Nagano is a high land with full of snow while some cities like Osaka still have no snow at the beginning of winter season. I went there from Osaka by local train (What???). YES! I took JR train from Osaka to Nagano by using Seishun Kippu. It such a long journey. But, I can cut my transportation budget significantly. I just have to be ready to enjoy a long journey and a couple times of changing train because Seishun Kippu only covers a journey by local or rapid train.
I spent 10,5 hours on the train. I supposed to spent 9 hours, but I took the wrong train. I was confused about the rapid train and local. As the schedule, I suggested taking a rapid train. But, the local train came first. I took local because I thought it would be faster than rapid. But, I was wrong. Rapid is faster than local no matter local train came first.
When you want to take a long journey and especially you are alone, prepare yourself by reading the train schedule carefully. I always checked the schedule in www.hyperdia.com before I took the train everywhere in Japan. And remember to follow the schedule.
I remember some station where I have to change train, like Kyoto, Maibara, Nagoya, Ogaki, Nakatsugawa, and of course Matsumoto! I had many times for changing the train.
One of the station I passed on my way to Nagano
I arrived in Nagano at 10.30pm! A long journey but I finally made it. I met my friend, Lucky and Becca, at Nagano Station. We took a walk to find our homestay. It was very cold outside OMG. It was minus 6… Yeah, Nagano is colder than Osaka and Tokyo also. I saw snow on the street there.
If you want to cut your budget, please note to rent the cheapest homestay or guest house in Nagano. There are some hotel or homestay in Hakuba. But, it’s expensive. Even homestay in Nagano is more expensive than Osaka. You can search on booking.com or airbnb.com to book cheap homestay. I booked my homestay from booking.com.
Okay back to the story. After 10 minutes of walking in a crappy night winter, we arrived at the homestay, Aun Guest House. It was a little room with 4 bunk bed, included the small kitchen inside. It was the cheapest homestay in Nagano. The host named Ikeda cannot speak English, but he was nice and helpful. Ah ya, in our homestay we had a new friend. A solo traveler from Australia named Tyson. He wanted to go to Hakuba tomorrow like us.
The next day, we were ready to go to Hakuba by JR train, covered with Seishun Kippu. It took longer than the bus. If you want to save your time I suggest you take a bus, not train. After spent almost two and a half hours on the train, finally we were in Hakuba! I saw lots of snow there! So excited!
Located in the Japanese Alps, northwest of Nagano, you will find the beautiful village of Hakuba. Hakuba Valley is known to be one of the best winter sports locations with 11 ski resorts offering various terrains from beginner to expert level. I didn’t want to ski because I have no experience at all. I didn’t want to practice for a beginner too because we have to rent the gear for skiing and it’s expensive for my budget. We just wanted to see snow and enjoy to play with it.
A snowman
There is some ski resort in Hakuba Happo One Ski Resort, the largest resorts in Japan, and the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics was our choice. From Hakuba Station, we took a shuttle bus to Hakuba Information Center. The fare was 300 yen.
It was a snowy day until we realized how hungry we had all become… Oooh, we want to eat. It almost 12 pm, time for lunch.
From Hakuba Information Center we walked somewhere we didn’t know, just follow the sign which directs us to reach Happo One. We hoped there was some restaurant, but it was rare to find the restaurant there. We saw the one and only Japanese restaurant but we didn’t want to eat there until we found an unexpected food truck after walk 10 minutes. And… the owner is Indonesian! We were amazed how could Indonesian food truck exist in the snowy place like Hakuba. Wow!
Eko’s Kitchen saves our tummy. We ordered satay and nasi goreng. Believe me, if you eat nasi goreng and satay here the taste is more delicious even it’s “not-really-the-best-Indonesian-food”. I think it’s because of the sensation, eating Indonesian food so far from Indonesia on a snowy day.
The owner of Eko’s Kitchen, Pak Budi, was a very nice guy. His hometown is in Bali. We talked a lot with him. He told us about his life in Japan and how he can he manage the food truck in Hakuba. Such an interesting story.
We continued to go to Happo One after lunch. Just 5 minutes walk from Eko’s Kitchen. Based on the information from the website, we have to pay 4200 JPY for a half day to enter Happo One. It’s expensive., but we are wrong. We didn’t have to pay 4200 JPY. We only pay 1000 JPY something because we are non-skier. With that ticket, we can go to the uphill with gondola and see the beautiful mountain panorama.
Happo One is a huge mountain, with several different peaks, many wide open and steep slopes, and a lot of vertical gains. It has been a ton of fun to take a gondola. Saw the scenery from the uphill.
And… Here we go! We’re on the peak and having fun with snow.
Actually was very cold outside. I just can stand for 10 minutes outside, the go back inside to warm my body. I couldn’t imagine how about Hokkaido. The winter there would be crappier.
We did so much fun in a whole day. We went to our homestay when the sun went down. The snow was getting worse in Hakuba. The temperature was down to minus 8… Colder… and colder…
I returned to Osaka with Becca and Lucky on the next day. It was a pretty epic journey! The moment and every inch of experiences we had in Hakuba are unforgettable. In winter season if you stay in Osaka, Hakuba is worth to visit.
