Sayonara Osenkaku

Alas our visit to Takaragawa Onsen must come to an end. After a quick wander around to check out the sad bears in cages, it was time to get back in the car and go. Osenkaku is a great place to stay but those bears are really problematic. It is one thing to hunt and kill wild bears for food but to keep a couple of poor sad bears in tiny enclosures is definitely an issue.






Georgia strapped and ready to go. Bear in hand and the bag of goodies she got with the first dinner in the other.  Lots of little toys in that bag. Half of them are probably choking hazards but it has barely left her side since she got it.

Minakami - Sakurai Shokudo

Lunch isn't included in the tariff at the ryokan so we decided to go for a drive, between dips in the onsen, to Minakami for lunch and site seeing. Minakami is a small town servicing the local ski resorts and tourism industry. Many of the shops in town definitely cater for tourists selling souvenirs and local produce.

It was a really cold day. The temperature must've been hovering around zero degrees. We'd had a near blizzard the night before so there was plenty of snow around. The car was parked undercover but the snow had blown in sideways so there was a decent cover over the car.

Powdery sticky dry snow

On the drive to Minakami we saw what looked like a bear. Holy shit a bear! But after watching it for a while we decided it was a Japanese Serow. A type of goat-antelope.

Japanese Serow - The tiny black dot in the centre

Sakurai Shokudo
We wanted some hot, like ramen, for lunch. As usual we'd left it pretty late so most of the restaurants in town looked like they'd finished for lunch. But we found a small place run by a couple of women. Probably mother and daughter. They were very welcoming and plonked us down at a table near a heater. Georgia is always centre of attention. While we read the menu, thankfully with pictures, they gave Georgia things to play with like the toy that played Happy Birthday.

We haven't had a dud ramen yet in Japan and today was no exception. Huge steam bowls of tasty delicious ramen. Perfect for a cold day although we were starting to steam in front of the heater. The service from the two women was outstanding and very friendly. We've been overwhelmed with some of the hospitality shown in Japan. We should be used to it by now but I hope I'll ever take it for granted.

The ladies saw us off with bows and smiles and we wandered up the street looking for souvenirs.

Sayonara ladies

Minakami main drag

Old steam train in the snow

Stop for supplies again

Breakfast at Osenkaku

The night had been pretty blowy and windy but we were rugged up like the proverbial bugs. I think we had a minor blizzard over night, or at least a big dump. There was plenty of fresh snow on the ground and in the trees. But except for the wind and the creaking of the building you'd never know. The futons were comfy and warm. Georgia loved being on a futon for a while but she became restless and was more comfortable back in her travel cot.

Futons: so comfy

Breakfast at Osenkaku is almost as good as Dinner. Again, too much food if anything. We had a choice of western or Japanese breakfast and a kids breakie for Georgia. Way too much for one little girl - sausages, omelette, salad, cereal, jelly and a banana. I think I want hers tomorrow. The Japanese breakfast is very good, Michelle loves her Japanese breakfasts, but sometimes I just need a bit of cereal and toast.

Breakfast

I know I keep saying it but you will not go hungry at a ryokan like Osenkaku.

Fish

Egg, salad and rice

After breakfast the most important thing we have to do is relax and relax hard. So it is back to the onsen for a leisurely dip before we think about lunch.

Family of 3 with one in the oven

The stroll to the rotenburo

Some of the eclectic... um... art you'll find on your way down to the rotenburo.