Drive #2! I felt much more comfortable this time around, getting into the swing of things. It was about an hour drive to Shibukawa where I was meeting A. I stopped by the bakery on the way out to bring her something since she was making us French toast! Her apartment was so cutely decorated and breakfast delicious with a French press. I helped her set up her sim card for her American phone with IIJmio.

Later, she drove me over to Ikaho and showed me around onsen, hot spring, town. We climbed the 365 steps to the top, stopping at the foot bath halfway up to soak our feet. So many cute shops, ryokans and restaurants along the way.There are some spots that show the water rushing underneath the town with its iron, rust color. At the top is the shrine. We then walked over to Kajika Bridge which was all lit up despite most of the leaves having already fallen down. A little past that you can taste the famous golden and silver waters of Ikaho. The golden water was rather warm and tasted strongly like iron as you could tell from the brown rushing river. The silver water was cooler and less iron-like. We took a bath at the onsen too! My first true onsen in iron waters. They had a gold and silver water partition. It was serene with the cold rain falling on our heads while our toes kicked up the leaves on the bottom of the pool. Everything was outdoor including the changing room.

On the way back, I took some more photos as it was completely dark by then. We headed back and got dinner in Shibukawa at a hipster place called Junk Sweets. After A got changed (it was raining hard and only about 45 out), J joined us and we walked there. We had amazing chai tea and a fantastic, huge pizza. J chatted with the owner in Japanese. It’s their go-to place so they know him well. I was feeling good about myself too, because I understood a lot of the conversation. Context helps so much. He even prepared a belated birthday dessert for A with a sparkler! The kindness here, I can’t get over it.