One of the first driving routes you’ll find in any Kanto driving route guide is the Venus Line route. It’s an 80 km stretch of winding road through the mountains in Nagano. Been a while since I went on a long drive and decided to make the trip while I have some time off work. The Venus Line used to be a toll road but I heard that since last year they made it free to attract more tourists. On a good day, the scenery along the Venus Line is spectacular (well, so I heard) perfect for top down driving. But, being off season and all, the weather this weekend will be crap.

(1) Left early friday morning, the Chuo Expressway was empty so it only took about 3 hrs to get there including a long break at Dangozaka parking area (2) Got ETC installed yesterday and it’s cool! And it’s a good thing too cause my roadster is so low that sometimes I can’t reach the ticket machine (3) The start of Venus Line, not that impressive..

(1) Beside Shirakaba lake, the weather starts getting worse (2) Near Kurumayama Kogen, can’t see much (3) Suddenly, I lose all visibility when the clouds move in (4) We reach Kiri-ga-mine and it’s hardly visible because of the fog. I’m sure this area has a breathtaking view when the weather is nice. The place really lives up to its name! (5) I come back to see this NB parked beside me. The driver, a fairly young guy, returns a few minutes later and drives off with the top down! In this weather! What is he thinking?

Wish I had better pics but the weather sucked so..better luck tomorrow.