門前の湯ホテル

A beautiful spring day! The perfect day for a ride.

We set out, about 10 of us, to travel from coast to coast. Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan without touching an expressway. Twenty four mountain passes was the goal. It was epic.

This annual ride always ends at the Monzen Hotel in Niigata. Less than 5000 yen for a night, plus a hot spring and restaurant. These kinds of places are commonplace in Japan, and simply searching for “Business Hotel” instead of your standard Hiltons and Hyatts can save you a fortune on your travels.

What’s this? Homemade shoyu ramen? While I was content on fried octopus and beer, I couldn’t pass this one up. An inquiry revealed that the soup is made in house.

What followed was shocking. The soup? Perhaps homemade, but it tasted like something out of a can of concentrate that had been diluted too much. And that wasn’t even the worst part!