From Niigata, it was on to the local lines, first to Niitsu, and then to a line that wound its way up into the mountains to Tsugawa. There were spectacular views along the way, naturally enough, given the coincidence of high mountains, snow, a clear day and a reasonably expansive river valley.
Earlier legs on the shinkansen lines had included more than their share of tunnels, but here, heading up into the back blocks there wouldn't have been the budget to go through things unless it was really necessary. The twists and turns as the line follows a river valley up towards its source have obvious scenic benefits.
Arriving in Tsugawa, we were met by someone from the onsen, who might have taken umbrage at Hughesy's expressed surprise at the presence of traffic lights at an intersection just across the river from the station. The place hardly seemed big enough to warrant them, but the station is actually on the wrong side of the river from a fairly substantial town that must generate it's fair share of traffic. Not that there was too much of it on the roads as we went through.
The onsen, when we arrived, was a classy establishment, with absolutely breathtaking views across the river towards snow capped mountains. It also offers outdoor baths, one for the gents, one for the ladies and one for family groups that look out across the same vista as the one we could enjoy from the room.
That, at least spares you from the temptation to drag the camera along to record the vista. The view from the room and I speak from experience in this, is much clearer due to an absence of rising steam.
We had two items on the agenda for the rest of the day. One was the predictable session in the onsen, which in this case was slated for eight, a private go at the family outdoor one, which would come after the Japanese banquet. That, of course, was the other, and promised to be similar to last night's, a set of localised variations on a fairly well established theme.
While I say we had two items on the agenda, Hughesy had three and Madam had four and a fifth lurked around the corner.
I'd been close to nodding off a couple of times en route, and wanted a chance to take a power nap, which sat nicely with the first of Madam's additional intentions, which was, of course, to get into the heated waters ASAP. The second, of course, was to get Hughesy into the same setting as many times as possible.