Day 11 In Japan : On The Train Again

Day 10 was spent relaxing in a Japanese Inn called Uematsuya and dipping countless of times in the onsens. The next day, fter checking out from Uematsuya, it was time for us to head back to Tokyo. From Bessho Onsen, we got on the Ueda Electric Railways train again for a leisurely ride to Ueda Station.

The electric train on Ueda line to/from Bessho Onsen. This train had a retro vibe to it, and look different from the train we took the day earlier from Ueda Station. Compare it here.

Checking out the shinkansen train schedule when we got to Ueda Station, we decided against taking one because of the waiting time and opted to ride on one of the train on the Shinano Railways to Karuizawa instead. 

We got ourselves a JR East Special pass for this trip, and using this pass we got to travel only JR East lines, but also Izu Kyuko lines, Hokuetsu Kyuko Railway Hokuhoku Lines, Tobu Railway and in Nagano (where Bessho Onsen is located) the pass also covers Shinano Electric Railways, Nagano Electric Railways, Ueda Electric Railways and Matsumoto Electric Railways.

Actually, the plan for Day 11 was to go on the Nagaden (Nagano Electric Railways train - above photo) but as luck would have it, it was raining rather heavily that day. With the temperature dropping drasctically from previous day and us not being prepared for the cold weather (think of temperature change from 33degrees to 16degrees in a day); the thought of braving the cold weather outdoors didn't seem  attractive for us, so we decided to make a stop at Karuizawa instead.

Brrrr.... it sure was cold that day. This was the day the weather drops almost half and enter the autumn mode. We were there for a few hours, shopping at Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza and enjoying free food samples at one of the shops there.

We were a bit naughty that day. Not armed with umbrellas and going outdoors on a rainy day, it was really difficult for us to move around. What we did was, we nicked a couple of umbrellas from Prince Hotel Karuizawa's umbrella stand at Karuizawa station and used it for our own convenience. Yup, the hotel has an umbrella stand for their guests to return the hotel's umbrella after they use it and there were plenty of umbrellas there. Sorry Prince Hotel! I know we are not your customer but we are desperate!