Hakuba…a winter dream. It might have taken us a taxi, three trains, and a bus to get there, but when we pulled up to that fairy tale ski lodge, the nine hours of travel (and our hangovers) just melted away.
After checking in, we walked over to the section of the hotel where you could rent ski equipment. There were rows and rows of lockers for the hotel guests to store their things in while they were on the slopes, which was handy since our hotel was on the slope, and I mean it was ON the slope. When finishing our run, we could slide all the way into the back of the hotel! I especially enjoyed this because I could have sneaky hot chocolate (read: wine) breaks. Lets be real, I’m more of an après-ski kinda girl.
The views from this hotel were incredible, we would wake up and see fresh powder on the mountains every morning from our window. The hotel also had a buffet that included as much fresh sushi as you could dream of. (Japan: the only place it’s acceptable to have sushi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner- why did I ever leave!?)
For my boyfriend’s birthday, we went snow snowmobiling. It was in this gorgeous valley with snow covering every inch of the mountain and a river flowing through the bottom. Unfortunately, my hands were too busy gripping on for dear life as I tried to keep up with the rest of the group, or I would have taken more pictures. I was sad to find out the snow monkey tour you can add onto your snowmobiling adventure was not available the day we went…but luckily we were able to see some monkeys on our way home!
I’m not someone who is used to being in the snow, and I definitely am no where near being a “good” skier (lets face it, I spent this trip on the bunny slope), but Hakuba was a dream! I know when most people think of snowboarding in Japan, their first instinct is to go to Niseko, but Hakuba really is a winter wonderland 🙂
As promised, a post on Kobe and Tokyo will be coming as well! In the meantime, make sure you’re following @kbrantley on instagram for more frequent travel posts 😉
xx,
Little Brantley Abroad
Thank you for stopping by my latest blog. I love reading about others’ travel experiences. At least you’re on the bunny slope! I like your little wine and hot chocolate sneaky breaks. Great pictures too!
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I love reading about your life!! Please keep sharing!😍
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Aw thank you!
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So cool! I haven’t taken advantage of local ski resorts (mainly because I hate winter, cold and snow), but the scenery is definitely makes it worth it for a weekend trip. Will give it a go next winter!
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I hate winter too! Haha, but Hakuba was an absolute dream 🙂 well worth the freezing cold weather!
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Ya Katie, what a special trip. Now I want to go even more. Thanks for sharing the pics and your story.
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Glad I could inspire you! Thanks for reading 🙂
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Thank you sweetheart for another wonderful adventure to a part of the world I will never see but now I know just how beautiful it is. Gram
On Wed, May 3, 2017 at 5:50 PM, Little Brantley Abroad wrote:
> Katie Brantley posted: ” Hakuba…a winter dream. It might have taken us a > taxi, three trains, and a bus to get there, but when we pulled up to that > fairy tale ski lodge, the nine hours of travel (and our hangovers) just > melted away. After checking in, we walked over to” >
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Glad I can show you Japan through my eyes! Love you and can’t wait for you to read my post on Tokyo!! (:
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