Day 13 - June 8, 2006: Norikura
This morning, we are going to see an old volcano called Norikura.
The bus tooks us up a long and winding road.
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We finally arrived at the station. It was just two building blocks on a small plateau surrounded by mountains and valleys.
Glacial ice was still retreating from the alleyways.
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Steps lead up to the peak.
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Some pictures of the surrounding area.
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There were two birds up at the peak. One of them had a beatiful black coat and red markings on the head.
The other one was this brown one. My wife was convinced this was the rare bird she read about in the brochures,
so we followed it around, taking pictures of it. Turns out the other one we didn't take any pictures of was the rare one.
Sometimes, things really are what they seem.
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In a valley below us, people were having fun sledding. You could hear their laughter from the peak.
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Some pictures of Norikura volcano.
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According to my wife, the Kanji translates to something like "Demon King's Lair"
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On the road again. The bus took us to a cable car station to see another peak.
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Waiting for the cable car to start. My wife is terrified of heights.
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Halfway up, we had a stop at the cable car station.
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It was a nice place with a beautiful garden, but we only stopped for a few minutes.
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Back in the cable car for the rest of the way up.
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When we got to the top, it was just snow everywhere.
It was fun for a few minutes and then we were ready to leave.
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On the way down, we took a few pictures of the halfway station.
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There was a hot spring where you were welcome to soak your feet.
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The bus took us down to an onsen (hot spring bath) but we only stopped to take some pictures of the nearby dam.
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It was time to head back to Takayama.
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Dinner at Tanabe Ryokan was another ten course feast, as usual.
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