Things to do in Niigata

We have very good Skiing instructor, Harima san. He is very professional, patient, helpful and cheerful. He help us to get all rental equipment and clothing. We leran a lot from him and we enjoyed the lesson.

Snowboard lesson: My instructor Inue-san (I hope I got his name right) was really nice, really great English communicator, he was really good at identifying what I was doing wrong and correct them, he really know his stuff! I was able to learn everything I need to enjoy snowboarding by my own in just under 2 hours, thanks to his guidance. Accomodation: It really gives you a traditional Japanese style kind of experience. Nothing super fancy, I'd say you can imagine you're living a life of a simple japanese countryman. The staffs are really nice. The only downside is that after 8pm there is literally nothing around the area, the nearest convenient store is 10-15mins walk away, inside a hotel. Overall: I think it's quite a value for money option. You get free equipment rental as well excluding winter wear.

Today's itinerary was packed, but instead of going to the waterfall, we went to Kawagoe Ichiban-gai. There wasn't quite enough time to explore, only 80 minutes. We first went to Hikawa Shrine, and then went to Kawagoe Ichiban-gai, leaving us with only 30 minutes, so it was a bit rushed and we could only quickly buy some souvenirs. After that, we went strawberry picking, which was quite satisfying, achieving strawberry freedom! Finally, we went to the hot spring town to soak in the hot springs, and all the day's fatigue disappeared~ Many thanks to today's driver, Gao Hongmiao, for his great service, friendliness, and talkativeness. I hope to see you again next time.

Trip was enjoyable. There were some changes in the schedule as some places are closed and some are packed with other visitors but our tour guide replaced the itenerary with other enjoyable activities. in the end we still got our money’s worth.

The only downside is that going to Ichiban-gai in the morning was really too early, the shops only open at 10:00, and we had to leave at 10:20. The driver was very nice and sent the location via WhatsApp, he came to pick us up, so we didn't have to walk back. Overall, very satisfied, the driver was very nice, and the kids had fun.