Pension Cosmos Iiyama

For our third day of the rail pass, we zoomed off to Obuse, near the Japanese alps, north west of Tokyo. This involved first getting the bullet train to Nagano, then getting a local train to Obuse, the smallest town in that area. It was a very attractive little place, with pretty houses and well kept flowerbeds. So, you might be wondering why we came here, well, this is where the artist Hokosai painted in his final years, and there is a museum here showcasing some of his work ...

... Cependant une copie peut etre admiree en avril-mai tous les 7 ans. Bingo pour nous, c'est en 2009 que ca se passe. Le site est bien sur tres visite, meme en dehors de cette periode. Il est possible de descendre sous l'autel et suivre un couloir dans le noir complet pour pouvoir toucher la poignee de la porte derriere laquelle est censee se trouver la ...

... by a rope of multicolored strings. This creates a 'direct' connection between the Buddha and pilgrims who touch the wooden pillar. Of course this means that there's a ton of people waiting for the chance to create this cosmic connection, which apparently is supposed to help you get a peaceful death. How...comforting? I don't know why, but I'm always a little saddened by Buddhist related stories and events. One of the side attractions was a lantern ...

After Spencer sleeping all day in the TV room nursing a hangover and then me booking a hotel in the completely wrong area of Japan (although very very luxourious resulted in a 7.15am wake up call to get to Nagano) we made our way to the snow monkeys!

After getting our bus to literally the middle of nowhere, we then walked for 40 minutes along a beautiful snowy trail to where the monkey sanctuary is hidden in the snow. The path is covere din ...

... Osaka (cos we could). I love the Shinkansen (bullet train). I'm never catching another train ever again. Fast, comfy, spacious, clean, on time. THE model public transport system. Shinkansen or bust. Kyoto is grouse. It has a multitude of historical sites (and vending machines and Japanese food places). We went and saw the best temple, best shrine, best palace and the Ninja house (my secret residence. Don't be fooled by Kel when she says she's a ninja. I ...

I am going to keep the chat to a minimum here and let the (many) photos do the talking. I went to Nagano to see the "Snow Monkeys". They were awesome. After a short 2km hike through snowy forested mountains, suddenly there were monkeys running across the path - and they literally came within an inch of my feet! Well worth the visit.

... your health. Another involved rubbing a sacred statue on the body parts that ail you, said to heal sickness. Outside the temple are areas for hanging wooden plaques. You write a wish on the plaque, or a prayer you would like to have granted and then hang it up. Inside the temple, there was a queue of people waiting for their chance to find the key to salvation! Needless to say we joined the queue, and found ourselves walking blindly through a ...

... on en a vu) est ultra-propre *Si t<as pas de place chez-toi pour avoir un chat, tu peux aller en flatter un dans des endroits specialises *Les villes sont entrecoupees de petites rizieres (et entres quelques maison egalement) *Bicyclettes sont tres utilisees... mais personne ne porte de casque (ils ecrivent des messages sur leur cellulaire, fument, tiennent un parapluie, mais pas de casque) *Les bieres se ...

... ve encountered. The place looked basically like a Japanese version of IHOP. There was a conveyor belt running past every table, with some nice-looking, and some scary-looking sushi on it. Just grab whatever strikes your fancy off the belt. You make your own tea with hot water that comes from a faucet on the table. If you want a specific food, just push the corresponding button on the computer screen at your table, and a little "bullet train" will ...

We took the Shinkansen to Nagano using our rail pass and after arriving found out which bus to catch out to M-Wave, the ice skating rink used in the winter Olympics. We had never been ice skating so were willing to give it a try.

Took an old wooden floored bus out to M-Wave and walked past a sign in Japanese then paid for our ticket to the ...