After waking up an hour after my alarm clock (but still early), I went to the temple to listen to the sounds of the morning prayers. There, I met some old man who started talking to me continuously in japanese, and followed me all the way through my visit. I think he was saying something about big cities needing big temples. On the way back, I had some pastry with a green tea flavored cream. Oichii des yo! Now, I am on the bus to Togakuchi in the Japanese Alps, and enjoying the view very much.
I just had a long walk to some shrine up in the mountain. It seems to be the low season over here, everything is closed. Now I need to find some nice onsen.
So I came back to Nagano, had some soba as my guide says it is a local speciality. Then, I found some onsen in Obuse. First I got lost with the trains, but was rescued by a team of high school girls with thick white socks, then I walked for 30 minutes in the freezing cold to finally have my first onsen experience. It was very nice after the cold (even though there was a slight smell of sulfur - I guess that's normal). I went in twice, also went to the sauna. Now I'm very happy and red like a well cooked lobster.
But enough with cold wether now. My train is leaving in 45 minutes for Kyoto, so I guess I should leave. Bye.
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