so this day started with an exit out of wonderful Furukawa - I had drank too much caffeine yesterday, so I woke early, which was great as I needed to get into Takeyama and get to the bus stop. This time I didn't get lost and turned up at the bus station with hours to spend... thankfully there was no problem buying a bus ticket for me and Hennie. but she needed to be bagged up. so I found an inconvenient place near a vending machine and without too much fuss, got out my big plastic bag, pedals off, handle bar off and taped to body - thats good enough and into the bag she went. crammed panniers into cargo bag (as much as possible) and then tucked her into a corner by gateway 6 - shoved the rest in a locker and went looking for breakfast! coffee yes!! and a danish pastry will do nicely.
we boarded the big coach at 10:10 and away we went. immediately it started to gently climb up and I was thinking, geez this could have been doable. but the higher we went, the shoulder on the road got smaller until it disappeared - but the traffic didn't. a whole mix of cars, trucks but mostly huge buses would have been freakin scary. so I sat back to relax and enjoy the view!
and what a view! steep mountains on both sides, rushing river straight down below and I mean straight down! don't think I was the only one, hoping the bus driver was on his toes. and the higher we went, spring was disappearing. snow in patches could still be seen and the leaves got tinier and not even green yet in places. as we reached the village at the top (actually looked like heaps of accom but all pretty flash!) saw a temp sign saying 3.... yoiks!
haven't mentioned the tunnels... narrow, dark and rough - road not well maintained either... so glad I decided to be sensible this time.
Arrival in Matsumoto 2 hours later, gave me plenty of time to track down the Matsumoto Backpackers - a tiny friendly little Japanese establishment run by a young Irish guy. my room wasn't ready, so I scooted off to check out the Matsumoto Castle. and its what I really like in a Japanese castle. big solid timber structures, wooden floors worn smooth by thousands of feet over the past 500 years. this is one that has survived all that time! The stairs - or should I say the ladders - were steep and slippery so be careful! but what I love is seeing older Japanese really struggling but not giving up and getting to the top floor to look out over the city. The snow-capped ridge is so impressive too!
so all in all a great day! - guess you want some pics! which will I choose out of the 300 or so! stay tuned!
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