Hakuba!

We're here! We actually arrived a few days ago, but I'm a bit slow in getting this highly informative and exciting blog on line. This will hopefully be a way for me to let you all know that I'm alive, and doing some exciting things.

Kerry and I had a mammoth journey to Hakuba, which is in the mountainous middle/westy bit of Japan. We took two planes, on one of which we got slightly upgraded! To Economy EXTRA!



Here is Kerry enjoying the benefits of a little upgrade - a warm flannel. We also had a bit more leg room, a bag for our shoes and orange juice in actual glasses! We're did quite a lot of cheers-ing to our awesomeness and sneered at those traveling normal economy. Suckers.

We eventually arrived at Tokyo Narita, where Kerry's bro Alex met us, and we headed into central Tokyo to get our bullet train to Nagano (nearest city to Hakuba). Even from the train, Tokyo was overwhelming - massive and loud on the eyes. We escaped briefly to a little park by Ueno station, which is where we were getting our train, to see the first bloom of the cherry blossom season - beautiful, and hundreds of tiny Japanese people were out to share the loveliness. I felt like a big giant.

After our bullet to Nagano, we had to take a bus and a taxi before we finally arrived at our hostel in Hakuba. 26 hours after leaving home. Blurgh.



Hakuba is the base town to about 6 small ski resorts. Perhaps because it's the end of the season, or because it's been styled on a mid-west American town, but it's absolutely dead in a brilliantly eerie way. It's at the foot of mountains at the beginning of a big snowy plane, and has clapboard houses and lots of closed shops. And a 7 11. Our hostel is full of some very nice people though - I lent my suncream to a very tall Dutch man named Tommy, who had been horrifically sunburnt on a big hike. He didn't really seem to care that his eyes had almost swollen shut and he was tomato in hue - at home (Europe), he hikes for weeks at a time and sleeps in the wilderness in a sleeping bag, no tent. No biggie.

We've had three days of boarding, which has been sunny, rainy, patchy, painful and slushy. The best thing about the Japanese ski resorts are their lack of safety - usually no bars on chairlifts, or anything to tell you when or where to get on apart from a bell, or just a tiny marker stopping you from going off a cliff. But everyone waves and says arigato a lot, so they're a happy bunch despite major safety issues. We've been hitting the parks (by hitting I mean flying over things and falling off stuff) and having a lovely old time. We've also eaten lots of noodles and done a lot of sleeping.

We're here until next Wednesday, then heading off to Tokyo for a week to feel overwhelmed and drink saki and seat sushi. I'll hopefully write a little update from there.

Hope this hasn't been too boring! Lots of love to you, and send me your news too.

Sayonara, from Kez and Alex also

xxx

p.s. any questions about the name of this blog should be directed to Tone.

p.p.s. sorry for lack of pictures - will post more when I have more internet time.