The Budget Geek: Japan: The Northern Alps #2

17/6 Day 2: Matsumoto Castle, Kamikochi

We arrived in Matsumoto early on a Sunday morning - the skies were gloomy, but thankfully it didn't rain. It was a quiet Sunday morning, with few people out and about. Lazy buggers, all sleeping in XD

School on a Sunday? D:

Even so, most cyclists and pedestrians don't really care

After checking into our cozy little hotel (Japanese style), we took a short walk towards Matsumoto Castle, the main attraction of the city. On the way, we ran into a little river (we seem to have an affinity for rivers, somehow)

Everybody, please keep the river clean~

As we hadn't had breakfast, we hunted for a place to have breakfast, but all the shops were closed (they only opened at 10am). Luckily, there was one hardworking cafe already open, so we had some toast and coffee (at exhorbitant prices tho :/)

Cinnamon toast with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream (for breakfast, yes I know XD)

At first, we couldn't located the entrance of the castle as it was surrounded by a moat - the gates that we thought were entrances were all locked - eventually, after circling the castle, we found the main entrance. As the sun was starting to rise, so did the locals - people started streaming in, walking their dogs, kids feeding fish and swan in the moat, and of course the tourists from other parts of Japan.

Matsumoto castle keep, one of Japan's famous castles

Awesome reflection effect

We paid 500yen to enter the castle courtyard (a little steep) as well as the castle building itself. At the entrance, you had these chops where you could stamp your entrance ticket with a motif of the castle and this kid was so enthusiastic he used his mighty hulk strength to permanently stamp his ticket XD

RAWR!

Beautiful, manicured castle courtyard

Random samurai spotted, posing for photos

We entered the castle keep, not knowing what to expect (most of the other castles we went to previously had exhibitions of ancient weapons, armors and the like). Indeed, there were exhibits of antique muskets, samurai armour, bows and arrows, swords and other relics of the warring period. What we didn't expect though, was the uber steep staircases that linked each floor - near 90 degree staircases! There were many old folks touring the castle, and they had a really hard time climbing up and down those stairs. Eventually we reached the top of the castle, where everyone, bummed out from their stair-climbing exertions, flopped down onto the floor for a rest and a great view of the city.

View of Matsumoto city from the castle

Kids enjoying a Sunday morning ice cream :3

We headed out to the next stop of the trip - Kamikochi (上高地). If you can read kanji/mandarin, it means "upper highlands". Indeed, Kamikochi is a beautiful, natural and preserved mountainous region, part of the Chubu-Sangaku national park. The only way to reach Kamikochi is by bus or taxi, as private cars are prohibited. We took a local train from Matsumoto to Shinshimashima station where we hopped onto a bus that took us straight into Kamikochi.

Shinshimashima bus terminal

The bus was supposed to go all the way into the main entrance plaza of the park where most people got off, but we decided to get off a stop earlier and hike our way up to the Kamikochi bus terminal. We were rewarded with splendid views, an invigorating forest trail and some of the freshest mountain air. I also took more photos here than any other location during this trip - pardon the following photo spam!

First glimpse of Mt. Hotaka and Azusa River

Cute little girl :3

Dead pine trees rising from the middle of Tashiro Pond

Forest nature trail

Open marshland surrounded by forests

Dragonfly with Samurai armor

Boardwalk cutting through the pristine forest

Snake spotted!

Weston Relief - named after a British missionary Walter Weston

The most beautiful scenery I have ever seen - the snowy slopes of Mt. Hotaka and the Azusa River

Plenty of dead pines, in contrast to all the life around (Takezawa Marsh)

Myojin-bashi (bridge), signalling the end point of the hike

By the time we reached Myojin-bashi, we had been walking for almost 4 hours, and still had to make a round back to the bus terminal to catch the last bus at 6pm. In total I think we walked almost 10km that day. On the way back to the bus terminal, I managed to catch a glimpse of a troop of Japanese macaques!

Lazing around in a tree

Munching on some grass

Dinner was at this nice and cozy izakaya place where they supposedly imported their seafood direct from Tsukiji market in Tokyo! Either way, the sashimi and seafood were all very very fresh!