We left our Airbnb around 8:30 after we repacked our cleaned clothes. We took a taxi this time. It rained all night and was raining in the morning so we didn't want to have to wait around at a bus stop with our bags. It was only 10 bucks anyways.
We had a reserved bus that left the station at 9:40 and we grabbed some quick snacks and drinks beforehand. Just some Starbucks, egg sammy, and a pork bun.
Shirakawago is a mountain town that also hosts a UNESCO world heritage site. It has preserved Gassho houses, which are steep triangular roofed houses made with thick interlocking beams, and rope. Gassho is a term that means pressing hands together in prayer and the houses are that shape. The roofs are very thick thatched reeds. These roofs and houses are made to withstand the heavy snowfall the region gets.
The ride there was almost like going to another world. The bus was going through Kanazawa and it's fairly flaylt with surrounding mountains, but then went into a very long tunnel. After coming out we were in smoky mountains, seemingly forest smoking or hovering clouds, really not sure. And after another long tunnel snowy mountain forests everywhere, really amazing.
As we took the exit to Shirakawago, the snow walls on the road got larger, taller than some cars. When the bus parked we got off and put our luggage in storage and went off. There's a road and paths around the grass hut area and along the way various souvenir shops and food stands. The area was tourist crowded although we were there slightly early which helped. It wasn't like we were bunping shoulders, but busy.
Got a few things including our first taste of Hida Beef. We're now in Hida prefecture and like Kobe they're known for premium marbled beef. Had some skewers and they were darn tasty. Had a glass of Hida milk too that tasted like milk. Had some fried chicken that was delicious and a peach squash. Like sprite with a crushed peach in it, very good. We also grabbed some pudding at a place I'd heard about that won an award for Japans best pudding. Haven't eaten it yet so picture will come later.
A couple of the houses you can pay a small fee to enter which we did (for one). And by the way people still live in some of the other houses. In this one it was set like a mini museum of tools used, how the houses were made, and you could go all the way to surprisingly 4 floors. I didn't realize how tall they were. Also we got thoroughly smoked. On the main floor there's a square hearth dug in with a fire going and a kettle. All the smoke goes straight up through the house it isn't vented any other way. So I left with a strong campfire scent on me. Sarah stayed down from the upper levels the stairs and finally ladder to get up were steep.
Lots of Instagram folks around mostly although mostly Chinese based on folks on our bus and languages, though I'm not sure I'm great at identifying the Korean language. So mostly 20 something girls taking pictures of their friends in fancy dresses and high heels. One girl trying amd failing to through snow in the air for a photo of it falling down (it was super wet dense snow and she kept forming a snowball). Group of gals making a little stacked set of their pudding in the snow and 3 of them spending minutes trying to get the perfect pudding shot. Some girl walking with her selfie stick pointed at her while she ate ice cream. All very entertaining.
We left after 3 hours in another prebooked bus to go to Takayama. When we got there we grabbed some food. A place called Mochi Burger had a window in a store and we split one with fries. After we got it a guy came out to marvel at Sarahs hair. He didn't speak English but mentioned it looked like an anime character and that it was beautiful. Amd asked if it was real which Sarah said yes, which seemingly blew his mind. Also pretty funny. We stopped for snacks and drinks again for later in case we were too tired to go out again.
At this point I checked for a taxi and the app said none were in the area. Kept doing that same with Uber which also just gets you a taxi. So we just started walking since we could make it there in 30-ish minutes. Turns out Takayama is absolutely gorgeous. There are lots of places to eat and shop with few crowds. Side streets with old wooden style houses like Kyoto has all lit up. Getting ahead of myself but when we did get to the airbnb the road it's on was beautiful. Hopefully pictures can help.
But, that was about an hour later. We kept making stops to both marvel at shops and sights and to pick up more food. My intention was since we're here for 3 nights to go to a butcher shop for some cheap Hida beef to cook ourselves. So the first meat shop we found we picked up a pair of cuts, 200g each (I went by the price to guess how many grams we'd want) and they cut them for us since he asked if we were doing Yakiniku. Sarahs smart as a whip, if I get confused talking in Japanese to someone she usually knows what's going on from listening and context clues where I'm still fumbling.
Stopped at a grocery store for vegetables but just wound up with some onions and Shiitake mushrooms. And some butter.
So with all that extra stuff we made it to the airbnb, and all the roads have snow and ice so it was a bit of a slushy walk too.
The place is nestled against the back wall of a temple from around the year 1200 so that's pretty neat. But the best part is that the back of the house that meets the temple wall has a bath/hot tub. It is a bathtub but has a faucet with one of those cool instant water heaters, and cover to keep the heat in. We both had some great soaks in it and afterwards cooked up some deeelightful dinner.
That first photo is MAJESTIC
ReplyDeleteThanks man, I was in a little attic space getting my body enveloped in campfire smoke. So I earned it
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