36 Degrees North, Lodge Hakuba Japan

I didn’t expect getting around to be so easy, coming from Tokyo where public transport is such a big part of life. The manager at 36DegreesNorth, “Crunchy,” kindly picked us up and dropped us off at the Bus Terminal. The place is about a 10-minute walk from the shuttle buses at Hakuba Base Camp, which go to all the ski resorts in town. If you’re there for a few days, I’d recommend the Hakuba Valley Pass. We had one of the larger rooms. The bed was really comfortable, and housekeeping never rushed us. The bathroom was small, with only a western-style toilet, but the room felt cozy and homey. “Crunchy” and his wife run the place; Mark, who I believe is the owner, stopped by a few times and gave us useful tips on places to go. He clearly knows Hakuba well. There were lots of little things that made the stay memorable. We got back from town at 2100 and “Crunchy” made us a Turkish Coffee and told us about Turkish culture. His wife also offered to book dinner for us in case we didn’t know Japanese. The stay was very nice and worth every penny.