Gozaisho
I was determined to do some kind of travel for the holidays, although a limited budget constricted my choices somewhat. After a quick perusal of my slew of guidebooks, I settled on Gozaisho, a smallish ski resort advertised with the longest ropeway in Asia - 1.2km! Of course, I haven't been skiing for 20 years, but I also haven't seen much snow in that time, either, so, since it's not coming to Mohammed...
An hour later, travelling southwest into Mie prefeture, we were there, watching the gondolas creeping up the mountainside...
...and admiring the amazing range of hotels and onsen buildings in the area, from traditional Japanese style, to Swiss chalet, to concrete block, to weird blend of Victorian mansion and mosque. I'll spare you the concrete block, though.
I'll also spare you the 20-odd other pics I took as we slowly glided higher and higher up the mountain past the snowline. After getting used to the concrete jungle, it's hard not to get overwhelmed by such raw nature.
It's hard to get a sense of scale, but these icicles were about a metre long.
At the top, there were a few trails leading to some spectacular views. On the way, I enjoyed my first snowball fight in ages.
Have you ever seen the Buddha shiver?
In the distance, you can see a mountaintop shrine - one way to really get away from it all.
A breathtaking panorama from another viewpoint - you can almost see Nagoya from here...
...and in the middle, the smokestacks of Yokkaichi on the coast of Ise Bay...
...and towards the southeast, the mountains surrounding Ise...
...and further on, a little shrine facing the mountains to the north.
Ya gotta love Japan - even the gods do the peace sign when you take a picture!
That's it for the pics. After a short bus trip back, we had a relaxing dinner of sashimi and tonkatsu, and, it being Thursday, headed off to pub trivia at the Red Rock, which had a cockle-warming special of Jaegermeister shots. We won the trivia, too!
The rest of this month will probably be pretty boring, which should give me the chance to catch up on the rest of last year - if I can just stay away from the xbox long enough... Until then: Cheers and Happy New Year!
An hour later, travelling southwest into Mie prefeture, we were there, watching the gondolas creeping up the mountainside...
...and admiring the amazing range of hotels and onsen buildings in the area, from traditional Japanese style, to Swiss chalet, to concrete block, to weird blend of Victorian mansion and mosque. I'll spare you the concrete block, though.
I'll also spare you the 20-odd other pics I took as we slowly glided higher and higher up the mountain past the snowline. After getting used to the concrete jungle, it's hard not to get overwhelmed by such raw nature.
It's hard to get a sense of scale, but these icicles were about a metre long.
At the top, there were a few trails leading to some spectacular views. On the way, I enjoyed my first snowball fight in ages.
Have you ever seen the Buddha shiver?
In the distance, you can see a mountaintop shrine - one way to really get away from it all.
A breathtaking panorama from another viewpoint - you can almost see Nagoya from here...
...and in the middle, the smokestacks of Yokkaichi on the coast of Ise Bay...
...and towards the southeast, the mountains surrounding Ise...
...and further on, a little shrine facing the mountains to the north.
Ya gotta love Japan - even the gods do the peace sign when you take a picture!
That's it for the pics. After a short bus trip back, we had a relaxing dinner of sashimi and tonkatsu, and, it being Thursday, headed off to pub trivia at the Red Rock, which had a cockle-warming special of Jaegermeister shots. We won the trivia, too!The rest of this month will probably be pretty boring, which should give me the chance to catch up on the rest of last year - if I can just stay away from the xbox long enough... Until then: Cheers and Happy New Year!
posted by Ia Ftaghn at 12:45 pm
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