Arrival at Tsumago – Day 1

We awoke to a bright clear morning in Ginza, Tokyo where we had spent the night getting in to the hotel around midnight. We all slept well and decided to have the extra sleep in to take the 10:30am train. We found a coffee shop across the road for a quick breakfast. Egg and bacon sandwiches with coffee for Tryphena and I, and hot dogs and orange juice for the boys. It was a counter style coffee shop. Nice food, quick service and super polite staff. So far so good with language in Japan with the staff having enough English we can order without any trouble. The meal was ¥2,020 – which is about $24. We noticed a 7-eleven and a Lawson’s on the way back to the hotel. No doubt they will become a common shopping and meal destination for us.

We checked out of the hotel and then hailed a cab back to the train station. The streets are a little busier, but very orderly and clean. Quite different to the busyness of South East Asian streets that we are familiar with. At the train station we arranged tickets to Nagiso which is a Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagoya and then regular trains for the remainder. We were excited for our first Shinkansen and hoped to spot Mt Fuji on the train.

As we wait to board it was interesting watching the trains arrive, with passengers quickly departing and then the pink uniformed ladies go on and clean. Cleaning is quickly completed and the new passengers board and the train rapidly departs, right on time. We grabbed some snacks from the shops at the station and drinks from the vending machine. They boys are already comfortable with the vending machines and just want some Yen so they can go and get the drinks themselves.

Three trains later – Shinkansen, regional and local – we arrived in Nagiso. Unsure exactly how to get to Tsumago we are pleased there is a waiting taxi outside the station which takes us the 15 mins into Tsumago town car park / bus stop. There we found lockers to hold the bags while we spent a couple of hours strolling through the town. We got back to the bus stop where the Noble-Dickie family have arrived. We enjoyed catching up, especially the kids, while we wait for the hotel shuttle bus. The journey to the hotel is spectacular, with the sun setting while we ascend through the gorge up into the maintain, winding our way up for 30 minutes. We were met at the hotel and shown through the main hotel and onsen building which is located next to our hotel, the Tokonomiso. Our hotel is more a lodge style accommodation next to the main hotel. The room is a Japanese Ryokan style room with tatami mat flooring and futon bedding in the cupboard. We removed our shows in the entrance and just wear socks or bare feet inside, and are provided with geta (traditional Japanese wooden flip flops) to wear between the hotels.

We had just enough time for our first onsen experience before dinner.  The boys have taken to it like a duck to water.  We all changed into our Yukata (Japanese dressing gown) and head to dinner.  Where a bento box style dinner was provided and enjoyed.