Country Hotel Takayama

... city, had delicious saki (again) and went to a small private soy sauce maker. It was some of the best soy sauce I have ever tasted – and some of the most expensive too (I bought a small bottle for 780 yen!) The region is also famous for “Hida beef” which is similar in taste to “Kobe beef” but not as well known. We tried to get to a restaurant to taste this beef but the wait was two hours and none of us wanted to wait that long.

There was a great ...

... The group was Mama-san, her sister, one of her friends, the two girls, Michiyo and Meg and Toshi and me – all loaded into the Mano's van and off we went. Toshi and I took the wide back seat and soon we were dosing as Meg drove into the night.

Japan has the most wonderful rest stops. They are nothing like what we have at home – these are little malls in the middle of no where. There are rest rooms, restaurants, little ...

... the bartender spoke amazing english (he spent two years of high school in the u.s) and let us sample a plethora of sake varieties - hot/cold, dry/sweet etc.. until we had all found a favourite. This was followed, as many night henceforth would, by staggering into a local karaoke bar, and proceeding to serenade with and to the locals until around midnight when, to the tune of sweet home alabama, we sauntered home to pack our things for our train the next morning to Hiroshima.

... me laver quand meme.

Demain nous partons pour Hyroshima. Nous aurons plusieurs heures de train a faire. Entre Tokyo et Takayama, ce n'etait que 4 heures mais demain, c'est plus. Je ne sais pas si ce sera avec le train haute vitesse. Je ne vous en ai pas parle mais c'est vraiment fameux ! On ne sent pas la vitesse sauf quand on va aux toilettes. La, il faut se tenir.

Je vous reparle bientot.

Elo xx

... tickets instead of using our JR pass. Big financial ouch. Thoroughly broke, we went back to Banri.

Another fantastic dinner: hoba miso chicken, along with (different) mountain veggies and “+3.” The miso soup had squash in it tonight. Pretty good and also the only miso we saw with something other than tofu or mushrooms in it. Also had seared Hida beef, baby eggplants with cheese (wtf?), tuna ...

So sorry that you havent received any news from us....from Mt.Fuji on, we didnt have any access....We stayed at the World Heritag Cultural Site in Gokayama, which was like staying at a camp.Basically, we have been in a mountainous area...the students have been writing a journal every day - One student writes about our day and at the end of the trip these pages will be copied by the leaders and a booklet will be made for ...

couldn't get to the computer last nite. only have a minute this morning.
took a train here yesterday. it's up in the "mountains", which are like big hills. it's really such a neat town. their specialty here is making sake and woodworking. i think i'll get a few real pretty bowls.
tim said yesterday on the train "show me the pictures of sedona", he was really missing her and he continues to narrate. as of ...

... There was almost no light, as the few "windows" were made of rice paper and there's no insulation. The small fires inside the living "room" areas did not heat the houses. We were here in spring - we can only imagine how cold it was living here in winter. The place was a bit gloomy on a cold gray day, but, nonetheless it was an interesting stop to see old houses. We spent the cold ...

... are quite complementary in getting about and planning travel in new places, with my love of organisation and pulling things together, and her love of the fine print.. for instance re use of maps/directions and the like, where all who know me will know I do NOT excel!! Anyway two weeks in, one new country I had always wanted to visit visited and greatly enjoyed, and now onto a complete change of scenery and culture.. who could ask for more!! Xoxo to all!

... transferred to a local train to Takayama, a small town in the "Japanese Alps." Takayama is known for its woodwork and craftsmanship, as historically many of its workers have have contributed to the temples in Kyoto, Japan's imperial capital. There are many examples of historic wooden houses, and a reconstructed "folk village" of houses that have been moved from various parts of Japan, demonstrating architectural and construction ...