trip to hakuba : July 19 2025

this is the view of the destination, hakuba a mountainous area in nagano prefecture. it just amazes me that there are still ice on some of the peaks. how could that even be?

the ride

we started the day early in shinjuku station. it was still 7 am and yet the sun is already blazing. in fact when i woke up at 5:30 am, it was already very bright. summer is really sun heavy.

so the bus departed around 7:30 am. traffic was very heavy though, we werr supposed to reach the destination at around 12 noon but we eventually reached past 2 pm. anyway, let us enjoy the ride for a bit.

i was happy that this bus ride had 2 stops at a service station. i would have wanted a heavy meal but we were only given around 15 minutes in each. it was for toilet breaks and a short shopping. i bought this coffe and vanilla flavored soft ice at one of the stops.

we pulled away from the congestion and reached the countryside. that sky is yet again so blue. and those grass contrasted it well. we could see some mountains at the distance with some visible icy parts at the top.

arrival

it was visibly very clean, but it was so hot, it was around 2:30 in the afternoon. those streams of water looked cleaner than my life.

here is the hotel we booked, it looked like something straight from a movie. pleasantly surprised, i guess i would be fine with just staying here for the rest of the trip. but of course that would destroy the whole trip. but i really don't mind staying here again.

that bed was good enough to make me want to stay.

we had to find food for lunch and dinner. so out we went and enjoyed the view. fresh clean air, fresh clean view. so different from my usual busy life.

the town

this view alone just looked so good. and it was then when i was informed that parts of the nagano winter olympics long ago was actually held here in hakuba. skii activities were held here and the town was full of memorabilias.

this door looked just like it can straight out of a magic series.

these swallows were nesting in front of a convenient store. probably it was the best way to find food. but i just heard that swallows migrate down to south east asia during the winters, that is a long way for such a small bird. swallows are called 燕 (tsubame). doesn't that kanji look like birds' mouth?

here were the other pictures that afternoon.

the night views

at 7:30 pm, night fell. it was beginning to get dark. and the scene changed a lot. just enjoy the view.

shops and more shops with the night view.

and even more shops. but actually most of them were closed that night. it was getting more difficult to get dinner. so we had snacks instead.

the shrine up there was also pretty. i could not even complain.

the night ended with a good onsen dip back at the hotel.

as always, AMPING KANUNAY.

_{all content is by yours truly unless otherwise specified}

^{all photos are taken with a galaxy s23 ultra}