travelling allrite

Another day exploring Takayama. The crowds gathered in front of three of the floats hosting marionette performances. They were somewhat interesting, but I guess that an appreciation of Japanese culture and music may have helped. While waiting for the performances to begin we ate grilled fish on a stick and more hida beef kebabs, along with some local pineapple flavoured milk. We then wandered through the streets, stopping off at gallery and craft shops until we arrived at the Miyagawa morning market. Bought some delicious local apple slices, but the vendors had already begun packing up. Ate tempura ramen from a very traditional looking restaurant. Shoes off and up the steep stairs to a tatami room, kneeling on the floor. More wandering, before returning to our hotel to recheck-in. We then caught a bus to the Hida Traditional Farmhouse Museum, more fascinating and beautiful than could be expected. Transplanted wooden houses, some of the str...

Today we said goodbye to Osaka and packed our bags for Takayama. First we caught the Shinkansen to Nagoya. According to the JR office, the reserved sections from Nagoya to Takayama were fully booked. That's not surprising as Takayama is hosting one of Japan's largest festivals for these two days. It was my hope that the Takayama tourist office could help us book some accommodation nearby; I had no hope for anything at Takayama itself. We would take our chances with unreserved seating on the trains. With some time to kill we decided to see a bit off Nagoya. The station area is heavily developed with integrated department stores. Hungry for lunch we found in one of the department store's restaurant levels a place devoted to kishimen noodles, the flat noodles that are a speciality of Nagoya. Thinking that we should try to see something of Nagoya we took the subway to Osu Kannon, a relatively new reconstructed shrine surround by arcades selling leather goods, t-shirt...

Another full day of sightseeing. We caught the 8:38am Shinkansen to Okayama, home of the Koraku-en garden, one of Japan's top three. The garden was an easy tram ride from the station. We entered via the South exit, taking a walk around the reconstructed black castle and across the river. The garden has many facets, from wooden tea houses to green lawns, paths under blooming cherry trees, a tea plantation, islands in the ponds. B posed with a troop of the tiniest, cutest school kids imaginable. We stopped for a mug of bitter green tea and sticky rice balls. From Okayama another Shinkansen carried us to Hiroshima. There we paid our respects at the A-bomb dome and other monuments to the devastation wrought by nuclear weapons. Saddest was the monument to the children in honour of Sadako of the Thousand Cranes. The Peace Museum conveyed the horrors of the attack, particularly for the children. The remains of the uniforms of Child...

Today we were off to Nara, the old capital of Japan. Despite being a separate city to Osaka our train was the equivalent of a suburban route. Nara was gorgeous. We walked around the numerous temples and shrines and through Nara-koen (park), finishing up at the world's biggest wooden building in the Todaji temple complex. It houses giant buddha and kannon statues. As soon as we purchased some of the special biscuits from a vendor we were set upon by the deer that live around the temples and parks. The tried to eat my pants, B's coat and even the map of Nara! We ended our tour of Nara wandering through the old houses of the Naramachi district before catching a train back to Osaka. The real highlight of Nara were not the temples, wildlife or old buildings. It was the cherry blossoms. I now understand why the Japanese worship them so. They are graceful and delicate, a snow of petals falling to the ground. Beautiful. Back in Osaka, we l...