Sarah and I had our first Japan Rail experience yesterday as we traveled from Tokyo to Takayama. Generally transportation in Japan has been extremely efficient and easy to navigate (there is English on every sign, for instance), and this was no exception. Our trains arrived on time, to the minute, and the JR staff was very friendly, almost eager to help us find our way.
Quick sidebar / tidbit for you if you're ever visiting Japan and plan on traveling around the country a bit. The Japan Rail Group allows foreigners to purchase a Japan Rail Pass that is good for use on almost all trains that run on the six different Japan Rail lines. The pricing is based on the number of weeks you want it for (we got the two week pass) and if you are going to see a bunch of different cities, it is definitely worth it. However, you need to buy a pass before you enter Japan and there are only four or five travel agencies in the US that are licensed to sell the passes to you. Fortunately I figured this out two days before we left and the Nippon Travel Agency has one of its three US locations in Secaucus, NJ - so we were able to get a pass in time. If you don't happen to live 30 minutes away from a JR-endorsed travel agency though, you should plan a little further in advance than we did!
Anyway, our trip took about five hours door to door due to our transfer at Nagoya but we didn't mind having a little downtime to read and relax after a busy few days in Tokyo. After settling into our traditional Japanese-style ryokan, Tsukamoto Sou, we borrowed two of their bikes and went for a ride around town. It's easy to see why this is a popular tourist destination - the town is beautiful, especially with the leaves turning colors.
Our room. This type of set up is common at ryokans - just thin mattresses on the straw-mat floor with blankets. We have a shared hot springs bath too...but more on that later.
Paused to take a photo along one of the rivers running through town.
Sarah rode a little bit ahead to pose for a picture.
After our bike ride we went back to our ryokan and got ready for dinner. The local specialty is Hida Beef, which is raised locally, served to you raw so you can cook it to your preferred temperature. Overall it felt kind of gimmick-y but the beef was good so no complaints here - it was a great way to end our first day in Takayama!
The beef didn't take long to cook with a flame like that!
We woke up early today and headed to the bus station for our trip to Kamikochi, home of the "Japanese Alps." Unfortunately, it was raining this morning but we were optimistic that it would clear up later on. The trip takes about two hours (there isn't a direct bus so we had to transfer) and, fortunately for us, the rain was just letting up as we pulled into the park. We went for a hike up and down the Azusa River, ending at Taisho Pond. Even though it was a cloudy (and cold!) day, we still had a great time taking in all the views!
Not a bad view from Kappa Bridge.
Misty clouds rising above the mountains as the rain cleared out.
Found another tourist to take our picture at Taisho Pond.
Mt. Hotaka from Taisho Pond.
By the time we had returned to the visitor center, we were both ready to get out of the cold. We took the next bus back to Takayama, then headed to our ryokan to check out this shared hot springs bath situation. I was a little unsure what it would be like, but it turned out to be amazing. Basically you shower in a sauna then soak in a hot tub 'til you're ready to get out. And because we're the only ones staying at the ryokan right now, shared really means private! Plus they gave us sweet robes to get to-and-from the shower room. Definitely the right way to warm up after a cold day of hiking!
Pre-shower selfie.
Tomorrow we'll explore more of Takayama itself, including the famous shrine walking tour. Fingers crossed for better weather!