Gorges, Caucasians and Good Vibes for everyone

First I'd like to extend a hearty welcome to my old buddy Bitter Chris who is currently taking the country by storm from the insanity which is its capital city-I hope Tokyo can handle his antics.
In attempts to enrich myself within my local surroundings, i.e. save money, I stayed in Toyama-ken for the weekend. I dunno what was in the water, but everyone was in a terrific mood everywhere I went. Will decided to come up and Friday night we met up with some folks at a mountain lodge place for some dinner. The place was way cool, complete with shamisen action by the owner's son. The owner showed me her ceramics studio, which was incredibly cool with lots of kilns and tons of space. I'm going to try to go back up there so she can show me some stuff. She even gave Will a pretty bowl. (Insert several homemade White Russians here.)
Saturday we headed to the Kurobe Gorge for excitement. Not really knowing what to expect, we hopped on the open air train armed with nothing but the meager clothing we had on, caramel corn and that sake that heats itself up in the can. The leaves are all changing, and it was really beautiful. Let me also add that it was the coldest I've been in a long time. On the way back we scored spots in the closed train, complete with heated seats. Went to a local place to eat and were given a bunch of persimmons from a sweet old man who hates planes, boats, and the monkeys who steal his persimmons. (Cue more White Russians.)
Sunday I saw Will off in Toyama after walking around a bit. The weather was great. A good weekend for sure.

Unazuki.

I wish, I wish I had another delicious fish.

Damn, what a dam!

You know it's cold when I'll drink sake to stay warm.

I think they should use this picture to sell more cocoa.

This isn't one, but there were lots of monkey bridges.

Really friggin' cold.

Mine.

Toyama Castle.