Dienstag, 1. Mai 2012

May 1 - Matsumoto, Kamikouchi

The alarm clock was ringing at 8 a.m. but we didn't manage to get up before 8:30 a.m. Even though I had a very good and deep sleep I still felt tired in the morning. The state of my cold was a runny nose...
We ate breakfast in the room and then took the bus from Matsumoto to Kamikouchi (10:25 - 12:00). I could sleep on the bus and when we arrived I was surprised that there were still some snow piles next to the street.

after getting off of the bus
I started our trip with an ice cream and the we took some pictures of the scenic view of the "Kappa Bridge and Mt Hotaka Range" (when people think or talk about Kamikouchi this is always the first pictures that comes into their mind)

Kappa bridge and Mt Hotaka Range
The peak of the mountain was unvisible because of the misty weather but this is almost the picture one can find in brochures and pamphlets about Kamikouchi...

Naomi had planned to walk along the river because it was flat and so it wouldn't be too tough for me. First thing we saw was a monkey sitting in the tree:

Naomi pointing out the way

We were walking on one side of the river from 12:45 to 13:30, took a 15-minutes break, crossed the river, visited a shrine and a holy pond and walked back from 14:00 to 15:00 along the other side of the river.

 
crossing the river

the bridge where we crossed the river
map of that area

Gate to the Hotaka Shrine

some information about the Shrine

impressions on the way back

impressions on the way back

When we returned to our starting point we had a late lunch (noodles:-, the restaurant closed after our visit...) and bought some souvenirs afterwards.

my lunch: Udon noodles with sticky potatoes on the top

Baumkuchen:-)
On the way back there was no direct bus or train, so we first took the bus (16:45 to 17:45) and then the connecting train back to Matsumoto (18:03 til 18:32).
At that time I still hadn't had a present for Yuki's father and because Matsumoto is also famous for Sake (Japanese alcohol) I bought 2 bottles of Sake in a liquor shop back in Matsumoto: one for Yuki's father and one for Toru's family who I was supposed to meet soon.
We had dinner from 19:00 to 21:30 and as the day before we really enjoyed talking and eating.
Back in our hotel room Naomi called Yuki because I had to tell her that I would like to meet her already on May 2nd instead of May 3rd (as I had told her and originally planned before). Fortunately we could reach her and she agreed to pick me up at Sendai Station in the evening of May 2nd.
Before we went to bed (late at 1:00) we were watching a German lesson for Japanese people on TV:-).

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