Day 22: Tsuchiyu (Fukushima) – Ounuma (Niigata) 204km

We woke up to heavy fog, and moderate rain.  Visibility was barely across the car park (and the temperatures were quite cool), so we made the most of it and laid in bed and watched some TV.  Felt quite lazy, I guess because it was.

We hadn’t really made a Plan B for today, even though last night we were quite confident that it was going to be cloudy/rainy today due to the approaching typhoon.  We wanted to see the Bandai area, but since there was close to zero visibility we weren’t going to see anything (road/cars included).  We tried to formulate a route for the day, that didn’t include sightseeing of mountains etc.  Risa found a festival that is being held tomorrow/day-after in Nagano, so we mapped a rough route that way.  We’ve (briefly) been to Niigata a few times before, so didn’t mind blitzing through.

In our sudden rush to leave (after slothing for close to three hours), I nearly forgot to put the ‘cub back into the car and ran over the saucepan that Risa had put outside to soak (which I moved closer to the car to make us look less like trailer trash).  I could just imagine the frustration/anger/embarrassment if I’d forgotten to pack our motorbike and had to drive back for it…

As we were driving, we kept seeing signs for ‘scenic view spots’ and I felt really disappointed that we weren’t going to be able to see them.  I wish that we could just wait for the weather to improve, but who knows how long that would take (and if it would actually be worth the wait).

Earlier this morning, while reading through Lonely Planet to see what was around, I remembered reading about a town that we were approaching, Kitakata.  I remembered that it was famous for having thousands (2600) of old warehouses and 120 ramen restaurants.  It was lunchtime (and we’d only had a light breakfast), so we made a quick detour.  We were going to check out the restaurant that Lonely Planet recommended (genraiken), but luckily Risa checked the reviews (average was 1-2 stars), so we gave it a miss and went for the most highly recommended restaurant (hasegawa), which naturally was further away still…

We arrived, and as to be expected, it was quite busy.  We first had to put our names on the waiting list for an available table (and wait huddled out of the rain).  It was only 10-15 minutes wait, so not a deal breaker, not if the ramen was going to be good.  We ordered what the waitress recommended chashu ramen (roast pork on top, soy sauce-ish base).  I got the full size, Risa ordered the slightly smaller version.  ¥900 for mine, ¥750 for hers.  I was tempted to order the miso ramen, but thought it best to stick to their speciality.  As is the way with ramen restaurants, our food came in no time at all, and I was a little taken back at the size!  It was huge, though in reality, it usually is.  There was heaps of roast pork, which was a pleasant surprise.  It was tasty, certainly, but it wasn’t any better than anything I’d had previously in Hokkaido.  The base was slightly different, having a slightly fishy tang to it, but it wasn’t weird.

We finished in no time at all, and somehow I was still hungry, or at least I still felt hungry.

We still had a LONG way to drive, and I was already tired, so we didn’t waste anymore time.  The drive was scenic enough, given the weather conditions.  After an hour or so, we started following a large river, that turned into a dam, that turned into another dam, which turned into yet another higher dam before finally crossing over the mountain range into Niigata (and semi-clear weather).  The mountain passes here are amazing, and there isn’t a single time that I drive one and don’t wish that I had a nice car to be able to enjoy it, instead of this giant bus.

More driving through small (and old/beautiful) towns before reaching our base for the night, Uonuma.  We were trying to keep costs down, so we bought pre-cooked rice (¥80/200g) and some instant curry (¥105) and heated it up using the microwave in the supermarket.  It felt so embarrassing to be cooking dinner inside a supermarket, surrounded by shoppers who already stare at me without giving them a reason (other than being foreign).

Onsen, then bed.  I’m having no problems sleeping, as I’m constantly tired.  In fact, I’m so tired that I’ve even been dreaming vividly, which is quite rare for me (though, very enjoyable).