Originally I had planned to meet up with a friend and take her biking on Saturday, but she contacted me and said her neck wasn’t feeling well. So I scrolled around looking for a hotel instead and found out that most places were fully booked or eye-wateringly expensive. I guess the autumn-leaf season is really getting started, so everybody is heading out! So instead I booked Shibahara Onsen Yanagiya Ryokan for Friday night, thinking to just explore around on Saturday and then head back to Tokyo. I grabbed a change of clothes and snuck out of work a bit early as it was just perfect weather for biking, and I had worked a LOT recently.
Unfortunately luck was not with me – heavy and slow traffic everywhere. I did finally reach the start of the 299, and stopped for a coffee and an ice-cream at a little van just as the sun started to dip below the mountains. This is where I also discovered that I had left my phone at home.. that’s going to be a bit of a bugger! Luckily I had grabbed my work phone as I was planning to catch up on work a bit later this evening, so I’m not completely offline, but basically my hotel booking and general access to information is going to be a challenge.
Refreshed, I headed off, but again was foiled by extremely slow traffic. The 299 is a gorgeous road, but with the heavy and slow traffic and solid yellow line, it is not really enjoyable on a bike. I did take a bit of a side-road, which was lovely, but damp and mossy, so the going was pretty slow. Back on the 299 just before Chichibu, and again, heavy traffic.
Finally out in the gloaming dusk, and I got to the spot which I had marked on my GPS as being where my hotel was.. except it wasn’t.. what followed was nearly an hour trying to find my hotel. At one point I stopped at a minshuku which I had stayed at previously, Guest House Nishiki, and the owner was very helpful. He even gave me a bag of snacks as I was getting back on the bike. Another couple of wrong stops, and I finally made it – nearly 2 hours later than originally planned!
The lady was very helpful, and even gave me a half hour to freshen up before dinner, which was supposed to have been at 6pm.. so I had a quick shower and bath, and then went to find the dining room. I had understood that it was just the room next to mine, but it looked like just another guest room, so I didn’t want to barge in on anybody. While I was wandering about trying to find the room, the lady saw me and guided me back to the room – so I had understood correctly after all!
Dinner was amazing.. a dozen or so different dishes, including several types of fish (first time trying koi sashimi!), rice with sweet-potatoe, boar hotpot, chawanmushi, soba, tempura, and to finish it all off, icecream with red-bean paste and mochi. ごちそうさまでした！
Now to relax a bit, enjoy the outdoor onsen, and a good night’s sleep.,
