Buena Vista Matsumoto

... No ves pintadas, ni basura, ni despojos. Si acaso ves unos se�ores que quitan con una cuchilla cualquier m�nimo resto que no parezca suelo.

Settling in in Matsumoto. Spent about 4 1/2 hours on trains today, slow one from Nikko to Utsunomiya, a shinkansen to Omiya, another shinkansen to Nagano, then another slow train to Matsumoto. Signs of civilization at the Matsumoto station - a Starbucks!

Hoping that I can find the castle tomorrow. The ryokan has bicycles to lend, so I'm going to try and ...

... und dann noch in die Einkaufst�te, od** das Toilettenpapi** ist einzeln in Plastik od** Papi** v**packt... And****seits sind jetzt sogenannte Eco - Bags d**zeit hi** d** totale Renn** - wobei das wohl eh** so ne Mode**scheinung zu sein scheint.
Dann hab ich noch Sake Dosen mit unt**schiedlichen Geschmacksrichtungen gefunden (Japanische Alkopops sozusagen ^_^). Gest**n hatte ich Pfirsich Geschmack heute Ume - also Pflaumengeschmack.Seeeeehr ...

so i am in matsumoto, out of the last 7 nights i spend 6 on parkbenches, the last time i took public transport was 8 days ago and suddenly i have a lot to write about...
First, a night in a youthhostel in JP sets you back around 35 to 40 dollar per night...nothing included, except the privilege to check in after 4 pm and leave before nine...ah...and at 9 pm they lock you in...thanks, then i prefer to sleep in my sleepingbag in a park,more fun, mmore adventure, more cheap....

Matsumoto, Chubu, Japan asci

From Obuse, we travelled further along the train line, into the mountains and to a place called Yudanaka. In the winter you can go skiing around here but obviously there was no snow whilst we were here, just a bit of rain. The reason we came here was to visit the snow monkeys. These monkeys are macaques which come down the valley and are partial to bathing in the natural onsen (hot springs). We got a bus ...

... they are willing to share information, it just takes time. The ride back was filled with American and Japanese chatter, as we had all become good friends at this point. Bonding over questions and beer is never a bad thing :) We will be meeting up with a bunch of the students this thursday and most of them are coming to Boston this summer, which is really nice. We will be able to show them our home, as they have graciously shown us theirs.

... about each others culture. There were so many questions, confusion, and I think in the end, a bit of enlightenment. I still don't understand the culture completely and feel as if I never will. I don't think an outsider is privileged to such information. Regardless, I think our talk formed a strong bond and I hope we have more like it in the future.

... the storm would lighten up, if only for a moment so I could see some of the mountains I knew were around us. But it was not to be. This cannot be sugarcoated--it was completely miserable, probably the worst hike I have ever done. No good sights, huge gusts of wind roaring down the river valley, ice on you eyeballs and despite my best efforts of avoiding the slush puddles and pond-like potholes, walking in ice cold socks was not pleasant in the least. Plus when I ...

... to culture now? But the thing to have in Matsumoto is zaru-soba; cold soba that you dip in sauce. I headed out with a recommendation from the owner for a soba restaurant near the castle. A bit pricey on my budget but got a great meal of tempura and zaru-soba. You can actually watch the people kneading out the dough and cutting it. It's presented to you on a tatami mat (or in a weaved basket) to allow the soba to drain. And it comes with some ...

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