses and uncertain transfers.

After waiting as long as we could (until about 5:30) we ventured back down the main street in search of dinner food.  Most storefronts that looked like they could be restaurants had a solitary sign in Japanese out front with only faint light coming from the windows.  We walked past many that probably housed delicious food before finally working up some courage and cautiously opening the door to one.  Instantly we were in a quaint, brightly lit restaurant with the sounds of people laughing and conversing.  The restaurant turned out to be another sushi joint and we enjoyed delicious sashimi bowls, even if mine had more salmon roe than I would had hoped for.

After a brief dip in the onsen in our hostel we retired to our sleeping mats to get ready for the following day which would prove to be one of, if not the best, days of the trip thus far…