Kurobe Gorge

Wednesday 25th October (Day 6)

Big day out today …. We are going to Kurobe Gorge.  

We went there last time we were in Kanazawa, but most of it was closed due to a landslide so we didn’t really get to see the gorge in all its glory.  So - here we are with attempt number 2.

Getting there involves a walk to the station, a 40 minute trip on the Shinkansen and a 25 minute journey on a local train.  It’s going to be an early start so we can get to the gorge at a reasonable time.

We grabbed some breakfast at the station …. Me with a coffee and an apple danish and Scott with a coke and chocolate donut thing.

Fortunately the second train station for the local train was just over the road from the Shinkansen station, so not far to walk….. just a 10 minute wait or so and the local train rocked up.

We’ve now made it to the gorge.  

The Kurobe Gorge is a private railway company operating along the Kurobe River.  The railway was originally used to ferry the construction workers from the Kansai Electric Power Company to and from the Kurobe Dam.  The dam was finished in 1963, but since then, the route and the trains have been used to ferry eager tourists into the mountains …. How’s that for recycling…..

Model of the train we would be getting ….. 

The route would take us through 20km of track and we would go through 40 tunnels and over 20 bridges.  A one way trip would take about 80 minutes. 

We started off OK, but as it as warm, I was only wearing a T-shirt, didn’t have a coat or a jumper … which was ok at first, but after the 30th tunnel, it started to get a tad chilly. But once we got to the top station, the sun as shining and I warmed up nicely.  I warmed up even more once we started walking up the side of a bloody mountain ….. 😬

I may have underestimated just how much of an uphill trek this was going to be ….. we only made it half way up and I had to stop….. in my defence, it’s a a bloody big hill, but the views were wonderful and we got to see what we wanted to the first time …. So all in all - a success. 

Back downhill to the station to catch the little gorge train back…. Another 20km, 40 tunnels and 20 bridges ….. and it’s not the smoothest of trains and the tracks definitely need a dose of WD40 ….. it’s a proper bone shaker. Worth it for the views tho.

Sadly the timetables between the local train and the Shinkansen were out of synch so we had about 45 minutes to kill.  Grabbed a coffee from the 7-11 and watched the sun go down over the mountains …. Perfect end to the day.

Finally made it back to Kanazawa for a walk back home….. some food and watch a bit of crazy Japanese TV…. Then bed.  Got an exciting day tomorrow… going to see some Geisha …..

Until tomorrow xxx