Yamagata Zao
16-01-2009
www.dannychoo.com Views 115
image ID#5368 Headed off for a weekend break in the Yamagata prefecture located in the northern-ish part of Japan. Spent two days in a hot spring/ski resort called Zao which is a 30 bus ride from Yamagata station. image ID#5369 This is the bullet train MAX which was attached to the train that we took (Tsubasa). Many trains in Japan split into two at different stations so be careful which carriage you get on. image ID#5370 Dropped off our luggage at the hotel and headed straight for the slopes. Its 3,500 yen for a lift pass which you can use 15 times. image ID#5371 A sign asking you not to jump off the lift. Hmmm. Sure thing. image ID#5372 The suicidal slope. image ID#5374 The trees on the peak are supposed to be covered in snow at this time of year. According to the locals, this year Zao only got less than a third of the amount of snow that it usually gets. image ID#5375 The snow covered trees are called Juhyou （樹氷（じゅひょう））and are supposed to look like this in seasons with decent amount of snow. image ID#5376 Snow is still powdery at this time of year at the peak but becomes slushy at the bottom. image ID#5377 image ID#5378 After a full day of skiing n falling down, its time for a traditional Japanese Onsen where you get into a room full of naked men. If you are a man but look like a woman, I suppose you could try to go in the ladies shared Onsen. You need to figure out a way to hide your dolphin though - maybe push it inwards? image ID#5379 Dinner was a traditional Japanese set meal which tasted very average. image ID#5380 Then its back to the Onsen area of the hotel. image ID#5381 This time round however we go and dip our feet in this foot bath. You can just about make out some benches with towels on. The natural spring water is extremely hot and I began to wonder if the meat on my feet would get cooked this way. image ID#5382 image ID#5383 Zao International Hotel is the place we stayed. The Onsen was nice but the rest of the hotel was a bit of a dump and service was crap - would recommend to avoid. image ID#5384 Planned for another morning of skiing the following day and headed off to the slopes. image ID#5385 But wifey done her leg in (bad sprain) and had to call the patrol guys to pick her up - spent the rest of the day in a local clinic. There were loads of folks who were speeding due to the fantastic weather - many of whom broke something and ended up being carried to the clinic ^^; Zao is 3 hours from Tokyo by bullet train and if you really want to get away from the hustle n bustle then Zao is recommended. Are you getting away to go skiing this Winter? I remember when working at Amazon - the folks in Seattle HQ would leave work at about 3 or 4pm everyday to hit the slopes ^^;View the full sized images/comments for this item at dannychoo.com Feel free to join/add Danny Choo and see what else the little bugger is up to in his other networks.
image ID#5368 Headed off for a weekend break in the Yamagata prefecture located in the northern-ish part of Japan. Spent two days in a hot spring/ski resort called Zao which is a 30 bus ride from Yamagata station. image ID#5369 This is the bullet train MAX which was attached to the train that we took (Tsubasa). Many trains in Japan split into two at different stations so be careful which carriage you get on. image ID#5370 Dropped off our luggage at the hotel and headed straight for the slopes. Its 3,500 yen for a lift pass which you can use 15 times. image ID#5371 A sign asking you not to jump off the lift. Hmmm. Sure thing. image ID#5372 The suicidal slope. image ID#5374 The trees on the peak are supposed to be covered in snow at this time of year. According to the locals, this year Zao only got less than a third of the amount of snow that it usually gets. image ID#5375 The snow covered trees are called Juhyou （樹氷（じゅひょう））and are supposed to look like this in seasons with decent amount of snow. image ID#5376 Snow is still powdery at this time of year at the peak but becomes slushy at the bottom. image ID#5377 image ID#5378 After a full day of skiing n falling down, its time for a traditional Japanese Onsen where you get into a room full of naked men. If you are a man but look like a woman, I suppose you could try to go in the ladies shared Onsen. You need to figure out a way to hide your dolphin though - maybe push it inwards? image ID#5379 Dinner was a traditional Japanese set meal which tasted very average. image ID#5380 Then its back to the Onsen area of the hotel. image ID#5381 This time round however we go and dip our feet in this foot bath. You can just about make out some benches with towels on. The natural spring water is extremely hot and I began to wonder if the meat on my feet would get cooked this way. image ID#5382 image ID#5383 Zao International Hotel is the place we stayed. The Onsen was nice but the rest of the hotel was a bit of a dump and service was crap - would recommend to avoid. image ID#5384 Planned for another morning of skiing the following day and headed off to the slopes. image ID#5385 But wifey done her leg in (bad sprain) and had to call the patrol guys to pick her up - spent the rest of the day in a local clinic. There were loads of folks who were speeding due to the fantastic weather - many of whom broke something and ended up being carried to the clinic ^^; Zao is 3 hours from Tokyo by bullet train and if you really want to get away from the hustle n bustle then Zao is recommended. Are you getting away to go skiing this Winter? I remember when working at Amazon - the folks in Seattle HQ would leave work at about 3 or 4pm everyday to hit the slopes ^^;View the full sized images/comments for this item at dannychoo.com Feel free to join/add Danny Choo and see what else the little bugger is up to in his other networks.
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