SO much cooler today, so I was perfectly happy to walk all
the way up to the castle. ( ‘all the way’ was less than 2km… :P ) It was lovely
and sunny, the castle looked really beautiful.
As soon as I had purchased my ticket (600 yen), I was
approached by a lady who asked me if I would like a free, guided, English speaking
tour from her. I turned her down immediately.
Imagine if I did turn her down! No, I leapt at her offer, happy to have the company. She was lovely, she showed me around the whole tower and the
museum, and even asked me little quiz questions, such as:
‘When people used to watch the moon, how could they see 3
moons?’ I thought she was a bit mad. Then she said ‘first the real moon, then
the reflection of the moon in the moat, then the reflection of the moon in
their sake glasses’
Japanese people are so cool.
After her tour, she showed me to the bus stop to get to
Asama onsen, from which I could easily walk to Biwa No Yu. I had a little time,
so I grabbed something to eat at a FamilyMart, then waited for my bus. After a
while, I saw my guide coming towards me, and I smiled at her. She said she was
worried about me! So she had just come to check up on me. The bus arrived about
a minute later, so I hopped on it, and said thank you to her. She was so nice.
I did realise, however, around the time when the bus started
to head back to Matsumoto after about 20 minutes, that I had gotten on the
wrong bus. Bearing in mind that they run hourly, I was less than impressed with
myself, but it was ok. I got off back at the station where I originally waited,
and waited another half hour before the right bus came, and I managed to get on
and get to Asama onsen station.
It was maybe a 10 minute walk to Biwa No Yu, and when I
found it I was quite excited, It was just so nice looking! I was shown to the
indoor onsen first, where I spent maybe 15 minutes max, then I was shown to the
outdoor onsen, which was just so beautiful, I spent over an hour there.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, they do not allow any type
of clothing in the hot springs. Not a bikini. Nothing. It was bizarre being naked
in a sort of public place, but there were only two other women in the indoor
onsen, and no one else in the outdoor one! So it didn’t even feel that weird,
it was just like taking a bath outside…in a rock pool :P
I loved it. It was so relaxing, though I frequently had to
use the showers to cool myself off. I would recommend that onsen to anyone. My
guide had heard about it, and said it was very traditional and authentic. I don’t
know enough about onsens to tell you if that’s true, but I can say that it was
really pretty J
I went back to Matsumoto city centre after a few hours, and
found a food court in the basement of some shopping complex which was nice to
wander around in. After a while, and old lady stopped me, and I recognised her
as being the same lady that I had smiled at earlier on when I was riding the
wrong bus. She seemed very pleased to see me and started talking at me very
quickly. Of course, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she was so
sweet so I just kept smiling and nodding. I managed to get our picture after a
while, and eventually she said goodbye and went on her way. People here are so
friendly, it’s amazing.
My guide had said that this area is famous for its soba
noodles, so that’s what I had for dinner. It cost me £1. Then I had some blue ice
cream because I didn’t know what flavour it was. I think it was a lemony bubble
gum…
Back home now and getting ready for Kyoto tomorrow!
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