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Travelog: Karuizawa

Hey! I’m going to share some photos I took in Karuizawa last month (OTL, I hope it’s not too late, but my thesis and job are ganging up on me)

Alright, let’s begin….

Karuizawa is located on Nagano Prefecture. It’s still pretty close from Tokyo and could be reached within one hour from Tokyo by Shinkansen (5500¥ one way, covered by JR Pass, JR east Pass).

I use my Seishun 18 Kippu, so I don’t use shinkansen but a normal JR train which takes around 3 hours.

There are a lot of activities that could be done at Karuizawa. You could find a skiing resort, a big outlet shopping area, and several hot springs (温泉 – onsen)

As soon as we arrived, we went to our hotel in Naka-Karuizawa. It’s only 1 station stop from Karuizawa station. The thing is, the train is not that frequent. Luckily, our hotel was really close to the Hoshino Onsen and there is a free shuttle bus from Karuizawa to Hoshino.

Our hotel’s name is Pension Memoirs. It’s not that big but it’s warm and homey.
PS: The owner could not speak English.

 

It cost around 4000¥ ish per night including breakfast.
This is the dining room
We just dropped our luggage and we went straight to ShiroIto no Taki (白糸の滝)
It literally means ‘white string waterfall’.
You will know why, soon.
We had to walked around 150m to reached the waterfall.
Be careful, it’s quite slippery.

 

Arrived!
Actually, unlike the other waterfalls, this waterfall is very thin.
When you look at it from afar, it will look like a white, thin thread.
That’s why it’s called the white string waterfall.
The water is actually very clean.
And you could get closer to the waterfall.
I didn’t wear a proper waterproof boots and it was so cold, so..
I could not go closer to the waterfall
Let me pose like a model…

 

Oops, just kidding! It was slippery

 

Meet Max, my friend. I really want to push him in this photo LOL

 

I don’t know what is this, but it looks so cute.. LOL
The last bus from here to Karuizawa station is at 5PM.
We had to head back soon.
And after we went to this waterfall, we went to Hoshino Resort Area for dinner. This area has a lot of restaurants and a hot-spring!!
The hotspring itself has an indoor and outdoor part. Entrance fee is around 800¥, but if you don’t bring towel you could rent from them which cost around 200-500¥ depends on the size of the towel.
The onsen is called Tonpo no yu (トンポの湯)
If you watch the Korean variety show “Return of Superman”,
 Choo Sunghoon brought Sarang to this place.
The next day, we went to Kusatsu Onsen.
Kusatsu has the largest natural flow of hot spring water in all of Japan. My friend said it’s the hottest hot spring in Japan. The sulfurous, highly acidic waters have been considered among Japan’s best.
I will write about it in my next post.
As always, comments are loved!

Have a good day!

 

15 Comments

  1. ahh such a beautiful place >.< I'm glad you shared this with us hehe and the first pic looks wonderful and very cozy ^^ ~

    A C Y H O Z – blog

    X

    • Thank you ash!
      Yes the hotel is very comfy 😀
      Have a good day

  2. Nice blog! I hope to go to Japan this year and blog it too. The Onsen is one of my most desired places to visit ^^

    • Thank you for visiting!
      There is another onsen in Kusatsu, near Karuizawa. And it's also good 🙂
      Have a good day

  3. i am so going to Japan. I have to see some of these places

    • Thank you for visiting my blog.
      Yes, you should 😀
      Have a good day

  4. Very beautiful place, we are planning to visit Japan this year. We can include Karuizawa as part of our itinerary 😉

    • Thank you for visiting my blog.
      yes, you won't regret it
      Have a good day

  5. The pictures are incredible! 🙂 Now I have the urge to travel to Japan! I've always wanted to go there *.* I like your blog, so I followed you on GFC 😀 Sadly, you don't have bloglovin^^
    Much love, Jenny
    http://itsmeeejennyy.blogspot.com/

    • Hello Jenny 🙂
      Hope to see you here.
      I do have a bloglovin.
      Will follow you back after this 🙂
      Thank you for visiting.
      Have a good day

  6. Eh foto-foto nya baguuus …. pengen bisa moto seperti ini ..pake kamera apa? DSLR?
    salam blogger 🙂

  7. Hi Dear,
    you mean sunghoon brought sarang to this place call "Hoshino Resort"? as I m from Singapore and I will be travelling to Japan, Tokyo in August. So just wanna know is there any onsen village near Tokyo that you could recommend?

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