Shirakawa-Go

Before getting into today’s trek to Shirakawa-Go, I need to conclude Sarah’s thought on Center4 from last night - these burgers were amazing! I’m probably a little biased since this is the first non-Japanese meal I’ve had since leaving the US, but these burgers are well reviewed and they didn’t disappoint. I had the local specialty, the Hida Beef burger, and Sarah opted for the Quatro Burger (which includes cheese, egg, bacon and avocado). We also sampled a few local beers, though they claimed to have Brooklyn Lager available too – so you know this place is hip! Definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in Takayama and craving something other than udon.

My Hida Beef burger (Sarah’s was too tall to fit in a picture!).

We woke up early this morning to catch our bus to two UNESCO World Heritage sites - the villages of Ainokura-Gokayama and Shirakawa-Go. Both of these villages are known for their thatched, and extremely steep, roofed houses. The weather looked cloudy as we departed, but not cloudy enough for a steady rain all day. Fingers crossed…

Our first stop was Ainokura-Gokayama. This village has 23 historic houses and is nestled at the base of some impressive mountains. Even though the rain hadn’t let up by the time we arrived we were still treated to some excellent views!

Gokayama village.

Jinushi shrine with the “Twenty Day Stone” on the left. The locals say that no matter how much snow falls during the winter, if they can see this stone during their spring seasonal festival all the snow will thaw within 20 days.

A fire pit in one of the traditional houses.

Another amazing view of the village and the surrounding mountains.

After about an hour at Gokayama it was time to head to Shirakawa-Go. This tour was strategically arranged – if we were amazed by Gokayama’s 23 houses, we were sure to be blown away by Shirakawa-Go’s 114 houses, right?! The village lived up to all the hype. Despite the fact that it was raining off-and-on the entire time we were there, it was amazing to see the village up close!

A peaceful waterfall on the outskirts of town.

One of the traditional houses in Shirakawa-Go.

We paused in one of the houses to warm up with some much needed tea!

We arrived at a vantage point overlooking all of Shirakawa-Go just as the clouds parted!

We wandered the streets of Shirakawa-Go for two hours then boarded our bus back to Takayama. By the time we got back to town it was time for dinner and we were happy to stumble upon Heianraku, a phenomenal Japanese / Chinese fusion restaurant. The owner was eager to take care of us – and give us many (unsolicited) free samples of the specials she was making for the night. Our main courses were excellent but the highlight of the night has to go to the sweet and spicy meatballs. Out. Of. This. World! This restaurant is a must-visit if you are ever in Takayama!

Perfect end to the day.

Tomorrow we’re leaving rural Japan for Kyoto – our last four days in a traditional ryokan have been fun but we’re looking forward to a “real” hotel room in a bigger city!

Trekking Through Takayama

Given the quickly shifting weather Alex and I have been experiencing in Takayama and Kamikochi we were thrilled to wake up early with the sun shining outside. We decided to make use of the great weather and went for a morning run through town before returning for a shower and soak in our new favorite spa. Needing coffee and nourishment we found Soeur, a cute little spot serving amazing tea, great coffee and incredible little scones.

I recommend the chocolate chip scone and caramel tea if you ever find yourself passing through!

By the time we finished our breakfast the weather had turned cold, cloudy and rainy. Hopeful that the sun would return later on we headed to the Higashiyama Walking Course, which winds through many of the town's historic temples and other landmarks. The weather continued to shift between cloudy, rainy and intermittent sunshine (as the pictures show!) and though we were pretty cold walking around outside we really enjoyed checking out the various shrines and ruins.

Unryuji Temple.

Alex posing by another building at the Unryuji Temple complex.

The Sogenji Temple entrance.

Daioji Temple.

Alex read that Takayama is currently celebrating the Festival of Glorious Fall Foliage and we would have to agree!

In the garden of the Hokkeji Temple.

Another temple garden. Look at the finely raked rocks!

One of the shrines had hundreds of tiny, intricate paper cranes.

Soyuji Temple.

Ninomaru Park.

Shorenji Temple.

Freezing and ready to eat, we headed to a nearby Japanese restaurant and warmed up with some soup - the curry udon has become our local favorite. Afterward we walked around the historic neighborhood of Takayama and checked out some of the "old private houses" which are really just the original homes built in the town.

Walking down the streets of Takayama.

The weather actually got much worse - it hailed! - so we stopped into a nearby sake brewery and had a few tastings (at $1USD a pop and at 19% alcohol content, we were able to warm up quickly!) We tried to keep walking around, visiting various shops and checking out the crowded streets, but the freezing temperatures and rain made it pretty miserable so we headed back to Soeur for some tea and internet access.

For dinner we are walking over to Center4 for burgers - our first non-Japanese meal since we've been here! Given the local specialty is beef, we are pretty excited...

Chilly Kamikochi

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!