Bachwig travellers: Arriving in the Kiso Valley

Day 4 - Arriving in the Kiso Valley - Magome

Magome

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

After another interesting breakfast, we packed up and carried our bags downstairs. I don't know if I mentioned that we were on the 3 rd floor and the staff had delivered our bags to our room while we were out exploring on day one!

When we checked out the staff member suggested that instead if catching the bus, getting off 3 stops later at Hakone- Yumato, and then transferring to the train - that we just stay on the bus to Odawara so we did that and it was a good decision. Probably slightly longer but we aren't in to hurry.

We them went to the JR office to reserve our seats for the rest of the trip. Here is our learning...make sure you know the trains you want before hand! Because otherwise they book you on a slower train. So we ended up in a slow Shinkansen to Nagoya and what could babe taken just over an our took two. Oh well...more reading time.

We then transferred at Nagoya to the train to Nakatsugawa. There was no food trolley on any of our trains and we didn't have time to grab anything at the station. Luckily there was 20 minutes before the bus so we were able to grab sandwiches and water. There were a family of Americans with us who were desperately trying to get cash from an ATM and none if them were working for them. I was a little worried for them as I had that there were no ATM'a in the Kiso Valley. Luckily for them there was a pits office is Magome with an STM that worked for them. Yay japan Post! Magome is gorgeous! What was not gorgeous was the steep hill and having to drag our bags up it. That got the heart rate going! We eventually made it to our nun and checked in. Again we take out shoes off and out them in the shoe racks. We were then given slippers - these ones kind of fitted Bruce. The lady who welcomed us spoke very little English but we knew the important things..bathroom, toilet, dinner time etc. we had no stairs to go to our room which was great. The ladies toilet was on our floor, and the men's downstairs along with the bathrooms.

Our room had a corridor where our towel rack was and where we left our slippers. We had two tatami mat rooms - I think it was a 16 tatami mat room which was pretty big. We had a separate sleeping room and sitting room. Just mats beside the table and none of the little back support chairs. There were two 'proper' chairs to the side which was a relief!

We were pretty hot after dragging our gear up to the Inn so we went out for a stroll and for an ice cream. The village is very very beautiful. It is an old post town and most if these towns were really deteriorating until the 1960's when a restoration process began. A quick visit to the information centre to check the arrangements to transfer luggage the next day and lots of photos later - we went back to the Inn for a 6.00pm dinner.

We enjoyed hot sake with dinner which was many different dishes again. The owner said the rice was his own. He then told us about the song and dance lesson at 7.45 . There was one other American couple there so we all said 'see you then'.

OK..singing and dancing. The song is local to the area. Our host taught us the song and then the dance. Once he was happy with how we did he ran around for a bit and produced outdoor sandals - but these were dancing sandals so harder to walk in. We then went outside to the street and danced around the lamp!

I went off for a bath and shower and Bruce to enjoy the nice warm night outside and take seem photographs.. This was my first 'public' bathing but kind of safe as I knew the only other lady staying had already bathed. The bath here was made out of Japanese cypress. I had a nice shower (sitting. Down Japanese style) rinses off all the soap and then soaked in the lovely bath. It had a cover on it, and you leave it covered to keep the water hot. It was pretty toasty and well needed after a long day traveling.

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