Skiing

Another early start: we hauled our cases to Tokyo station to catch our shinkansen to the mountains. We were there in good time and pleased to see our bullet train was a double decker. It was amusing to watch the 10 minute ritual refreshment of the carriages before we were allowed on: all of the seats are rotated so that passengers can face forwards and a small army of Japan Railways workers (with sprigs of cherry blossom in their caps) go about emptying bins and cleaning the seats. Finally they line up on the platform for a synchronised bow to the boarding customers. We wonder if British railways will ever be operated this diligently.

Amazingly we found ourselves ejected straight into the ski resort after only 90 minutes! It actually took longer to sort ourselves out with skis, boots, goggles etc: lugging our big bags around, queuing up several times, explaining that George has *huge* feet, working the lockers… eventually we were set and boarded the ‘gondola’ (cable car to you and me) to the slopes.

This was only our second time skiing so we were apprehensive but ultimately pretty pleased with how quickly it came back to us! Chancing our luck at the end of the season, the piste was a bit slushy but the weather was nice and sunny. It was lots of fun! We stuck to the beginner slopes and realised we were not the worst ones there, becoming quite adept at dodging falling comrades on the ‘Edelweiss’ course. We are pleased to report we only took one tumble each (a big improvement on last time!). We could see the town of Yuzawa with its river and shinkansen tracks below.

We enjoyed curry rice for lunch, and a well earned beer after a full day on the slopes. We weren’t the most exhausted ones there, however: some Japanese people were having a full on nap on the table! We did feel very grotty, so proceeded straight to the onsen in our hotel. Our room has a view of mountains and is immediately next to a river, swollen  with snow melt and making quite a noise (we thought it was the air conditioner!). To cap off the day we headed out for a bite and a swig of plum wine.