Minirolls Musings

Today we had planned to go to a flower producer. The photos looked amazing, with huge fields of different-coloured flowers. But a Google review from four days ago said they are not out yet for this season, so we skipped the long drive to this potentially disappointing attraction and opted for Ginzan Onsen. I’m glad we did.

The day started with what can only be described as a character-building experience: Aimi driving us down the mountain from Zao Onsen towards Shibata. Now, I trust my wife with many things in life, but hurtling down narrow mountain roads with sheer drops and enthusiastic cornering is… an experience. I spent most of the journey alternating between admiring the scenery and mentally preparing my will. This little K-car is not built for mountain roads, or enthusiastic Europeans.

Turns out that Aimi insulted her more than we first thought…

This morning we parted ways. If you didn’t know us, you’d think we had a massive fight as we each shot towards opposite ends of the country at over 185mph.

Bullet train, baby!

Kai, Laura and Nath met us after a tasty breakfast sandwich and took us to a makers market they found on the way. Here, a lovely lady tried to convince me to live life without pants. Her handmade underwear would make me strong like Samurai…

I passed

Returning to Japan, there are some things we have already done that we want to do again, like TeamLab Planets, and other things we didn’t do that we wish we had, like the Sky Tree.

The hostel WiFi password is “checkout10am”, just in case you didn’t know. I made sure to be out on time, but still feeling a bit sluggish, I luxuriated in a lie-in. I had been up late chatting to a French girl called Lena and a Canadian lad called Doug about their travels. While waiting for my laundry to dry, they gave me the name of a good sushi restaurant for a date night.

The £16-a-night hostel is amazing. For the money, you really cannot ask for more.