For our last day in Nagano, we were lucky to be traveling with an expert tour guide. I certainly wouldn’t have known how to get myself around Azumino or Naraijuku, nor would I have been able to navigate on a bike while trying to avoid plunging into a ditch. The only thing that slightly hindered us on our plan to have an authentic Nagano experience was her soba allergy, but I won’t hold that against her. =P

After checking out early in the morning, we left our luggage at the hotel then walked over to Matsumoto Station. We would be meeting Frannie on the platform going towards Azumino. We got there a little early, so we took a seat on the train first. Frannie came a few minutes later and soon we were on our way to Azumino. We chatted throughout the ride and it seemed like we got to Hotaka Station in no time.

Once we arrived, we walked towards a bike rental store and got set up with bikes and maps towards the Daio Wasabi Farm. I hadn’t been on a bike in years, so I was really worried about making it safely to the farm. Luckily Frannie set a good pace for us, I just had to make sure I didn’t veer my wheels towards the ditch. Hehe.

Before we reached the farm, we stopped at the Tokouji Shrine which was along the way. It wasn’t very busy when we got there, so we were able to take a lot of photos with the oversized getas in front of the shrine. Afterwards we hopped back onto our bikes. It took another 10 minutes or so before we reached the farm. 

The farm is completely free of charge, so we walked right in and began exploring the grounds. There were many wasabi fields inside, as well as areas to walk and enjoy the scenery. Kurosawa Akira filmed a scene from his movie Dreams inside the farm. We were able to walk up right to the edge of the stream to see the ‘Village of the Watermills’. After exploring the farm, we stopped and had an ice cream cone. Needless to say, there was only wasabi flavour. =P 

Since it was a little early for lunch, we decided to return to Hotaka Station and grab something to eat there. The bike ride back was a lot harder than going there. I think my arms were in a death grip the majority of the way. I was so afraid of steering off the path! Luckily both me and the bike were still in one piece when we got back to the rental shop. We paid for the rental then tried to find a place to eat. There wasn’t a lot of selection by the station, so we settled on eating buta kare for lunch. It was yummy. =)

Afterwards we took a really long train ride towards Naraijuku. We had to travel by local train, so they didn’t come as frequent. When we finally got there I was eager to explore the area. Naraijuku is a nationally designated architectural preservation site, so all the buildings have pretty much maintained their look from the Edo period. The town also marks the halfway point between Kyoto and Edo. I really wanted to come here because it was a location spot for the drama Ohisama.

There was only one pathway going into Naraijuku, so we followed the crowds towards the main street. It wasn’t overly busy at Naraijuku, but perhaps because it was a national holiday, there were a lot more visitors than usual. Halfway through our walk we spotted the sign for Ohisama’s location spot.  We decided we would go inside the Nakamura House, which was used as the setting for the candy shop Ame in the drama. We paid the admission fee at the front, then went inside. There was a guide who gave a brief description of the house and explained how it was used during filming. Then we were left to explore the house on our own. We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside, but because of my uh…gaijin-ness, I snuck a few photos anyway. =P

We walked down the remainder of the way, then turned back and headed towards the station. Before we left, we took a slight detour so we could see the Kiso Ohashi Bridge, which Frannie told us is one of the longest wooden bridges in Japan. It is made out of cypress and it reminded me of Togakushi the day before.

Finally we headed towards the station and took the train back to Matsumoto. Since Frannie was heading to Suwa, we said goodbye to her midway through the trip. Thanks for taking us out for the day! 

Once we arrived at Matsumoto, we walked back to the hotel to grab our bags, then took the train at 6:35 for Shinjuku. The train ride back felt a lot longer than it did going there. I was so exhausted throughout the trip that I kept on dozing off. I woke up during the middle of the ride and felt really queasy all of a sudden. I didn’t think too much of it at first since I thought it was carsickness, but then I found out afterwards that there had been a small earthquake. =S

I was really happy to get off the train when we arrived in Shinjuku. My appetite seemed to have returned, so we bought some soup at First Kitchen before heading back to the hotel. We ended up watching HnA with Ohmiya while eating our soup. It marked the end of another long day of travels.

Day 2 in Nagano began with breakfast at the hotel lobby. The only time I ever get to eat washoku (和食) for breakfast is when I’m staying in Japan. I think my sister specially hunts for hotels which serve complimentary breakfast. =P

After finishing up breakfast, we walked over to Matsumoto Station and took the train out to Nagano city, which is about an hour away. I had booked a tour before I left on vacation, so we would be meeting our tour guide, Zeno, at the station. When we were first planning our itinerary, we almost gave up on visiting Nagano. The places we wanted to see were not really accessible – either they were too far apart, or we’d have to venture out on local buses. I was really happy to find Zeno’s site because it gave us the option of visiting more places without the hassle of figuring out how to get there.

After getting introduced to each other, Zeno first took us by car to Togakushi. Once we arrived, we took a path lined with 100 year old cedar trees towards the Togakushi Jinja. It was a perfect day for hiking and I was completely in awe of the size of the trees as I was making my way there. Along the trail there was also a flat field where ninjas used to meditate. It took about half an hour before we finally arrived at the shrine. The shrine is actually made up of three shrines, known as the lower, middle and upper shrines. I wasn’t really paying attention to the difference between them. All I remembered was the loooong flight of stairs I had to climb to get to the top. (Remember, I had the ‘Matsumoto Castle workout’ the day before.)

However, it was pretty rewarding making it up to the top of the shrine. There wasn’t much of a view, but it was still relaxing to take in all the surroundings. 

After making it down, we got back in the car and drove off towards our next stop. We were originally thinking of going apple picking, but we sort of canned the idea along the way. Instead we only made brief spot at a farm, where we saw a field of apple trees and got to sample different varieties of apples. Interestingly enough, I didn’t end up buying any apples. LOL. We bought some grapes instead since those are harder to come by in Canada. 

After that quick stop we finally went for lunch at a nearby soba restaurant named 古芳屋. The soba restaurant is pretty well known in the area and the old couple who manage the restaurant were really nice and friendly. I ordered a tenzaru soba for myself. The soba definitely tasted a lot better than the one I had the previous night. After stretching our legs for a bit, we hopped back in the car and headed towards Jigokudani Monkey Park.

Once we got there, we parked along the side road and walked the remainder of the way in. The route we took would actually take about 25 minutes on foot. Similar to Togakushi, the walk was in a forested area. It was quite refreshing as we made our way to the park. Once the forest broke away, we found ourselves at the entrance to Jigokudani. We could already see monkeys outside of the main entrance where one of the onsen hotels were.

After we paid the admission fee, we went straight inside. There were monkeys everywhere! We walked along a pathway towards the onsen which the monkeys use to bath. Unfortunately there weren’t any monkeys inside when we were there, but we were already too entranced by the monkeys around us. I spent a good 20 minutes taking pictures of them. Some were frolicking around the edge of the onsen, some were eating, some were chasing each other around, some were being piggybacked, and others were just lazying around. It was a lot of fun!

When we finally left the park, it was a long drive back to the station. Along the way Zeno took us along Shibu Onsen street, which is famous for its onsens and ryokans. Next time I definitely want to stay overnight there.
 
Before we went to the station, we took a slight detour and visited Zenkoji Temple. It was pretty late when we got there, so most of the shops lining up to the temple were already closed. We were able to go inside Zenkoji, but there was some reconstruction going on in the front, so we didn’t have much of a view of the temple itself. We walked around the complex in the dark for about 10 minutes, then headed back to the car.

It was a pretty long day already, so we were looking forward to grabbing some dinner before heading back to Matsumoto. Zeno dropped us off on one of the streets outside of the station. It must have been a pretty long day for him as well with the amount of driving between all the places. (Both my sister and I nodded off in the car on more than one occasion.) I’m really glad we had such a great tour guide. I definitely recommend him to anyone who decides to visit Nagano. お疲れさまでした!
 
It was a little early for dinner still, so we ended up wandering the streets of Nagano trying to scope out a place to eat. In the end we settled for an izakaya. It was the first time we’ve ever been to one by ourselves in Japan, so it was a little daunting trying to order off the menu. We were making out really well by pointing at the pictures, then got confused when they asked us to pick out the sauces. LOL. The food was really delicious, so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

After dinner we finally headed back on the train to Matsumoto. Once we got back to the hotel, we went upstairs again to use the sento like the previous night. However, instead of heading back to our room right after, we went downstairs to the lobby area where they were serving yonaki soba (夜鳴きそば) for all the hotel guests. I think we really lucked out with the hotel! Finally after our tummies were full, we headed upstairs and called it a night.