Japan Day Eleven : Travelling to Hakuba....

I think my body had forgotten how to fall asleep. It only knows how to pass out.

Woo and I had an extremely quiet night, but neither of us was able to sleep. I woke up at 7am, after getting maybe two hours, Woo continued to sleep til 8:40.

We packed up the room, which still looked as if there was a grenade detonated in there (i feel sorry for the little Japanese housekeeper who would have to deal with it). Checked out of the hotel, fought our way through thousands of people at the Osaka train station and finally made it to Shin-Osaka to catch the shinkansen to Nagoya. We changed to a standard train there, and headed up into the countryside. It was very beautiful, and had been snowing in parts. We arrived into Nagano, and it was freaking cold. Seriously cold. We then jumped the bus up to Hakuba and to our hotel where we would be for the next 6 days.

We got our hire gear sorted and we now have everything needed to start the snowboarding part of our trip. It feels like ages go we arrived in Tokyo, as it was a completely different world to what we have now. There are Aussies everywhere, and very few Japanese.

We had to go into town on the shuttle, and met up with a few Aussies while waiting for the bus. They were going out for one of their mates 25th birthdays. We tagged along with them. It was a really fun night. Most of them have all met each other on the mountain. It's a big change from the last 9 days where we have nearly completely avoided Gaijin.

But, unlike the last week, I maintained my self control and am back in my hotel room before 11pm. Woo is still downstairs drinking with a few folk, but I'm sure he'll be fine. Well maybe....

I hit the slopes tomorrow. My goal is to not do an injury, as there will be four more days of snowboarding to follow...