Hakuba, Japan

We had a one night stop over at 328 Hostel in Haneda, Tokyo before we jumped on our snow shuttle organised through Oz Snow to Hakuba. The accommodation suited us perfectly. We arrived close to midnight, and the host was conveniently waiting for our arrival. She showed us to our clean, tiny and cosy room where we stowed our stuff and quickly went out to find some fried chicken (a must try when in Japan!).

Our snow shuttle to Hakuba took about 6 hours and was a great way to see the country side. We had bought a snow package deal with Oz now which included 5 all mountain lift passes and 7 nights accommodation at the Gondola Hotel in Happo.

Happo in Hakuba was a cute region of the town and very suited to tourists with many places to eat and drink. A few of the places we came to like was Unjuane for some decent sized burgers; the Recovery Bar (attached to the Gondola Hotel) for pizza and live music; the Hakuba House for some more local cuisine of gyozas and friend octopus; the Roots cafe for a vegan/vegetarian lunch menu; Yamagami Shokudo for some party sized Gyozas or a delicious belly warming ramen noodle soup; the Head Cafe for a green tea latte. There were a few more traditional restaurants that I can’t remember because their names were all in Japanese.

We were lucky enough to visit one of the traditional outdoor onsens in Hakuba. An onsen is a japanese natural hot spring that has occurred due to the volcanically active country. The locals traditionally use them as a public bathing space and are believed to have healing powers derived from their mineral content. Our next destination, Nozawa Onsen, is full of them – 13 to be precise!