The first leg was on the Azusa, a train we had ridden twice before, and then we were to take a smaller local train. Based on my research, I told the girls to expect a smaller train, with a diesel engine instead of electric. How right I was! The local train was actually a single car, basically a bus on tracks.
The driver eased us along a very curvy single track, with tunnels opening onto bridges and diving back into tunnels. The mountains rose up on the sides, and a lovely river sat below us at the bottom of the valley. It was raining on and off, and mist hung on the slopes and over the water. The ride was very scenic and took about an hour.
The passengers on this train were also very interesting. Most of them were hikers with big packs and big boots. Many were obviously tired, including this guy. He was quite a sight, with his thick train schedule book open in his lap, his funky t-shirt with nonsensical English phrases on it, and his mouth wide open, gently snoring as we bumped along.
We arrived on time in Itoigawa, a cute town where two tectonic plates meet, where Jade is found on the beaches, and where the mountains meet the sea. We changed there to a fast train called the Snow Rabbit, which zoomed us down the coast. We tried to see China off in the distance but the best we could do was a peninsula off the coast. (China is in that direction but much farther!)
Now we have seen both coasts of Japan. Woop-dee-doo!
That train took us to Toyama, a rather average and somewhat bleak city as far as we could tell. The weather was gray and rainy, which didn't help improve the appearance of the place. I took a picture here of a "sento," which is the public bath house. Notice the sign with the little steaming water picture? (Also you can see the "Lawson" convenience store next door.)
Benna and I spent about an hour walking around the downtown area, trying to find her an acceptable ice-cream bar. After rummaging around the ice-cream coolers of about four convenience stores, she decided to have fried chicken, THEN ice cream. I was grinding my teeth in frustration, and eventually decided to cave in to my own gastric desires and stop at an Udon shop.
I discovered a little sit-at-the counter noodle shop, the kind of shop where you buy a ticket at a vending machine when you enter, then present it to the cook. It seems like a crazy system at first, (and it IS crazy when there are two cooks and no other customers!) but it actually makes the place run very efficiently when it gets busy. Anyway, here's what the vending machine looks like.
As you can imagine, if you don't know what any of the buttons say, it is tough knowing what to order, and the two young cooks were not exactly smiling at us as we deliberated so I decided to just put in my money and take my chances, ordering based solely on price. I had the "not the cheapest but not the most expensive." It was really good! The soup was curry flavored, and it had delicious udon noodles, fresh scallions, an egg, and ground meat that I hope was beef. Yes, Benna "helped" me eat it. Notice the self-serve chopsticks and little dispenser of cayenne pepper. (Slurp..slurp..yummmmm!)
We returned to the station at the appointed hour to meet Jana and Aleeza. They had spent their afternoon window shopping, which is to say they didn't buy anything and had managed to not have anything to eat either. I was tired and grumpy so I did what any reasonable person in that position would do - I walked ten feet to the nearest sweets stand and bought myself a green tea flavored soft-serve ice cream.
After everyone had refueled and our bags had been retrieved from the coin lockers, We boarded our last train for the day, the Hida Wide-View express. Sadly my camera was out of memory and battery power, but let me say that the scenery on that ride was even more dramatic and spectacular than the morning ride. It was a train with huge windows and an open front window so you can look right over the driver's shoulder. I really really really enjoyed it! Jana and I sat in the front row while the girls entertained themselves and ignored the awesome scenery.
We are now in Takayama, a very cute small city in the mountains. We are staying at a Hostel, which is nice except we feel really old and are resentful of the young people socializing and making friends! It is nice and comfortable, though, and of course cheap. This town, however, is crawling with foreigners. The downtown restaurants and bars were packed - with foreigners! Where are the Japanese? Hiding?
We'll see what it looks like in the daylight tomorrow, and hopefully I will have some nice pictures and stories from this, the last stop on our tour.
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