Driving in the snow

On the morning of 28 Dec, before it snowed in Matsumoto, we decided to drive over for a day visit to Takayama. We didn't know what snow tyres were and I didn't know there was this thing called snow chains. Our car was rented in sunny Tokyo with normal tyres, and we drove up to about half way into the Alps (Matsumoto is 600m above sea level but the Alps are up to 3,000m above sea level), it began to snow heavily. Of course we were excited at first because we haven't seen snow up to then. We made some stops and got out to take photos and all, and then continued on. Then the snowfall got heavier. The electronic signboard read -6 deg C. Soon, the roads began to be white with snow, with only narrow strips of grey where the tyres tracks were. And then up in the winding mountain pass, I suddenly found the car refusing to stop when I brake. Instead, it skidded about like a swimming koi. Then I knew what real terror was! I could imagine us plunging down the slopes. Fortunately, there was a snow patrol truck passing by and the man spoke English. He said there was a tyre shop in front where we could change to snow tyres. But we were afraid of the price and were by then set on turning back anyway, so he organised for us to push the car off to the side and turn it round. That's a priceless photo of car pushing in the snow above...

That evening, through the persistence of Nan, we managed to get a pair of snow chains for the 2 front tyres at an auto shop for about S$130/-. We will need it if we were to get to Kanazawa, a coastal city on the other side of the Japanese Alps. The weather forecast that day had said it will be snowing heavily the following day. We practised putting it on in the freezing night, and when the time came, we managed it. That night it snowed in Matsumoto. When we came up to our car on the morning of 29th Dec, we found it like this (below)! When it had been perfectly sunny and dry the day before, now, icicles hung below the car plate.

Driving in the wintry landscape after that was like a surreal dream; past tunnels, rivers, forests, cliffs, small towns, red bridges, along roads all but buried in snow. With the snow chains on, we could only do up to 50 km/h max, as the recommended speed for driving with the chains on was 30 km/h. So when it wasn't too snowed over, we took off the chains and accelerated on. We didn't know how to keep the car heater on without condensation forming on the windscreen, so we always kept the windows slightly ajar, much to the discomfort of the back passengers. We had the car for 7 days, and covered over 1,200 kilometers in that time. And for 7 days, we were stuck with only 1 CD; a compilation of songs by Stefanie Sun. We played her over and over again. Boy, do I hate her now! But thanks largely to Nan, it was an unforgettable and wonderful driving experience.

Chup