Takayama

Takayama is awesome and very different to the other places we have been to so far. We arrived after a three hour bus trip over the alps. We passed several dams and even drove over the top of one. At one point I had to stop looking down over the edge. We were very high up and it was a very long drop and it had started to snow.

In Takayama itself it wasn't snowing which was a bummer because we were still waiting for it to happen. Our hotel was one where we slept on futons on the floor and there were tatami mats which meant no shoes. It was also a traditional inn which meant shared bathrooms. I didn't mind, you know me, but the others had serious hangups about their bodies and we had to come up with a schedule to ensure no one got to see the other naked. It was a shame because it meant that we couldn't enjoy the hot spring for long. The way the baths worked was you bathed first - quick showed to wet yourself, wash your body, shower off and once clean you could go and soak in the hot water which, I kid you not, had a small water wheel at one end. It was amazing. Dinner was also included that night and it was a huge spread of fish, rice, picked foods, sake etc. I have not eaten so much for dinner in a long time and it was hard, but tasty, work.

After the meal, we retired to the next room over and I cracked open the bottle of sake I had bought. I needed to lighten my bag ya know.... Ceri and Ashley had also bought a bottle and so that was also opened. Poor Mari, our tour guide, could not believe how much sake we could drink.

The following morning I visited a morning market and tried more foods. We visited the only remaining government Samuri building and tea garden - I am now inspired to have one of those. I also went shopping in the historic section of the town and enjoyed the architecture. They have such attention to detail, right down the edges of the rafters and tiles.

After dinner that night we headed back to the hotel and it started to snow. Yay!!! And it was heavy. The next morning when we got up it was to a light, soft blanket of white. Not a lot but enough to make me happy.