Hirayunomori Takayama

... and some old relics dating back to before the Jomon period (each period in Japanese history is marked by the Emperor who reigned at the time. Even today official dates and many business transactions are marked by the year of the Emperor – we are in the 21st year of the current Emperor, Akithio) It is located in the Japanese Alps and called “the roof of Japan.” It is surrounded by beauty and natural hot springs.

We did some shopping in the little old part of ...

... mountain views during the train ride.

After about a three hour ride, we arrive in Matsumoto. A fairly suburban area with the main road leading to the castle. It was here where I started noticing the decorative manhole covers. My guidebook mentioned about these elaborate sewer covers. What country does this?! I actually saw one near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo but this one was colorful (see photo below). So starts my collection ...

We travelled from Tokyo on the super high speed clean shiny amazing shikansen trains run by japanese rail who, outside Japan, offer the JR Railpass- a discount pass only available to tourists abroad that offers unlimited travel on the shiansen and train network for 7, 14 or 21 days- invaluable if you want to see as much as possible in a short space of time.

After arriving at our ryokan in Takayama, Erin ran through the basic ettiquette of the onsens- red curtain ...

Settling in in Matsumoto. Spent about 4 1/2 hours on trains today, slow one from Nikko to Utsunomiya, a shinkansen to Omiya, another shinkansen to Nagano, then another slow train to Matsumoto. Signs of civilization at the Matsumoto station - a Starbucks!

Hoping that I can find the castle tomorrow. The ryokan has bicycles to lend, so I'm going to try and ...

... ville. Je suis tombee un peu par hasard sur une galerie marchande ou les jeunes branches de Tokyo vont s'habiller. Si j'habitais a Tokyo, c'est sur que j'y retournerais. Je me suis toutefois fait un peu snober par les vendeuses parce que j'avais clairement l'air d'une touriste. Il pleuvait tellement que je n'avais pas le choix que de me promener en running. J'ai aussi essayer d'aller au cinema mais j'avais vu les films qui ...

... or writing down) it’s name, apparently—not in my notes.] Sorry.

Made it back to the train/bus station and inquired about tickets to Hida-no-Sato. It was about 2.45 then and I noticed the bus was scheduled to return at 4.15. Concerned, I asked the lady at the counter if we would have enough time to see the village. “Oh yes,” she said. “Enough time.” Very reassuring.
Takayama, Chubu, Japan chrisfite

... the citys 1500 dollar a month is a average income by now...
and a lot of people do stupid jobs...in a fuelstation you have a lot of people for giving you the bills, filling your tank, wiping your windscreen...same same for building sites on the road ..always people with flags who say you what you can see yourself...even in supermarketparkingspaces you have guys stopping the pedestrians like we have it for small school children...
ah, and the screming guys outside the ...

... filled with shops and food vendors, and that is where I found lunch. Im not sure what I had; some compressed deep-fried rice thing on a stick, some doughy/chewy balls on a stick that I wonder might have been squid balls (but for 60 yen I doubt it though), another deep-fried battered thing, not on a stick that I think was pork. I also went to a sweet speciality shop and bought one wagashi; this one was a strawberry covered in anko, azuki-bean ...

In Nagoya, with Phil and Yaz, we ended up browsing different kind of Japanese pubs and we forgot all about pericura :( The next day we got up quite early to catch a train to Takayama, we are going back to the Japanese Alps, but this time on the other side! We visited an old village and it snowed all day...it was magical!

... part of the first day wandering the trail of these. Check out the picture of Dan and Jimmy - fully templed out! We didnt see much of the nightlife however there is a very smart Karaoke house that is both cheap and BYO drinks! Dont find those in the big smoke! Hida-no-Sato is a large open air museum in the hills of Takayama and shows traditional houses with thathed rooves as well as Japanese demonstrating folk arts and crafts. The ...