Takayama, December 27 - 30, 2011

We have another sunny day when leaving Tokyo, and we see Fuji-san on our way, or at least the base and the peak of it.

As we travel south, or south-west, we see more powdery patches.

And rooftops covered in snow. The streets are more or less slushy, since the temperature is around zero degrees Celsius.

A bento box to go.

It is common for the Japanese to wear a face mask in public when they are sick.

We pass many small villages. By the way, we are not in shinkansen anymore, but in a local train from Nagoya to Takayama.

The landscape is becoming more mountainous.

A great part of our trip from Nagoya to Takayama we follow the Hida river.

The further inland we get, the more snow and the less sun we see.

And then the flurries start.

As we approach Takayama the visibility gets very poor.

The sleeping corner in our spacious room in Rickshaw Inn.

We soon head out to the post office to find an ATM. Streets are snowy and slick, and we need to be very careful when walking. Something that we have not experienced for a long time.

All people we see are shovelling snow.

We have late lunch/early dinner at Restaurant Maruaki: a salad, miso soups (aaaahhh, waaarrmmmm!), shabu-shabu, and warm sake.

The food is good and well needed. We hang out in the restaurant some more to wait the nearby restaurant Pane et Vino to open at 6pm., but it never does.

We wander around and find an interesting little place called Be-Pub that is run by an older but very athletic guy. Later we learn that he is a local paragliding instructor.

Another thing we find out is that he brews the beers he sells in his bar, Hida Korikori Alt ("arto" in Japanese) and Kölsch. Other customers, most likely frequents, warily sneak in after seeing us, and later they even strike a conversation with us. We talk about Finland, Moomins, and paragliding.

Next morning we head out early. It is sunny (unlike last night) and cold, something like -10C. Eventually the sun warms our cheeks. If you ask me (tei) this is the favorite day of the whole trip.

This is a day full of snow, sun, and temples. We can't keep track of all their names.

First we visit the Hida Kokubunji Temple in town.

The local mascot, Hida monkey.

Then we start the Higashiyama walking tour in and around Takayama.

First we visit Miyagawa Morning Market by Miyagawa river.

Before climbing up to the temples, the walking tour follows the empty streets of Takayama. The tour is not perfectly well marked so we got lost a couple of times.

Entering Shiroyama Park.

Cemetery of Daiuyri-Ji Temple.

Perfect view.

Perfect snow.

Soyuji Temple.

Tensho-Ji youth hostel located in Tensho-Ji Buddhist temple.

The bell of Sogenji Temple.

Entering Takayama Betsuin Temple.

Takayama Betsuin Temple.

At 1pm. we return to town in search for a place for lunch.

We have hot noodle soup, perfect meal for a cold winter day.

We continue on Kitayama walking tour.

It takes us up to Kitayama Park on top of a hill.

We have a great view over Takayama when walking up.

Playground under snow.

From the other side of the hill we find a gorgeous view to the distant mountains. These mountains are from 2400 to 3200 meters high.

More snow shovelling going on.

When back in the inn, we surf Agura for our dinner choice. It is a eclectic Japanese restaurant that serves pizza and also some Japanese dishes.

It is cold outside. A sign at the restaurant door says it is full tonight. We bravely enter the empty restaurant hall and ask for a table. We get one after the server enquires the kitchen. The reason for the "full" sign is several private parties in the cabinets, which are expected to fully occupy all kitchen and wait staff.

"Rolled by hum"? Hmmm ...

We receive excellent service and food is good.

I tiny glitch happens with the wine order, though: we want a bottle of sparkling, but the server brings us an already opened red. We send it back. Another, a supervisor type of guy comes by to explain they are out of the sparkling. We accept the red, which is organic cabernet sauvignon and carmenere blend from Chile.

Agura is located in an old warehouse.

Chef's treat.

Tomato and avocado rolled by hum. Japanese (Momotaro) tomatoes are the most delicious tomatoes we have had anywhere. Luckily for us, they are widely available in Singapore.

Spring rolls.

Shrimp and sweet chilli pizza.

Moomins we drew last night to the locals in Be-Pub.

Later in the evening we visit Red Hill Pub, which have failed to find earlier. Apparently someone from Singapore has posted this card on the male toilet wall.

The next day is not sunny anymore, which is kind of sad since we plan to visit the historic village of Shirakawa-Go, UNESCO World Heritage Site. The village is known for its houses constructed in special architectural style, gassho-style. (the term means two hand joined palms together for prayer)

We take a bus from Takayama. As the bus negotiates its way through numerous tunnels through mountain slopes, the snow fall gets more intense.

In the village the visibility is really poor.

But that does not hold back tourists. We escape the crowds to the remote end of the village.

Small gassho-style farmhouses. The roof type is designed to withstand the heavy snow fall.

Keeping the sidewalks ice free.

We have lunch at Tanakaya restaurant: curry set with noodles and rice, and soba tempura.

We don't explore much more, but walk directly to the bus that takes us back -- we don't feel like spending two and a half more hours in the village.

This is a brief visit, but we can't really see much from the sleet.

When back in town, we stop for coffee and chiffon cake at Greenwich Village Cafe.

Tomi finds at store some local craft beer from Hida Takayama Brewing Agricultural Corporation Ltd (since 1996): pale ale and stout. Very good!

We make dinner reservation at Le Midi (http://www.le-midi.jp/english/index.html), a French fine dining restaurant in Takayama, famous for Hida beef which we plan to sample.

The place is small and quiet. Their food is of good quality, and the service attentive, perhaps a bit too fast.

Salmon Carpaccio.

Hida beef Carpaccio.

For the main course we order the highest grade Hida beef, Tobi, which is also the most expensive one. We are not sure we like it; the flavor is not phenomenal and the consistency is something between fat and jelly. We should have opted for lower grade meats, like sirloin or tenderloin. Now we know!

Next morning starts overcast, but it is not snowing any more.

We have breakfast at Blend Cafe near the JR station. We switch tables at least once because of smoking neighbors. We have OJs and coffee with tomato and cheese toast, and ham and tomato sandwich.

Then we are set to go to Kyoto, but need to reserve the seats first. Takayama - Toyama train is fully booked, so we line up for the non-reserved car, which incidentally is almost empty. For the Toyama - Kyoto train we are first sold seats for 50600yen. After expressing our unhappiness with the price, another attempt yields tickets for 18600yen. Much more reasonable.

We have two hours to spend in Toyama, and have some coffee with cream buns. That is all we have to eat for hours, since there is no service on the Kyoto train.