Temple in the Rain and SNOW! 28th Feb

Before today I had thought the weather had been `cold`, oh how wrong I was. Today was FREEZING. It was raining when I woke up, still pouring after breakfast, but I was still determined to see at least one shrine in Atami. So off I went on another bus. The bus driver had to be convinced that I did actually want to go to the shrine, in the rain, at 8:30 in the morning.

--- The Shrine ---

It was actually very peaceful to be there totally alone in the rain, all I could hear was the rain falling through the trees. At times like this I really wish I had learnt more kanji. There seemed to be a really interesting story about the 2 dragons which were everywhere around the shrine. I must remember to find out what it was one day.

--- The Dragons ---

After the temple it was back on the shinkansen and off to Nagano. Somewhere between page 52 and 68 of my book it began to snow outside the train. It was really wonderful to watch the scenery become coated in more and more snow as we travelled higher and higher. Needless to say I took about 80 blurred pictures of snow out of the window.

--- Things you can order in the Shinkansen catalogue ---

From Nagano I took another train to Yudanaka, which is a small town which seems to be famous only for being near the snow monkey onsen. At check-in I met Sarah from London. She is really lovely and we decided to go exploring together and get some dinner. We found a giant statue and a bell that guarantees happiness.

--- Bell Tower---

--- My Traditional Room ---