Checking out waterfalls, making noodles and packaging sweets!

Day two of our excursion found us hiking through the mountains on our way to a beautiful waterfall in the Shosenkyo Gorge.  We worked up an appetite but had to make our lunch first.  Our instructor showed us how to sprinkle water on the flour to make the dough.  Then, he showed us how to knead it, roll it out and then cut it into noodles.  The noodle is called hoto, a flat noodle that is special to the region.  After we made noodles, we went downstairs for lunch and got to eat the noodles we prepared.  Our last stop of the afternoon was at Kikyoya, a well known sweets factory.  We took a walk through the factory and could observe the workers packaging mochi treats. We had the chance to package our own mochi and take it with us.  Students enjoyed walking around and we went to a half-price area.  Many of the sweets have upcoming expiration dates, so we'll see if any of them make it back to America or not!  Back at the hotel, students had fun in the pool and some went to the hot spring bath.