6:46 PM
Today has been a trip! I got to Niseko. Specifically Grand Hirafu. Found out they had a spot for me to store my gear instead of lugging it back and forth from my Airbnb.
It was a bluebird day today - the conditions were spectacular for having "no fresh snow" by Niseko standards. I met a fun Aussie/Canadian couple and rode the rest of the day away with them. Good peeps and definitely gonna keep in touch with them. Incidentally, they're starting a wine import business from Oz to London.
Things went to shit again with buses. Got on the wrong one to the Japan Rail station and ended up having to get another pod hotel. There isn't much in the way of taxis here but I got super lucky to find one from the 7-11 where my bus dropped me off and my new hostel.
For a country that's always seen as technologically advanced and well connected with travel, I find it an odd omission. That and the fact that you still have to use cash everywhere if you don't have an IC card. The line to get off the bus to 15 mins at one point. So bizarre.