#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 8): Snow Boot Woes x Fruits Parlor Murahata x Kanazawa - Nozawa Onsen x Food village Kongou - 29 Dec 2022 - mitsueki ♥ | Singapore Lifestyle Blogger

Today’s our last day in Kanazawa before we hop onto the Shinkansen to Nozawa Onsen. But first, since we had some spare time before that – it’s time for a little jaunt to Omicho Market.. or so we thought at first.

Btw missed out on Day 1-7? Read them here:

#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 1): Singapore-Taipei-Tokyo x Fish Ramen x Asakusa x Sensoji Temple x Tokyo SkyTree – 22 Dec 2022
#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 2): Tokyo-Kanazawa-Osaka x Kuromon Market x Jiyuken Curry x Namba x Dotonburi x Umeda – 23 Dec 2022
#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 3): Super Nintendo World with NO Express Pass x Universal Studios Osaka x Ramen Dinner – 24 Dec 2022
#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 4): Kimono Girl Adventures x Nara x Ootoro x Sightseeing Limited Express Aoniyoshi x Kyoto – 25 Dec 2022
#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 5): Kobe Steakland x Beef Croquette Shinsekai x Den Den Town x Kuchu Teien Observatory – 26 Dec 2022
#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 6): Osaka-Kanazawa x Omicho Market x Higashi Chaya District x Kenrokuen x 21th Century Museum of Contemporary Art – 27 Dec 2022
#mitsuekitravels | 19D18N Japan Travelogue 2022 (Day 7): Day Trip from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go, UNESCO World Heritage Site – 28 Dec 2022

In the end, woe to me because my snow boots fell apart while walking there, and it became a mad rush to find a replacement boot fitting my budget.

Fortunately we managed to do so and I walked away with these brand new comfy boots before getting a fruit parfait from Fruits Parlor Murahata!

Now let’s board the bus back to the station, grab lunch and souvenirs and all aboard to Iiyama Station! It’s around a 2 hour train trip and you can tell that we were pretty prepared with loads of food along the way. It’s a salad for me with an onigiri, while the mister had an onigiri alongside a bento rice set with tuna and egg. We also shared a corn soup as well as chips as our train pulled into the station a couple of hours later.

If you’re new to Nozawa Onsen like myself, you can take a couple of guides/maps etc from the tourist centre while waiting for the bus. Meanwhile, the Nozawa Onsen liner bus tickets can be purchased outside the station for reference. The mister spent the time chilling at the tourist centre while I was walking around the station to buy some goodies and One Piece stuff for him that I spotted.

He was really excited about this trip btw, because this would be his fourth snowboarding trip here and he has been waiting to hit the slopes for the last two years since COVID hit.. and finally, he’s back again at Nozawa Onsen.

Prices for accommodation here will definitely be more expensive compared to the city area, but still cheaper than hotels in Singapore. Depending on where you stay as well, you might have to share toilets as many of the accommodation options here range from snow lodges, to high end ryokans and Japanese minsu (guest houses).

We booked this particular Japanese minsu in advance called 民宿ゆたか located next to the Nagasaki Slope for around $135 per night inclusive of breakfast and I think it was a great deal for the price. Of course, being my first time staying in a Japanese minsu and the fact that I don’t really enjoy sharing a toilet.. it was actually not too bad a stay.

The only downside about staying here is dragging your luggage up the slopes and it was a NIGHTMARE for me where I was sweating + huffing and puffing my way up. In the end..the mister had to drag my luggage up cos I was just too weak to do so. Also..there are three flights of stairs to climb up to your room with no lift so the poor man had to carry all our luggage bags up and down for our arrival and departure.

Beyond that, here’s showing you around the first level where you can find a small sitting room, a drying room for all the snow equipment/clothes and a shared bathroom that comes with a mini Onsen inside. This is great becos this means you don’t have to go out to the bathhouses / onsens when you have a mini one in your own guesthouse where you can share as a couple/family/group! The thing is that you can use the bathroom from 5-9pm and depending on your luck, you’ll just have to wait for the other guests to be done in order to get your turn.

The second level and a couple of other rooms are where you can find some information booklets, a standalone toilet and some sinks for your usage. Other than that, all other rooms including the kitchen are marked as private for the house owners and their families. This is also where we’ll find our hosts if we need anything from them.

The third level is where all the guests will stay and the minsu can house up to 15 guests at a time in 5 different rooms. There is also a shared mixed toilet with 2 toilet cubicles and urinal. Stayed there with no incidents despite the urinal being located in the same vicinity. All the guests were also very polite and we never really bumped into everyone during our stay there. A microwave, shared sink and hair dryer etc are provided on this level too.

Now welcome to our very Japanese style room with tatami mats, a heated kotatsu table, heater, mini TV, and your own beds that you need to make yourself. It was cozy and sufficient for us during this stay, definitely a very authentic Japanese experience if that’s something you’re looking for during a trip.

Having unpacked and chilled, it’s time to head down to the main Nozawa Onsen village to check out the sights and sounds of what’s available at this place.

Little restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and old school shops lined the main street and you can easily spend some time walking around. It’s not too big, you’ll definitely not get lost here.

Our dinner ended up to be at Food village Kongou, a food court / food hall with a couple of options that I would recommend for big groups and families. You can’t go wrong with the food options here ranging from beer bites to ramen, cheese and Thai food from around 3-5 stalls. We went for fried chicken wings, this lovely vegetable tempura and pork katsu don before heading back to the main village area to pick up some apple juice that they were famous for, and to also sink our teeth into a Nozawa Onsen steamed bun!

And that’s it for this post here for today as we move on to the next day of our Nozawa Onsen trip. What did we do, and where did we go?

You gotta stay tuned to the next post to find out 🙂 Thanks for reading!

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