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Tofu,Tolls and Toilets

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I go to check out of the hotel this morning. The hotel was a very up market  hotel with a price to match.  It was a splurge !  However when I go to check out I find the price quoted was per person. Double ouch!  Lesson learned. But at least the magnificent evening meat and a good hearty breakfast was all included. Ditto the onsen experience. Well, as they say,  it is only money after all ! And after all I am in a good mood after having my private parts inspected last night by the lady onsen attendant , having my private parts massaged with hot air  this morning whilst sitting on the toilet. 

And we had had a great evening meal last night. Hey, was that dark coloured meat on last nights buffet whale meat ?  It looked suspiciously so. 

We go back up the road to see if is all closed. It is closed to motorbikes and open topped cars because of the volcano. But we have helmoets as  opposed to any drivers in open top cars !  That doesn’t cut the mustard ! 




Wc see the  thermal activity on the side of the road 





So  we have to go round the mountain rather than over it - 180 slow km.  What a great ride. Three mountain passes , lots of rural settings with paddy fields and fruit trees everywhere. I was aware that we had missed the cheery blossom time. Whoa , slow down, not so fast. In the. mountains  with their colder climates the cherry blossoms are in full swing. Delightful ! 




And the lovely road 

 




We get to the hotel. The booking site said lovely mountain vistas from every room. Well the vista from our balcony is a ginormous carpark for skiers. . The rain starts  just after we arrive at the hotel. It is a nice feeling being in a warm hotel watching the forecast rain start to bucket down. 



So anyway back to Tofu, Tolls and Tofu!  I am getting to like Tofu but it sure is hard to eat which chopsticks.   Tolls are on every motorway stretch - no free rides anywhere. The Tolls are expensive. But it means there is only light traffic on the motorways ( so far ). Now for  toilets. As per my notes earlier on in the blog they  are magnificent. Very electronic, every possible function ( for your convienence of course !) and all signs in Japanese so it is trial and error and let’s go light on the error part! .   All some of them need is a built in cocktail cabinet 

And so ends another day on the road  in Japan 






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