B organised the transit for this part as I really struggled with Japanese websites and the language barriers for this. He managed to work it all out and book us 2 x reserved Shinkansen seats for the 2hr bullet train out to Iiyama. These were e tickets booked online then digitally linked to our suica cards. It meant we had no paper tickets and just “scanned” our way through all the gates with the suica cards on our phones.
We then also used our suica cards to get on the “Nozawa liner” bus that drove us 40 mins from Iiyama to the little snow town of Nozawa Onsen. The shuttle process worked well but (and it’s a big but) we just made it on to the bus and there was still a huge load of people left at the freezing cold train station…with buses that only come every 2 hrs! I have to assume they have a plan for that? We are going to try and find out wha happens to those people and if they end up stuck for 2hrs. Surely not?
The Shinkansen 90 min trip was a very pretty one as we got closer and closer to snow.
We are staying in Nozawa Onsen for 12 days (apparently that’s a very long time lol) so B can ski and I can attempt to boil myself in every onsen that will let me in with my copious tattoos. And eat a lot of ramen. So much ramen.
After we arrived at 4pm, we stopped at the visitor centre so I could collect my stamp book (more on that in the next post) and they gave us some great tips on restaurants, onsens etc. Then we checked in at Mitsubachi Maya pension. It’s very basic but also well priced and we managed to get a private ensuite room (lots of shared bathrooms in this town as it is all small accomodation) which is a must have for me when I travel.
Our first evening we visited Sparena. This is the only onsen here with a bathers only section so you can onsen with your partner if they are a different gender to you. We thought the downstairs “kid friendly” chlorination pool was a bit cool (35C) and just kinda like a warm bath….but see the value for people with littlies. Then we found there was an upstairs, open air natural spring fed one at 42 – 44C. Much happier there! Here’s a photo of the upstairs pool from the Nozawa Onsen website.
While it cost to get in (900 yen) it also meant we could attend together which I really liked. And we also got the Sulfur springs directly fed through in the the upstairs hot spring. So not a fully authentic onsen experience but still has points of value. And a pretty view as we walked out as well.
I wasn’t feeling 100% by the time we got out (travel day, painkillers, sore throat) so we ate dinner at Sparena which was convenient….but basically fast food ramen lol. Then it was off to bed for B to get up early for day 1 of skiing.
Day 9 started with complimentary breakfast at Mitsubachi Maya and was a very basic mix of Western and some Japanese food. They had toast so I was happy. Given I don’t ski/board I don’t think I’ll be getting up for the breakfast after today 🤣 then B headed off.
I did a little bit of writing and some lazing, then wandered into town. It was eerily silent walking around the ski town when everyone is out on the slopes!
I attempted to visit a local onsen where a kindly local lady told me “it’s only 48C so a good beginner one”. No. No no no. Haha even in the 15 mins I was in there on my own I couldn’t acclimatise enough to stick my foot in. Please enjoy this photo of what would have been my local onsen if I wasn’t convinced I would become a Mel hot pot.
Instead, I walked over to Furusato-no-Yu which charges a nominal fee (700Y) and enjoyed their outdoor 42C traditional onsen in the snow. Beautiful. I’m so over the awkwardness of being naked these days so made friends with a very nice Japanese grandma.
My lunch options were pretty limited within the town as a lot of places are closed, I ended up at Winterland Lodge which is staffed entirely by 20yo Americans however they sell some fantastic local gyoza and I plan to work my way through that menu over the next week. Today was pork and the local green veg here (Nozawana) which is like a mustard green,
After lunch I just had chill time until B came off the mountain, then we did another visit to Sparena (to catch up) and then headed to the main road who was crazy busy. So many tourists! I had an apple and cinnamon bun and a baileys hot chocolate (yum).
dinner at a recommended soba noodle place “Daimon Soba House”. We lined up 15 mins before they opened and just got into the first service. B had soba noodles with pork (a lot of pork) and I had a rice ball with an Onsen egg which was delicious.
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