Kiso-valley region and Nagoya

Kiso valley region is highly recommended by the lonely planet guide. There are several small towns that have carefully preserved architecture from the Edo period. As a bonus, there is a small walk between Magome and Tsumago. Not to mention, this was my first sole adventure overseas.
We all woke up early on 27th November, took a shower, dressed and packed up. After a group photo taken outside of Chika’s place, we were off to Suwa Station. I said goodbye to Chika, Hiro and his friends at the station. Hiro told me to take care. I told him that I would survive and would see him again in two weeks. Hiro kept on reminding me to head to “Salty ass” (Shiojiri). I will never forget how he translated that place. I got to “Salty ass” and followed the instructions written down by Chika’s mum, I got on another train and headed to my first stop in Kiso valley, Kiso-Fukushima. That morning was quite cold but I would have never expected it to snow. After the train had exited a long tunnel, I could see the fields were covered in snow, but the sky was just cloudy. A few minutes later, white substance started to fall. Oh, it must be raining I thought. But then, I realized it didn’t make any sound when it hit against the train window. Oh, prefect! On the first day of my sole journey, I would have to face snow and cold.
My right leg stepped out of the train and I stood on the snow-covered platform. I breathed out a white cloud and scanned my surroundings. The snow flakes were not falling down, they were flying horizontally because of the strong wind. I was wearing 5 layers of clothes but I could still feel the cold wind going through them. I left the station and got some information from the information center. And I found out that there was not much to see at Kiso-Fukushima, especially in such weather. I pulled out the map and found a shrine very close to the station. I decided to have a look at it. Just as I was about to open the door and enter the shrine, a lady came out. She was speaking Japanese to me. I was very quiet and she asked if I understood Japanese. I said no and she started speaking English to me. She spoke excellent English. She introduced the shrine to me and told me that she went there everyday. She also told me to go inside and have a look. I thanked her and went inside. When I came out again, she was gone.
Once more, I pulled out the map and saw what was supposed to be my next destination, the museum. I walked in the snow for about 10 minutes. And suddenly, someone horned me from behind. It was that lady I had met at the shrine. She asked me where I was going, said that she lived very close and invited me to her place. Well, with such bad weather, no one can turn down such a nice invitation!
She lived next to the hospital as her husband was a surgeon. I don’t know how many of you have tried the Japanese style of ‘sitting’, but for foreigners like me, it was really uncomfortable. So I changed my sitting positions a few times during my stay. Her name was Emiko Matubayashi. She was married and had one child (a boy). She was telling me that she went to the shrine everyday to pray for a happy life. She was always unhappy and angry because of her naughty child. She made me tea and I enjoyed the small snacks. I also booked my youth hostel stay from her place. She was really helpful and rang up the train station to ask about the train schedule. She even gave me a few chocolates and chewing gums when I left. She said I was a gift sent by the ‘gods’. She hadn’t been so happy for ages. And she would pray for me. In retrospective, I think I should thank her for her prayer - I didn’t get sick or get into serious trouble on my trip.
I took a bus from Nagiso to Magome. From there, I walked to Tsumago and then back to Nagiso, a total of 12km. I can’t find any suitable words to describe what I saw during my walk. It was just purely beautiful and peaceful. Buildings and nature were blended together perfectly. There, that’s the heaven of Japan.
I got back to Kiso-Fukushima, and with help I finally got to the youth hostel. Ha! Ha! Ha! Why am I laughing? Because I was the only guest at that place on that night! For 3000yen I got a room that was similar to my room at Hiro’s place. And for 1000yen I ate a meal with 5 dishes. Life was good!
I woke up at 8 the next morning. I jumped on a train that was heading for Nagoya. Somewhere along the line, I had to change on another train. That station was quite big and I didn’t know where that train was. I stood there and kept searching for my train. As time was running out, I walked to a couple that seemed to be waiting, too. ‘Sumimasen! Train?’ I said, pulled out my ticket with my left hand and pointed my finger to a train on the other platform. They read the ticket and said something pointing to that train. Their body language told me that that’s the right train. I said thank you and sprinted for my train. I would have missed it if they hadn’t been there.
I got to Nagoya at noon, gathered information about this city and was walking again. I dropped off my backpack at the youth hostel and walked towards IdcN, which was supposed to have free internet. But I wasted my time going there. There was no Internet at all. I then got to Nagoya Castle, which proved to be a waste of money as well. The castle was burned down during WW2 and rebuilt by concrete! It was a shame that the Japanese could not use the original materials to rebuild this castle.
I then took the subway and got to Atsuta-jingu. This shrine was one of the most important in Japan; it dated back to the 3rd century. After a short visit at this shrine, I was on the road again. I ended up at the Nagoya Port Area. I walked pass the Aquarium, Port Tower and the Maritime museum. I also took a few wonderful sunset photos at the waterfront.
I got back to Nagoya city after dark. I checked my emails and ate dinner at a fast food shop. I met my roommate when I got back to the youth hostel. His name was Kawahara and he’s 35. He didn’t speak very good English but we could still make conversations. Soon afterwards, we started drinking. And two more roommates turned up. We drank from 9pm to sometime past midnight. Man, we all enjoyed a great night drinking in this Japanese style room. Especially for me, it was the first time to drink in such setting.