Japan - Part 2 Nozawa Onsen (Dec. 2016)
The ease and efficiency at which Japan functions was a wonderful change of pace from Bali life. We were super excited to be riding on our first bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano. What a pleasant surprise as the train pulled into the station at exactly the time it stated on the ticket with clearly marked signs. The bus transfer from Nagano to Nozawa Onsen was equally seamless. Nozawa Onsen is a hot spring and ski resort village. We absolutely fell in love with this magical place! Even though it was a ski resort with many travelers, it still had such a charming village feel that maintained the Japanese culture. The word "onsen" means a Japanese hot spring and bath. More on those later! Ted was a good sport and strapped on a snowboard so we could enjoy the mountain at a similar pace. After a few passes down the mountain, we were both feeling more confident and seemed to be feeling good about our efforts. We became a bit over confident in our abilities and a...