After Tokyo we went to Toyama for a few days. After all the planning we did sitting in northern Michigan back in July, we actually forgot why we planned to go to Toyama. We think maybe it was a stopover before moving on to Kanazawa so we could attend an art festival. We are still not sure.

Regardless, we found some interesting things to do. The bullet train trip from Tokyo alone was awesome. Traveling at 150 mph through the countryside on a comfortable train with a self-heating bento box lunch….Amtrak – take notes.

As has become our habit, we wandered around a lot discovering odd and interesting things along the way. While Tokyo has a very extensive subway system, Toyama has cable cars. It took us a minute to figure out the whole getting on, paying and which direction the car would go. Once we did, it got us to historical buildings, a Buddhist temple, and an interesting neighborhood by the sea with an impressive brew pub that appeared to be in a restored 16th century store house.

Day trippin!

We now know why people come to Toyama. It’s the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route! Running between Tateyama area in Toyama and the Ogizawa area, Toyama is jumping in place for the route. Our destination- Murodo. A train, a cable car and a bus got us to one of the most amazing mountain areas I or Debbie have ever seen. Apparently people hike or take connecting buses between areas and hotels. A few of the hotels can be seen in the pics below. It was a full day of hiking and wandering. Great people watching and even better scenery. After our reverse commute, it had been a long day but awesome day.