Japan, day 14: seven trains to Karuizawa

On Wednesday, we moved from Kanazawa to Karuizawa, two cities about 320 km apart, and according to Google, the journey by train takes 1 hour and 42 minutes. We, however, spent a whole day and took seven trains, because when Alex was doing his research, he found out about a special sightseeing train that goes through Kurobe Gorge. Of course, he needed to ride it!.. The train goes there and back along the gorge, with beautiful views made even more beautiful by the autumn foliage, about an hour each way. However, to get to its starting point, one needs to take first a Shinkansen (train #1) and then a local train (#2). Then trains 3 and 4 is the sightseeing trip, and train 5 is the local, back to the Shinkansen station. Specifically at the time we were traveling, there was no direct Shinkansen train that stopped at Karuizawa, we had to change at Nagano - so there, seven trains! I have to admit, views from the sightseeing train were gorgeous (and also we were lucky with the weather, we opted for an open car and it would have been a whole other story in the rain). Finally, we checked into our hotel in Karuizawa, which was slightly underwhelming: sure, it had a ginormous bed, but couldn't accommodate us for dinner... their restaurant was completely booked for the night. (In my experience, hotels usually alert their guests in advance if this might be the case, and suggest they make a dinner reservation; this one didn't.) We had to walk about 20 minutes on the dark roads to get to a touristy area with several food options, one of which was Italian.

So here is the same story, but illustrated. 

First train: Shinkansen. (Notice the bullet shape.)

Views from the Shinkansen train.

Second train: local to the starting point of Kurobe train.

Kurobe train - some of the cars are enclosed, but we opted for an open car. You get in by stepping over the "wall".

Views of the gorge from the Kurobe train.

Here, a sign by the tracks said: "Bridge to Monkeys" - I reflected (sadly) that it probably was a historic name or a poor translation, and not actually a bridge that led towards real monkeys...

... but I was wrong! Very soon, as we were slowly passing by some kind of little shed-like building, I saw something moving... and voila!

Those were actual wild monkeys who came out of the forest and started climbing on the roof! (Sadly, they were gone by the time we passed this building again on the way back.) But approaching the final station, I saw two more monkeys - one on some overhead construction and one on the ground...

View at the final point of the journey, Nekomata Station. The train stops for 20 minutes, then goes back. 

In previous years, the train went further along the gorge, but after the 2024 earthquake this is no longer an option.

Our locomotive (at the final point of the journey).

A snack at the local station, there was no other food. I felt uncomfortable eating the little bear head, and also it was not very tasty.

Bento box in the Shinkansen on the way back. Inside that bento box (with a cow) - cooked Wagyu beef with pickled vegetables and ginger.

Finally, we made it to our hotel in Karuizawa. This is called "Hollywood Suite" and yes, the bed is huge - Alex is posing for size.

We were obviously hungry, and it was very disappointing not to be able to have dinner at the hotel. After walking for about 20 minutes on a dark road, we came to a center of civilization - so to speak - and had dinner at Trattoria Primo.

> Day 15