Hakuba Christmas

Episode 26: Christmas in Hakuba with Blaise and Kiara Barnes

This Weeks Chat:

Join me for the season finale as I chat with Blaise Barnes and Kiara Barnes, about their unforgettable Christmas holiday in Hakuba, Japan. From carving through powder snow to discovering the best après-ski spots, they share their insider tips for experiencing one of Japan's premier winter destinations. Whether you're a seasoned snowboarder or planning your first trip to the Japanese Alps, this episode is packed with practical advice and festive holiday inspiration.

What We Cover:

• Why Hakuba is the perfect destination for a winter Christmas getaway
• Snowboarding in the Japanese Alps and what makes Hakuba's powder so special
• Equipment rental tips and why Rhythm is the go-to shop
• Dining recommendations: The authentic izakaya experience at Izakaya Hie
• Après-ski culture: Drinks and atmosphere at The Aperie Bar
• Christmas in Japan: What it's like to celebrate the holidays in a Japanese ski town

Key Highlights

Snowboarding in Hakuba Blaise and Kiara share their experiences hitting the slopes in one of Japan's most famous ski regions, known for its incredible powder snow and diverse terrain.

Equipment Rental at Rhythm They both recommend Rhythm for hassle-free equipment rental, discussing what makes this shop stand out for snowboarders and skiers.

Dining: Izakaya Hie Get the inside scoop on this local izakaya that captured their hearts with authentic Japanese cuisine and atmosphere.

Après-Ski: The Aperie Bar Learn about the perfect spot to unwind after a day on the slopes, with insights into Hakuba's vibrant après-ski scene.

Helpful Travel Resources

Planning your own trip to Hakuba? Check out these comprehensive guides:

📍 The Best Restaurants to Try in Hakuba Discover more dining options beyond what Blaise and Kiara mentioned, from Wagyu specialists to the best ramen spots.

🏨 The Best Places to Stay in Hakuba A complete guide to accommodation options across Hakuba's different areas, including detailed information about Hotel Rosenheim.

❄️ Things to Know About Hakuba: A Winter Wonderland Essential travel information including how to get there from Tokyo, lift tickets, ski lessons, and activities beyond skiing.

About This Episode

This is the season finale of the Truly Expat Travel Podcast! We're wrapping up with a special family episode that brings together everything we love about travel: adventure, discovery, and sharing experiences with the people we love most.

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode about Hakuba, please leave us a review and share it with fellow snow lovers and Japan enthusiasts!

Have a destination you'd like us to feature? Use the feedback button to let us know where we should explore next season.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I chat with expats about their favorite holiday destinations. Let's be honest. Expats are some of the best travelers around, always planning the next adventure, exploring hidden gems, and finding the best spots wherever they go. So who better to ask for travel inspiration? Welcome back to Truly Expat Travel Podcast. Today is my very last episode on season one. And it is part of the Christmas season. But today I have them two very, very special guests, my kids, my children, my my son and my daughter, Blaze and Chiara. And we're gonna chat about Hackabar. So let's get started. Why did you choose Hakaba? Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

So essentially, we went last year to Hakaba, and we're also deciding to go this year again to Hakaba. And us as a family, we do enjoy snowboarding for Christmas and having that white Christmas feel. So we've decided to go back to Hakaba because of our experience from last year. What do you think, Blace?

SPEAKER_00 1:09

My favourite place that I've definitely been snowboarding, which is the reason why we're going back again. I'm actually going a week earlier than everyone else to do two weeks there this time. It's my favourite place I've been to, snowboarding for sure. It'd be up there, one of my favourite places I've been to in the world. Oh, that's a big call. Said previously on the podcast for the Tokyo episode, the Japans. Probably my favourite country in the world that we visited. And Hakuba is yeah, is another example of why I think Japan is such an amazing country. It's a bit smaller than Naseko, although we haven't been, it's a lot smaller. It's a small village, quite busy and quite populated, especially with a lot of Australians there. But because it's a bit smaller and the time periods that we've gone, I think we've turned it pretty alright, pretty alright. So it hasn't been overly busy for us. But yeah, love it there.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Is it hard to get to?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

I think there's a fair bit of information out there to give you plenty of options on how to get there. I know that we we found it pretty easy. It's about an hour to Nagano on the bullet train, and then from there it's about another hour uh by bus. But it's um if you time it well and you uh pre-book things, you can't pre-book the bus. But um, yeah, the the Shinkansen, we got it from Tokyo Station, I think it was, and it was uh an hour and ten minutes door to door. So yeah, it took us about two hours all up, and yeah, super easy.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Would you say it's one of those places that feels Christmassy?

SPEAKER_00 2:33

I think the snow always makes things feel a bit Christmassy, but it's a bit different to your traditional white Christmas, I think. What do you think, Yara?

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Yeah, I agree. I mean, a lot of people don't haven't had a white Christmas before, and I think a white Christmas makes it feel more Christmas, just because obviously you see in the movies Christmas time it's always snowing. So I feel like Hakaba definitely gives that feel of Christmas vibes, personally.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

I think because for us last year we stayed in a hotel, right? But this year we're staying in a chalet. So I do think this year we'll feel a little more Christmassy than last year. We also took our own tree because I don't think there oh no, there was a tree in the in the lobby, wasn't there? Because we took a photo in front of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Yeah, but I don't think I think there might have been a big Christmas tree somewhere, but we never found it or never saw it. But there was definitely some decorations, I think, all the lobbies at least that we saw. Uh we went past in the buses and our lobby as well and had Christmas decorations, so it was it was definitely festive.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Is it one of those places that you have to bring your Christmas presents to, or can you go shopping while you're there for Christmas?

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Definitely bring your Christmas presents too, just because as I mentioned before, it is a small village. So the only shopping that you'll be able to manage to do is ski equipment. I definitely recommend bringing your own Christmas presents unless you're going to Tokyo and staying there for a couple days beforehand. Yeah, I would definitely recommend bringing your own.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Because that's what we did, right? We went to Tokyo, went Christmas shopping there, and then brought the presents with us. Yeah. What about Christmas Day? What what is there to do on Christmas Day?

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Well, obviously, yeah. You go there to snowboard, so you may as well snowboard because obviously all the slopes are open Christmas Day, which is also a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

I guess that I guess on social media where they do a couple of um like Santa snow uh snowboards or skis down the slopes. I've seen that. I know last year we didn't see uh a whole lot of Christmasy stuff, but I'm pretty sure we went out the door at nine o'clock to get up from the slopes by 9:30, 10. So we spent the entire day snowboarding as we did every other day when we were there. But yeah, on Christmas Day we just snowboarded.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Yeah. I think that's the the main focus, right? Is just getting out on the slopes. I I'm wondering how different it's going to feel this year being in a house as opposed to apartments. Yeah. Is it so Christmas Eve? Is there what is there to do on Christmas Eve in Hackabah?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Well, there's plenty of restaurants, restaurants to get to. I know that definitely four restaurants are definitely pre-booked because it is pretty difficult to find them, given it's such a small town. But last year we had, I forgot what we did last year. Did we get dinner somewhere?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

We we actually ate dinner at the restaurant, at the hotel, restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Right, our hotel put it on. I think a few of the hotels do a Christmas dinner, which you can pay to pay to go and and do. There's also a whole heap of like food trucks and even bars and things like that if you're interested in that. I think Christmas Eve is in Hakaba's is actually a pretty good place to be because you can have a dinner that's pretty early, and then you can go for a walk, go get some dessert, go get a hot chocolate, or even go for a drink, and the streets are really lit up, and obviously last year we were spoilt with the amount of snow that they had. So it's quite a cool feel, especially on the uh on the Christmas y front.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

If you haven't snowboarded before or skied before, can you get lessons there?

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Yeah, you definitely can. We did that last year because obviously we all live in various parts of the world at the moment, but we haven't been snowbo snowboarding in a while. So we decided to do some snowboarding lessons, which I think is very beneficial. So they do offer those in Hakaba.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

And your clothes, if you haven't where do you hire your equipments?

SPEAKER_02 6:25

I'm pretty sure you have a couple places, but the main place is Rhythm, which is a store, like a boutique store over there, and there's two stores in Hakaba.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

And do you just rock up or do you have to order beforehand, or how does it work?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

You can order online. Obviously, if you're hiring clothes, I personally recommend to go into the store and try it all on and whatnot because things fit a bit differently. But most of the hotels have an affiliation with a lot of the snow rental places. I know for rhythm, for example, they picked us up from our hotel, took us to the big store. There's there were two stores as Chiara mentioned, and it's pretty simple. I mean, if you don't pre-book, it's not really a big issue, a big of an issue. There is, I believe, a bit of a discount if you do pre-book, especially if you pre-book significantly in advance. But uh it was a pretty smooth sailing for us. I think we all got in. There were six of us in and out, probably in about an hour. And if you don't want to rent and you want to buy stuff, there's also stuff there for you to buy too. So yeah, you spoiled for choice.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

How do you get around in Hakaba? Do you have to have a car?

SPEAKER_00 7:26

No, we sta we were pretty lucky where we stayed, right? We we could walk. We stayed next to the Nakayama slope, which is on the western side of Hapo, in Hapo, and we were pretty lucky. But all the hotels pretty much have free shuttles that take you around to all the slopes. Now, in in Hakaba, there is ten different mountains you can get to. Some are definitely much further than others, but all of them you have access to a free shuttle, which you can literally just walk down the road, jump on it. There's buses that stop everywhere. Um you just gotta figure out where they're going to, and it's yeah, it's pretty easy and free, which is the main thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

So with the restaurants, do you have to can you just rock up or do you have to book in advance?

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Yes, I would definitely pre-book just because obviously, as mentioned previously, it is a small village. So there's not that there's limited restaurants, but there's a small quantity of the traditional restaurants that's you know, if you're going there for that. And yeah, you definitely have to pre-book that.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

And is there any favourite restaurants?

SPEAKER_00 8:29

That is a kaya place we went to with it was it was actually really good. Forgot what it was called. It was I forgot what it was called, but maybe you can link it in the bio or something like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

But um I'll link yeah, I'll link it in the show notes because I can't remember the name of it either. But can you explain what type of place it is?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

So is my understanding is basically Japanese pub food. It's not really pub food, it's traditional Japanese stuff. We had my favourite thing was the Wagyu sushi where they brought you out sushi with Wagyu on top, and then they did the blowtorch right in front of you, which was really, really good. The other places we went to, I think it was a place called Kobea with the the Kobe beef. For those who don't know, uh Japan is renowned for some of the best steak in the entire world. And in a small region down south in a place called Kobe, they're renowned for their A5 Wagyu, and we had a piece of that, and that was that was exceptional. But there is so many places uh in Haku to eat, whether you want uh Japanese or you know, getting uh down to the convenience store or the food trucks I mentioned, or big thing is pizza. There's pizza shops everywhere. Um I don't know, I know we didn't have any, but I've heard from a few of my friends that have been over there that the pizza's actually pretty good there, which is uh you wouldn't you wouldn't expect that.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

I really like that ramen place. It was like that fusion ramen. Do you remember?

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Yeah, the um the Chinese fusion.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Yeah, it was like yeah, it was Chinese fusion ramen, and that that one had a big long line, didn't it?

SPEAKER_00 10:02

And then we that one that one came out.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

But then we were lucky enough when we came when did we go once and it it was had a big line or something? And then we went back and it we were just like.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

No, we we went and the lady said that usually there's a massive line and we got pretty lucky and waited 20 minutes, but she said that sometimes there's an hour plus. Because it's small, like there's only six six people.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah, it was really small, but it was I I really liked that one. Did you keep it? Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

So is there any particular drinks that you should try while you're there? Well, while we were there, they had an April's bar, so it's like a pop-up, and it was sponsored by Verve. So we went there and we tried this brandy hot chocolate, which was really good. It was good. Some other drinks I mean is very famous in Japan, is like sake. It is an acquired taste, it's not for everyone, but I would definitely recommend trying that. And yeah, that's pretty much it. Because the Apre bar you can ski in, ski out, right? Yeah, so essentially it's the bottom of the slope. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Yeah, that was very cool. And then they had like a really big open fire that you sat around, but it does get smoky. That that was the one thing when you sit around the year.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Well, that Apre's bar that is at different slopes around the world. I believe there was one pop-up one in Threadbow this. Oh, really? It was in the Shire. Yeah, my friends went to that.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

I did notice that they have DJs and stuff at that Apre bar as well. Which we didn't go to.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

With a lot of people, snowboarding isn't for everyone, like all day, every day. So there are good alternatives like the Apre's bar, which was a good opportunity for those who you know don't want to go snowboarding all day and they can just like watch their whoever they're with come down the slope and they're just like drinking hot chocolate, drinking some verve, which was nice.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Because that was my next question is what is there to do outside of skiing?

SPEAKER_00 11:53

The one main thing other than snowboarding and skiing that I've seen, which we didn't get to do, is the uh snow monkey tour, which I believe is it's quite close to Hakaba. It's not actually in Hakaba, I believe it's a little bit further out or I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Yeah, it's a day trip.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Yeah, that's um I think that's probably the in wintertime at least, the the main attraction other than snowboarding and skiing. But like if you're not doing that or you're not you're not going to the snow monkeys, there's a as we've already mentioned, an endless amount of um not endless amount, but there's a fair few restaurants you can just go sit at. And I know we mentioned the Aprez bar at the end of the Nakiyama slope, the Verve one, but we also went to one at the top, and there's a couple of terraces that you can also go to. I know at the the top of one of the slopes there was the Oakley Terrace, which you can go up there, you can eat, you can have a couple drinks, and you basically get a view of the entire Hakaba mountain range, which is which is a pretty cool view. Even if you don't want a snowboard back down, you can get a lift back down if you want to.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

So okay. Because I um because Chiara and I are gonna go on the snow monkey tour this time, right? Quite excited. But I I took a day off while you guys were on the slope because I just had enough. I'm not the best snowboarder in the world, and I'd had a few accidents the day before, but I just walked around the town and just took photos and because it is a walkable little town, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:15

As long as you dress for it.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

And is there just one mountain?

SPEAKER_02 13:18

No. I mean, I'll get Blaze to explain it because he did all the research last time for us. And so he kind of researched the different mountains and the different slopes that we could go on and try it each day.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Yeah, there's about ten. So with your ski pass, which you get, you can get access to the individual mountains, I'm b I believe, but uh the pretty it's pretty popular to just get an access to all ten because I don't think the price difference is too much. But as I said before with the distances and the locations of them all, I know that some of them are about an hour, an hour and a half away, but most of them are within about 15-20 minutes. You've got Iwatake, you've got Hapo, you've got Goryu, you've got the 47 Snow Park, you've got so many different options to go to, and they're all different terrains as well. Hapo is pretty good for skiers, I would say. Especially if you're a big fan of trying to go fast. There's a couple of runs that are quite steep. But even if you were just to stay at Hapo, there is an endless amount of slopes. There is so much terrain. It's pretty good. It's not as big as some of the ones in in Europe, but it's definitely big enough for everyone that's in in Hakaba.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Are you going to, because you're staying an extra week, are you going to try quite a few of the other ones this year?

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Yeah, I'll be trying to go to pretty much all of them, especially in the first few days when you guys aren't there, so I can I can basically say which which ones are my favourite and which ones are not for me. There's also night skiing, which we didn't get to do last time, and I've said I want to do this time. I believe that's a gory, yeah, that's that's one I want to definitely check out. But I believe that only opens into from the middle of December onwards.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Yeah, it's also pretty important to note that um it definitely ramps up in terms of amount of people in Hakaba, the closer to New Year's and beyond you go. So it's not too bad.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

We were good. Yeah, we were lucky.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

We got lucky last year. We had a great year. The the snow was, I think it was the first time in in 20 years or something they had that much snow fall. But it's such a snow sure place, Hakaba, and and the second uh Japan in general. So whether you go this year, next year, last year, 10 years' time, pretty sure you'd be pretty, pretty happy with the amount of snow you'll get.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

And if you fall as much as I do, the so the snow is quite soft. So it's a great place to learn. Is there anything you can think of that you wish you knew last time before you went?

SPEAKER_02 15:43

I mean, well, luckily Blaze was there because I would definitely like to research the different mountains because I didn't myself. Because we were like, I to be honest, we were just like following Blaise's lead last time. Good to do a bit of research on the mountains, and I think just exploring the town a little bit more. Like I know we did look like walk into the town a couple of times and go to specific restaurants that we booked in advance, but I think like researching the different restaurants and the cuisines and seeing how much variety there is, I think that would have been good to look at before. What about you, Blaze?

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Was there anything that you wish? Well, anything that you were doing this time that you wish you'd done last time?

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Well, I said the night skiing, and as Kiara said, probably exploring a few of the mountains. I think we only touched, we only did two. But I would say not something I didn't know necessarily, but for those that haven't really snowboarded or skiing ski before, it gets you very, very tired. I think we were all in bed every night by probably 8 30, 9 o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

And I had I had lots of bruises. The one thing I wish I had done is take advantage of the on-sene that was in our hotel. I think that would have been really nice after a long day of of um snowboarding because I just I ended up just having a bath instead. I mean, that hotel we stayed at, which I'll put in the show notes, I can't think of the name of it. That oh, what's the n- Actually, you might know the name of the place.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Oh, I forgot. I forgot.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

But that was a really good location because you look out your window and it was right at the at the slopes, right? Yeah, yeah, we had one. It was a very good location.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

And there was also like a bus, the shuttle, like a two or three minute walk away to the other mountains that we went to last year.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

So because that's the other thing you should note is that you have a free shuttle that goes around the town, so it makes life a bit easier. But you can also hire a taxi, like a van to get you from A to B as well, if you need to, which is also handy.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Actually, an also handy note. So I just thought of this. If because there's one big rhythm store, it's located, well, where we stayed, it was located a little bit far away. It would have been like a half an hour hike, um, which is not that far, but it was like up slopes and like on the snow. The good thing about them is they helped us get back to our accommodation in a van. So they drove us back after we picked up all our ski gear. Actually, they picked us up as well. And they picked us no that we left the ski gear at the hotel because they have like a partnership and they picked it up.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Oh, yeah. Yeah. But but to go and try the stuff on, they picked us up and took us back, which is also quite handy. But yeah, you're right. We left all our stuff in the at the hotel and they came and picked it up. Which is also very handy.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

Just a side note, heaps of people from Australia, they come and do a like what's it called? They come over for the winter season and they work. So there's heaps of Aussies and heaps of, I guess, expats that work at the rhythm store.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Actually, that's the one thing I did notice. Everybody was Australian.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Yeah. A lot of people do that. Like, it's like how people go to Canada and do um season exit. Yeah, so a lot of people do it at Hacker Bar too.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

So yeah. And and for lunch, as opposed to dinner, dinner you had to book at lunch. Did you have to book as well?

SPEAKER_00 19:09

No, I didn't have to book, but places do get busy. It's also important to know that not everywhere is open for long periods at lunch. I think lunch is probably between 11:30 and 2-ish. You're gonna be pretty lucky. You'll be pretty fine finding some places to eat, but outside of that, it it can get quite tough. That's probably something as well. I would say this time around, I am not gonna waste too much time on lunch. I'm just gonna probably get a couple of snacks and keep snowboarding because it's such a good time to take advantage of non-being on the lift and on the slopes.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Oh yeah, and then not me. I'll be eating. I'll be eating too.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

We've got more days this time, I'm fine with eating. That's true, and you've got an extra week, Laith. I mean, just I don't think I think last time it was just mum, dad, and I eating.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

No, we were like together, I thought we went off pretty quickly after.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Yeah. Yeah. Whereas I'm not in any rush to fall over. Yeah, because you know, at the end of the day, you need to fuel your body. Correct. I'm with you there, Chiara. And I think this also this time, because we had we did have breakfast every morning at the hotel, but this time we'll have our own place so we can take our time in in terms of having breakfast and stuff and and getting out there. Is it ti is there a does the slopes open at a certain time and close?

SPEAKER_00 20:32

It was either 9 or 10am? Pretty sure it closes around 4 or 4.30, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

I believe. But then the night skiing at Goryu, I believe, opened or opens around six, six thirty and goes till about nine. So Yeah, I think you've roughly got about from 9 30 or 9 o'clock till till 4, 4 30. So plenty of time to ski, about seven hours or so.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

And I'd I also recommend doing it like like we did, do Tokyo for a few days, head over to Hakoba, because me personally, I couldn't do two weeks in the snow. I know you're doing it, but I couldn't.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Like not just Tokyo, yeah. Explore some other towns because especially if you don't like the hustle and bustle, Tokyo is very, very busy, obviously being the capital and all. I think Kyoto is more relaxing. There's not much not many people there. And Osaka's kind of like the in-between between Tokyo and Kyoto, I think.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

So this time around we're doing Osaka rather than Tokyo. So it'll be a a good it'll be interesting to see the concept, the the difference or the different feel of whether you should do Osaka or whether you should do Tokyo, what what you prefer. So we can yeah, we can discuss that after the the the trip. Is there if you had a two-day or three-day itinerary at Christmas in the snow, what would you suggest?

SPEAKER_00 22:02

I think everyone, or at least the three of us, can have three very different itineraries. Mine would just be get out and snowboard as much as you can. I even though I haven't snowboarded too many places around the world or uh skied, I've heard from pretty much everyone that's done Japan and done a few other places that there's nothing like the Japanese slopes. So I would just say take advantage of that. Take advantage of the snow when you eat when you're eating out, definitely try to immerse yourself in the Japanese food. It's it's my favorite, it's my favorite cuisine in the world, Japanese. It's um it's so good. So I would definitely try to eat local as much as you can and and yeah, get to bed early because you'll be up early and you'll be tired before you know it.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

What about you, Kiara? What would your advice be? I'd say that obviously snowboard, because like the Hakoba village, when you go there, that's the main purpose. Like there is all other alternatives. And probably just like try new cuisines every night. Just don't go back to the same spot each night. I think try the different restaurants that they have there. Um that's pretty much it.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

And I would highly recommend going and doing something outside of the snow, like the snow monkeys. If you only got three days there, maybe two days skiing, and then one day out doing a day trip to the uh snow monkeys. That would be my recommendation anyway. Does you have any advice for anyone who's heading out there for the first time for Christmas?

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Just do a little bit of research before you go there. Like I mentioned before, like do the research on the mountains, where to stay specifically, and where your hotel is, and make sure you book majority of things in advance. That's what I would recommend.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

A combination, especially. I know that it gets quite expensive closer you are to Christmas specifically. And if I could recommend an area to stay, try depending on if you've been before and you have preferences, but Hapo because of the convenience of the shuttles and and whatnot. And I would definitely say getting there, I would get the Shinkansen and then get the bus. Because I've heard a few people have have gotten private shuttles or private taxis and taking the JR line, and it's taken them five, six, seven, eight hours. I would definitely say get yourself to Tokyo Station. I think they're also going from Shinjuku and get on the Shinkansen. It's an easy trip. Before you know it, you're in the snow, and the bus just takes you straight to where you want to be.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

And with the Shinkansen, so just remember to pick up the ticket from the train station. So, yeah, that's it, I guess, for us. And that's it for me for this season. Uh, next season starts obviously next year in early February. So, until then, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And thank you to my two very special guests for coming on. And I'll see you soon. Bye. So, join us again next week on Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I have another exciting destination in a world that's too big to be left unexplored. Shafana