Hida Takayama - Day 2

Day 2 in Takayama started off with better weather.  It was actually sunny a few times during the day!  The rest of the time it just drizzled!

I got an early start in the morning and I walked around the town getting some much better pictures than I did the day before in the rain!  I love all of the bridges in this town, they are so pretty!

 Another bridge over the river... this might be a theme of the day!

 I found the morning market.  It was an interesting mix of local foods and souvenirs   I didn't buy anything here, nothing really struck me as being spectacular, but it was interesting to see!

 Another orange bridge - this one is much smaller than the one above!

 This is hands-down my favorite picture from the whole weekend.  Look at the color of that tree!  Someone did a lot of work to have such a nice little front garden.

 After the morning market I headed for the Higashiyama walking course which passes by about a dozen temples.  (Higashi means east, and so this trail was on the east side of the town!)  It started with a long flight of stairs!

 The little path and all of the signs make it very easy to follow the trail!

 An old cemetery in the side of the hill.

 This area was really beautiful, and the colors were so vibrant.

 Peeking a look down at the town through the trees.  The end of the walking path went through a wooded area - I was definitely not wearing the right shoes for that, but it was still really pretty!

 This tree left a nice "shadow" of red leaves on the ground.  After this the path ended in a large park which led back into the town.

 I grabbed some lunch at a little noodle shop - it had about 8 stools on a counter.  In this way, it's not really that awkward to eat out alone in Japan!  I had noodle soup with a soft boiled egg - it was so good and warm, just what I needed!

 Here is some proof that the sun did come out a little bit that day!

 After lunch I went to the folk village Hida-no-Sato, but that was so interesting and I took so many pictures that it really deserves a post of it's own - I will write it up tomorrow!

On the bus ride home I managed to snap a few pictures of the snowy mountains on my phone before the sun set.

The twisty mountain roads were a little bit scary in a large bus, but luckily I didn't have to see any more once the sun went down!

Hida Takayama - Day 1

I'm going to break up my weekend trip to Hida Takayama into 3 posts, because I packed so much into 2 days!  I started my journey leaving the dorm at 5:45 Saturday morning to catch the 6:13 train to Shinjuku in Tokyo.  At Shinjuku I wandered around a bit trying to find the bus station, but luckily I had given myself plenty of time just for that reason!  I found the station, picked up my tickets and we were off!  The highway bus took 5 1/2 hours to reach Takayama, and it went up through the mountains where there were tight winding roads, tunnels, and a lot of snow.  I didn't get to take any pictures though, we were going too fast and it was raining pretty hard.

When the bus arrived I jumped right into seeing the sights that were highlighted on the map I picked up from the tourist information center.  First up was this pagoda - I had to hide under another tower to take the picture because it was raining!

 Around town I saw the remnants of a few snow piles.  Even though it was raining, it took a long time for them to melt - it was pretty cold there!

 I'm a sucker for a nice temple gate!  The lions are a nice touch, I think.

 Walking in the shopping area, I saw this lucky cat.  He was very lucky, he caught a fish!

 There are many rivers in Takayama, and some pretty bridges.  I

 The houses are perched right next to the river.  That brown one seems a little perilous!

 This is a row of shops that used to be private homes - they are a type of architecture that Takayama is known for.

 This is the way leading to the festival floats museum - I wish that it hadn't been so cloudy and rainy, but it is still a beautiful view!

 By the time I had reached the museum the rain had really picked up and I was soaked and pretty cold.  It was nice to get inside and be warm for a little bit.  I listened to a description of the exhibit on a tape recorder.  Every spring and fall there is a festival in Takayama with a parade that features these floats.  There are 20-something floats in the spring and 11 in the fall.  The floats shown in the museum rotate, usually from only the fall floats, but there was a spring float there now too because it's regular storage space was being repaired.

 The floats are very ornate and most were built in the mid 1800's.  They are covered in gold leaf, which was originally to help keep the wood from rotting.

 In this picture you can see the door in the background that they use to get the floats in and out of the exhibit - it isn't tall enough for the float, but the tops can sink down into the body of the float, letting them get out the door!

After seeing the floats I did some shopping along the main streets and then decided I had had enough of the rain and the cold and found where I was staying - Minshuku Sosuke.  Here is my room.  It was small, but nice - it had a tatami mat floor and a low table with some cushions to sit on.

 Here is where the bedding is kept in the cupboard.  There are some futon mattresses and some blankets and a pillow.  After dinner I moved the table aside and put it all on the floor and slept great!  At a higher budget ryokan, they would do this for you, but this worked just fine!

 There was a TV and a heater.  The heater came in very handy to dry all of my clothes that had gotten wet in my water-resistant, but not water-proof backpack.  In the corner with the towels was a yukata robe and an overjacket for the robe.  I changed into these and headed for the bath not long after I got there.  Many people also wore them to dinner.  If I had known that, I wouldn't have worried so much about getting my clothes dry!

 There was a tea set in my room and a thermos full of hot water.  I made myself a nice cup of tea and had some cookies I had bought at the grocery store when I was done shopping.  After I had my tea I went to the Japanese style bath, where there are a few showers in a room with a giant bathtub.  As long as you don't mind sharing with your fellow guests, it is wonderful.  I finally got warm, and I was relaxed for dinner.

 Dinner was really a feast!  There was a common dining room on the first floor.  There were 9 parts to dinner - not shown in the photo was thinly sliced Hida beef with mushrooms and broccoli cooked over a little fire.  There was also some green soba (a regional dish), raw white fish, pickles, pickled radishes, fried sardine (maybe?), rice, miso soup, and a packet of chicken and salmon in a cream sauce.  I didn't think I could eat it all, but all of a sudden it was gone, and I was very full!  It was so nice to have dinner and breakfast included so I didn't have to worry about finding a place to eat on my own!

After dinner I went back to the room and relaxed.  By the morning all of my things were dry, the weather was looking better and George the gnome and I were ready for another adventure.  

Kamakura, Hiking and Daibutsu

For a little while now, I've felt the need to be in nature - everything is so busy here and there are so many people that it can get a little overwhelming.  So, I decided to go on a little hike and see some temples in Kamakura.

On the train, I realized that I had forgotten my map - but no worries, I took a picture of the map outside Kitakamakura station, and it helped me on my way.

My first stop was at Engaku-ji temple.  It was a very large temple complex very close to the station.  It was pretty busy there.

 The leaves are just starting to turn here - I think it will be a few more weeks before they really go.  Fall leaves are called koyo in Japan.

This is just so picturesque!

There were a lot of small statues that people gave small offerings too.  I've finally figured out what everyone does with the ridiculous amount of 1 yen coins they accumulate.  I have been carrying around too many, so I left some here too :)

At the top of the hill was this bell - I forget exactly what it was for, but it was listed as a national historic treasure.

After the temple I set off to find the hiking trail - luckily for me, there were some pretty good signs to point me in the right direction.  

 The path started off paved and went by another temple area.  I didn't stop here, it was much smaller.

 Now we're getting into the good stuff!  I'm glad I wore my hiking boots.  This area was pretty empty, I only came across a few other people, including a small group of trail runners.

 About halfway down the trail there was a little park with a stand that sold snacks, and then a statue further on into the park.  Again, not quite sure what this was about, but there were quite a few people looking at it.

 Back on the trail, I got a nice view of Kamakura and the sea.

 Holy bamboo forest batman!

 I made it the Daibutsu, the big Buddha!  And I finally got brave enough to ask someone to take my picture.

 The Buddha gets gifts of food, flowers and water.  And some birds sitting on his head.

 For an extra 20 yen I got to go inside the Buddha!

 It was pretty cramped in there, but it was cool to see how the plates of metal were put together to make the bigger structure.  This is his chest area.

 There is his head!

 Here is a sign with some Daibutsu facts.  I thought they were pretty interesting (click to make it bigger so you can read them!)

 After seeing Daibutsu, I took the Enoden railway to Kamakura station and walked down the shopping street, Komachi.  I bought a few Christmas presents and had some lunch - oyakodon, my favorite!

I was going to do another hiking trail after lunch but it started to pour rain and got pretty cold, so I called it a day and headed back to the dorm.  I will try out the Ten-en hiking course another day!