Hey everyone,

A few of my students had told me of a beautiful lake near Hakuba that I should visit, and last weekend I decided to make the trip out there to see what all the fuss was about. The weather was incredible, and from the train window you could see the mountains surrounding Matsumoto reflecting in the padi fields. It was a beautiful journey and as soon as I got off the train at Inao station I was amazed by the view of the lake and more importantly of the snake that slithered right out in front of me... haha. I managed to get a quick photo of it, and after looking on the internet I found out that it was a Japanese Mamushi, so I was lucky that I didn`t step on the big guy or I would have had a pretty sore foot on Monday morning.



The lake itself was as beautiful as my students had told me. The water was so blue and the green hills all around make it look like something from a movie. It kinda reminded me of Lake Garda in Italy, without the ice cream parlours everywhere of course. There were loads of people windsurfing, fishing and doing all sorts of different activities around and on the lake and it actually felt like a summer day to me.

I walked around the whole lake and ran into so many cool insects including this awesome bright green caterpillar, I`m not sure where he was heading but he definitely knows how to dress up.



All in all it was an awesome day and I`m already excited to head back to the area and visit the other lakes which are nearby. If you find yourself with a free day and you can`t think what to do, this beautiful lake is just a 1 hour train ride away, just remember to keep an eye out for my slithering buddy in the grass.







Sam