by admin on February 11, 2011
One thing about me – I’ve always been scared of heights. It’s a bit sad, but true.
So for me, gondolas and chairlifts were a cause for concern. Now I think back on it, it was definately a contributing factor to why I didn’t ski very much when I first got here.
I am improving though, and I’m quite proud of that. I can now look out the gondola window and enjoy the view, instead of keeping my eyes closed and trying to pretend I’m somewhere else.
Even the chairlifts are all fine now, even the ones which are really steep with no safety bar. I’m such a hero. Haha.
by admin on February 8, 2011
One of my favourite places in Nozawa Onsen is Le Carte, a gorgeous little coffee shop. It’s run by a mother and daughter and I think what makes me love it is the wall of books. People just grab a book to read while they drink their coffee. I think that’s awesome! Although of course, all the books are in Japanese. But that’s okay, I bring my own.
It also has the only pool table in town – filled with a massive collection of chopstick holders and covered in glass – much to the disgust of Luke. There’s also a collection of old tea tins over the counter.
And the hot cocoa. Wow. It’s wonderful, full of buttery goodness. I’m similarly in love with the New York Cheesecake. I really need to get a recipe for that.
So yes. That’s where you’ll find me, more often than is probably reasonable.
by admin on February 6, 2011
I finally made it to the Yudanaka, the snow monkey park. Yay!!
I joined one of the tours the lodge runs twice weekly, as it seems near impossible to get there on public transport.
First stop was the awesome sushi train in Iiyama. Love it. Delicious, as always. And it’s so fun ordering by shinkansen. 
When we got to Yudanaka there was a 1.6km walk in, which was almost worth the bus ride in itsef. It was so pretty, with all these picturesque snow capped trees. We saw a geyser along the way, and slightly more awkwardly a naked man using the outdoor onsen at a hotel we passed.
The monkeys were great! Technically they’re wild animals, but they’re so used to humans that they just completely ignore you. And so many! They all come to the area with the onsen in the winter to warm up… and of course they’re also lured with barley twice daily for the benefit of the tourists. There were hundreds of them! Everywhere. Kind of scarily human-like. Or maybe we’re scarily monkey-like? Either way, it was really interesting. And they’re so cute.
Photo from the wonderful Julie Jobson
by admin on February 2, 2011
Nozawa Onsen is such a gorgeous little village. Because it’s an onsen (hot spring) village, there is water just running through all these special drains in town. It’s amazing. It was really quite disorienting the first few mornings, as I’d wake up thinking I could hear rain, but would then look out the window and realise that it was beautiful and sunny and it was just the drains I could hear. 
The onsens themselves are a huge part of the village – there’s 13 in total, one for each district of the village. And in a village of just a few thousand people, that’s quite a concentration.
The main street is really cute, lots of souvinery shops. These are open only during the ski season, so it must be a bit of a ghost town during summer. There’s a supermarket, convenience store and meat shop too.
In a stroke of sheer genius, the roads are all heated with kerosene, which means that the roads stay free of snow and, more importantly, ice.
Besides the main road, Nozawa also has an army of insanely cheap, delicious restaurants and another army of lodges.
It’s a tiny, absolutely gorgeous town, with the mountain rising up behind it. Beautiful.
