Takayama

By the time we got to Takayama, we were 4 very tired people. Lucky for us, the hotel wasn't too difficult to find, and best of all, the rooms were fairly big and comfortable given the price. The place we stayed in was Rickshaw Inn, one of the recommended accommodations by Lonely Planet. We got 1 Western style and 1 Japanese style room. After the last 2 hotels that we've been to, the toilet in this hotel was to dieeee for!!! It was really big for a Japanese hotel. The other highlight of the place was, there was internet and we think, we were the only people on our floor ( It wasn't a particularly big place, there might only be a total of 4 rooms on our floor). Plus, there was a common area that we could sit and discuss our sightseeing itinerary. And and!!!! There was a book!! "My Neighbour Totoro" (!!!!). Fully in pictures like the cartoon, and story in English! Let's just say, there was a very happy person on that floor that night :D.

As we arrived there fairly late, there wasn't much that we could have done at that time, so we just went to have a look around and ended up at a small eatery on the main street. We initially wanted to try the famous Hida Beef, but the places that we wanted to go to, was already closed. Unfortunately for us, we had a fairly bad experience at that particular eatery that we went to. The service was terrible due to the rude and unapproachable staffs. First, there wasn't much greeting, secondly they got the orders wrongly and we ended up with an extra meal. And they didn't even bother apologizing or saying anything when we told them. Not even a decent gesture, but just shrugged their shoulders and said it wasn't her fault, but the person that took the order's. It was quite a stark contrast to the hospitality of other Japanese people that we have come acrossed, who were so friendly, helpful and definitely not rude even in the slightest!! The only reason the place is probably surviving is due to it's food, which was pretty good. We know that it wasn't just us, or that they were unfriendly towards foreigners, because they were also quite unfriendly to the other patrons in the eatery. *sigh* That was one BAD experience.

The next morning, we started off with a visit to Miyagawa Morning Market. It starts daily at 7am and continues till noon where they sell a whole range of things, which was pretty interesting to look at. The one thing that kept popping up at every other stall was the famous Sarubobo , which is a form of Japanese amulet that grandmothers used to make for their daughters and granddaughters. Apparently it is very famously linked to Takayama, but I had no idea until I was there. They came in many colours for different charm 'purposes' but we think the original colour is red, because that is the commonest we've seen - plus the red ones are the prettiest :).

Miyagawa Morning Market

A giant-size Sarubobo & I

From there, we walked to Takayama's Old Private Houses area where the old building/houses still exist, though quite a number of them were transformed into little shops that was catered to tourist. There was also a couple of shops that sold sake, as we could see the acorn balls hanging on the entrance of these shops. The smell of boiling alcohol was pretty appealing I have to say. We also tried out some riceball looking things which was only so-so. But the walk itself was pretty enjoyable, despite the rain and snow. *It seem to snow everywhere we go, and so it did - except in Shirakawa-go*

Old Private Houses

Our next stop was Takayama Yattai-kaikan, which was Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition. Takayama is particularly famous for it's spring and autumn festival floats which attracts thousands of people to the usually quiet town. We visited the museum and I have to say, eventhough I am not a big fan of museums, this one was quite fun! The floats were magnificiently beautiful and hold so much character. Plus, we managed to get our hands on a English Audio tape which explained everything thoroughly, something that I would recommend everyone to ask for. It makes the visit to the museum more informative rather than just walking around looking at inanimate objects.

Pictures of the beautiful floats on display

*They change the floats for viewing, every few months*

The Sakurayama Nikko-kan was located just next to the Yattai-kaikan, so went to have a look at the display inside as well. The Nikko-kan has a display of miniature shrines and temples of the famous Nikko in Japan. It took 17 years to complete these miniature buildings. We were quite baffled when we first heard that, but when we actually got into the building and saw the displays, we could understand perfectly well why it took 17 years. In fact, we are suprised it took ONLY 17 years! The details of the buildings, the colours, every craving was flawless.

One of the many miniature buildings in Nikko-kan.

We were walking back into town when we stumbled across a restaurant at the corner of the main street. There was a couple waiting outside the restaurant, but we did not make much out of it until we came across a board full of restaurant advertisements - and we saw the shop that we had just passed, had long queues of people waiting to get seats for meals! So we decided to head back that way for some lunch. It was a good decision, as it introduced us to the famous Hida Beef!! A must try for everyone who comes this way! :)

Someone's lunch with bits of beef

Our beef sushi - 1000 yen for 4!!

We were not satisfied with the amout of beef that we had, that we went on to another restaurant which was recommended by our hotel - Maruike Restaurant. It is hard to miss this place as it had a huge cow/bull on display at the front of the shop, and it is located on the main street as well. And there... there we had the best beef ever!!

Our second lunch of the day *LOL*

Absolutely yummylicious!! *grin*

After stuffing ourselves with that plate of hida beef, we made our way to Hida Folk Village, where there is an exhibition of old farm houses, via bus that runs at every 30 minutes interval from the Takayama Bus Centre. It was rather cold when we first got there due to the rain and snow earlier in the day, but unfortunately, the place wasn't covered in snow as we would expect it to be.

At the entrance of Hida Folk Village

There is at least 12 houses on display there, all with their names outside the house. What made the most impression with me was the roofs of these houses - they were really slanted, as they say: like praying hands stance, and they were really thick so that they could withstand the heavy snowfalls. *Again we managed to get the English Audio tape - so the visit made a lot more sense*. There was a part where they said something along the lines of, "Occasionally, a married young couple live separately in their respective homes and only visits their other half at night*. That was pretty funny and weird I have to say! But of course, most of the tape tells us about the history of the houses and other more important bits :P.

Outside Maeda House

The largest house in the Village is the Taguchi House as for several generations, the family was the head of the village. Therefore their room arrangements are catered for that, as in most of their rooms have sliding doors that are removable should they need to hold a meeting in the house. The other house that made an impression was the Maeda House, which was one of the more luxurious houses - it was owned by a wealthy timber dealer.

In the village as well, there was a rice paddy where they are planted in a circular method, and not the usual lined method that we see. It is apparently a method unique to Hida - the reason for it, I cannot remember. We also each had a turn at the 'wishing bell' next to Hozumi House. I think the sequence of it was, make a wish at the edge of the platform, and then ring the bell after that. That was pretty fun, though I don't think I rang the bell loud enough!! :( .

After about an hour or so, we made our way back to the town centre to collect our bags before moving on to Shirakawa-go. As we were walking back to the hotel, we stumbled across another temple next to the main street, which I think is the Nara-Period State-Supported Temples - which had a lot of sarubobos hung outside the temple, whereas at other temples, people tied papers on to them instead of the dolls.

The pagoda

Statue in the temple's grounds.