So having enjoyed the spectacular views of the Chuo Alps thanks to the fantastic Komagatake Ropeway on our last free day before Yuko and Terrance’s wedding, we reluctantly made our way back down the mountain, endured the tricky bus trip back to the starting point in Komagane (tricky because of all the hairpins, combined with the small seats and thus my crushing of Ryan every few seconds), and then relaxed by taking in the views and fresh air by strolling around the tranquil Suganodai Outdoor Recreation Area for a bit .
This park has a lot of outdoor views to enjoy, and we found ourselves ambling through the forest walk, enjoying crossing the gorgeous but rather unsteady bridge, spotting beautiful Japanese dogs (which up until now, wasn’t something that we saw very often at all!), and believe it or not, stumbling across some beautifully cared for Volkswagen Beetles of all cars in the process!
Who would have guessed?
Eventually we called it a day on our solo outing to Komagane (it was a Sunday and we didn’t want to risk missing the train!), and once again we successfully navigated our way back to Ina.
There we strolled around the town for a bit, ducked into the odd shop or two, browsed through a second hand store which made us feel like we were back at home in a Cash Crusaders, and then somehow stumbled into a very large adult store which stocked way more weird pornographic material than one could ever believe possible under a single roof!
We did however find a place that offered food to our liking – i.e. meat – and so we rounded off our evening in Ina with a meal at Cafe Gusto! (Or at least, I think that’s what Terrance translated our logo snapshot that we sent to him to…)
