Shirakawa-go, Japan: Old Flammable Farmhouses

I guess "Old Flammable Farmhouses" isn't that flattering of a title name for this blog post (or the city of Shirakawa, for that matter), but seriously - it's the one thing that stuck in my head the entire day I was there.  

What It's All About:

Shirakawa-go is a small mountain village about an hour away from Takayama. It's best known for its traditional-style farmhouses, which consist of a thick thatched roof (constructed in a style called gassho-zukuri), some of which date back hundos of years, and are built to be able to withstand the tons of snow the village gets in the winter. Only downside - these roofs are incredibly flammable - you weren't allowed to smoke anywhere in the village.

View of Shirakawa-go tucked between huge leafy mountains

Nowadays, while Shirakawa-go remains a beautiful village to see (the farmhouses really are striking), it's basically turned full on tourist trap, especially after UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site awhile back.  I took a local bus, and pulling into the bus stop, there were at least 20 other full-sized tour buses there already.  Plus hoards of Chinese tourists everywhere. Less than 2,000 locals live in Shirakawa-go, but I'd say the population was easily doubled by the Chinese tourist groups. Not to mention that every other house is a gift shop or cafe or is selling ice cream (no complaints on the last one).

It was worth going for me, because I liked having a day to wander around as I pleased - especially since it was only an hour bus ride, and it was nice wandering around in the sunshine and beautiful weather, with giant crazy beautiful farmhouses as backdrop. But man, Chinese tourists. You will hear more from me on this matter; don't you worry.


Cliffnotes of the Day:

• I basically arrived in Shirawaka-go by bus, and then spent a couple hours walking through the tiny little paths of the village.  Get ready for lots of farmhouse photos.

Large suspension bridge leading into the village. See. all. the tourists.

Seriously though, these farmhouses are so, so cool and old-looking

Those rice fields tho

This photo is one of my faves, but you have zero idea how many tries it took me to get a shot without people in it, especially as two Chinese girls decided to use this field as their own personal photo shoot backdrop for awhile 

The village temple

You can even opt to stay in some of these farmhouses overnight - tourism is alive and kicking here

Example #20382 of how Japan loves themes - Buy a box of farmhouse-shaped snacks??

Another cool Japanese thing - every city has special sewage covers themed after the locale (i.e. Kyoto's manhole covers have sakura blossoms, etc.) Shirakawa-go's sewer covers have farmhouses! Of course.

• There was a short 15-minute hike to the top of an overlook, where you had gorgeous Shirakawa-go village views. 

#villageviews

The surrounding mountains are the prettiest

Apparently Shirakawa-go is also super popular to visit in the wintertime - can you imagine all the snow-topped roofs? So pretty. And cold.

The river that runs through the village (the "kawa" in "Shirakawa" means "river")

• As the trip to Shirakawa-go only took me half a day, after I was dropped back at Takayama's bus station, I impromptu decided to take another bus back to the onsen town (Hirayu-onsen) to spend the afternoon/early evening at another onsen there I'd read about.

This onsen is called Hirayunomori, and it's a combo hot springs/onsen/restaurant/hotel/gift shop. This one is well-known because it has beautiful outdoor onsens.

• I spent my afternoon soaking in every single hot springs onsen I could find in the place. I've perfected my art of onsen-ing so I no longer stick out like a sore thumb, and it was also nice because I'd developed a cold (*COUGH*KARIM, thanks for bringing your hacking cough and constant runny nose from NYC all the way to Japan to infect me), and sitting in hot springs felt therapeutic somehow.

So since you clearly can't take photos given all the naked people, I stole this off Hirayunomori's website. These are all the outdoor pools! All with varying temps. It's seriously, seriously beautiful. Though the water has weird white squiggles in it because it's natural hot springs, or something like that.

Riding home on the bus after spending the afternoon soaking in baths, there was the most glorious sunset. Which I obviously could not capture.

To top off a perfect day, I ventured to a local ramen place my hostel had recommended - Takayama has its own style of ramen (of course), which involves a simple, dark shoyu broth and something different about the noodles. I think they're maybe curlier? I can't remember. But it was delicious, and I sat at the counter so the chef chatted with me and was super, super nice to me and asked me a bunch of simple questions about myself in Japanese so that I didn't feel like a total idiot trying to answer him. <3 <3

And with that, my Takayama mini-adventure was over! I headed down by bus to Kyoto the next morning to meet up with Kate and Mark again for the last portion of their Japan extravaganza! 

I'm so, so glad I was given the opportunity to discover the adorableness and serenity of Takayama and its surrounding areas - as I probably never would have gone here if Kate/Mark hadn't been heading here on their itinerary.  The villages are so quaint, and so old-world Japan - such a different experience than the frenetic energy of Tokyo, or Japan's other big cities. So thanks guys! You get MVP status.

Moment of the Day:

Seated next to an old Japanese lady for the 4-hour journey from Takayama to Kyoto the next day, I was coughing once in awhile - due to said lung illness above.  Partway through the journey, the old lady grabs my wrist and pours a bunch of throat drops into them, while pointing at her throat and indicating that I should take them.  I was basically guilted into sucking on these million throat drops she gave me the entire bus ride.  

She could tell I wasn't Japanese and that I couldn't really speak it so well, but it didn't stop her from launching into a conversation about herself, after asking me the basic questions of where I was from and what I was doing and omg I was traveling alone?? and why I wasn't taking care of myself by sucking on more throat drops?   I nodded a lot like a bobble-head doll, even though I probably only understood 30% of what she said. What I gathered from my incredibly poor Japanese skills is that she's 81 (she said it so proudly, after asking me my age and then telling me I look 20.  I love you, lady), she goes to Kyoto once a month to visit some kind of family, and that she was staying for the weekend. She was seriously the sweetest. 

After the bus arrived in Kyoto, the old lady searched me out while I was retrieving my bag from under the bus and held my hand while saying "気をつけてね" to me over and over (said as a parting, literally translates to "take care of yourself").  She was seriously concerned that I was by myself and had a cough. As if Japan isn't one of the safest countries in the entire world.

Anyways, she touched my heart. Two people, 50 years apart, totally different languages and cultures, and yet we were friends for a couple hours on a bus ride.  I just had to share.

Kamikochi, Japan: A Day in the Japanese Alps!

Kate and Mark departed Takayama for Kyoto the following day, while I decided to hang out a couple extra days in Takayama and do some of the lovely day trips I'd looked up last-minute.  One such day trip was to a town called Kamikochi, which is located in the Japanese Alps.


What It's All About:

Kamikochi's got mountains. Tons of mountains. It's a popular resort town in the Japanese Alps, but it's not overly developed and has some of the prettiest mountainous scenery you will find in this country.  Private transport is banned, so people have to bus or cab it into the National Park - but this helps maintain its prettiness and relative feeling of wildness, which I loved.

Beautiful Japanese Alps in Kamikochi!

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• I had met a girl in my hostel the night before - Almas is from Singapore, and was doing a rotation for medical school in Tokyo, and then taking some time to travel Japan - while chatting, we realized we'd both planned on going to Kamikochi the next day, so we joined forces.
• Almas and I took a 2-hour bus out to Kamikochi - it dropped us off besides some of the hiking trails, where we started our walk for the day.

No, this map of the walking trails in Kamikochi isn't confusing at all

Our first view of the Alps! And they were SO PRETTY

Of course, there were stunningly clear, blue-green waters

There was so much crazy looking scenery. Why, WHY did I not make preparations to film a "Out of the Woods" music video during my trip?

A giant dead tree

The scenery is so different in this part of the world! I'm obsessed

Nature spam

As we walked, the landscapes kept changing, so I kept taking photos.

Look at all the different greens of the trees! LOVE

Almas and I, and a Japanese man's finger

Signs kept pointing us to a famous landmark called the Kappabashi Bridge - and when we finally got there, it was a wimpy, kind of plastic-looking brown bridge filled with hoards of tourists.  But the VIEWS were so worth it!

The Japanese Alps from Kappabashi Bridge

Ok so I know you can't see this, but THERE WERE TONS OF MONKEYS on the rocks!  They were SO cute

A further 2-hour hike took us to this other bridge, that looks similar to the Kappabashi Bridge, but has much, much less people.

I don't remember the name of this bridge. But it was the end of the path, and we walked across it to wind back downstream and return to the bus station.

AND THEN. THERE WERE MONKEYS. SO MANY MONKEYS.
You can't really see it, but this monkey has a baby monkey clinging onto its stomach!

A monkey doing one of those pensive, artistic "looking out" shots

This monkey was nomming on some leaves. UGH I LOVE MONKEYS SO MUCH AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY

And this one is carrying a baby on its back!

I don't know if anyone is appreciating the fact that I deleted like 100 monkey photos already that didn't make the cut

End of our full-day Kamikochi hike - it took about 5 hours total, and I don't know that I'd call it "hiking" as much as "walking on very flat, very well-marked, very well-traversed paths" - but it was BEAUTIFUL and was such a great day in nature.

• On our bus ride home, we had to transfer buses in town known for its onsens (public hot baths), called Hirayu Onsen - I decided to stay and check out some of the local baths, while Almas headed back to Takayama to do some shopping.  Ummmmm I have a new onsen obsession, I think - it's basically public naked bathing in huge, super-hot baths.  It's such a major activity in Japan, they LOVE their onsens (which is weird, because the society is so conservative and then BOOM you're in a room with naked women walking around and hanging out in the same baths), and there's so many routines and unspoken rules and best practices that you slowly pick up over time.  I need to write a separate onsen post.

After I dragged myself home from the onsens, Almas and a hostel roommate of hers, Linda, and I went to dinner in Takayama. At this charming, charming restaurant called Kyoya.

This is the entrance to the restaurant. Are we dying over how cute it is.

I may have splurged on a huge traditional meal set. Because so much beef.

The Japanese lady is cooking my beef in miso paste on a leaf over fire. It was delicious.

Takayama and the surrounding areas are known for a special kind of fancy beef, called Hida beef (think Kobe beef, but their own special kind). It's usually kind of pricey, but it's super soft and delicious and melt-in-your-mouth. My entire meal set may have revolved around tons of Hida beef.

Linda (Canada), Almas (Singapore) and I at dinner

The deserted streets of Takayama at night. I love how far-from-the-world this city feels sometimes.

Takayama, Japan: Dreamy Old-School Mountain Town

After 6 days in Tokyo, my friends Kate and Mark were headed up to the small mountain town of Takayama - so I joined them. By "joined them," I mean that they rode the fancy bullet train, and I ghetto'ed it out by the bus, because it was cheaper. No complaints, because the views were so, so pretty. Sometimes you get lost in big-city Japan, and forget that the countryside is beyond gorgeous as well.

What It's All About:

Takayama means 'high mountain' in Japanese, and is a little city tucked up in the mountains to the north of Nagoya. It's known for having a really well-preserved and traditional old town, with picturesque wooden buildings and small pathways that give an impression of Old World Japan (aka it's cuuuute).  Takayama is also a good base city to access lots of other amazing, small mountain towns.

Takayama!

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Bussing it to Takayama was super-peaceful - there were tons of seats, the scenery was pretty, and the bus stopped at a rest stop every hour or so. And let me tell you - Japanese rest stops are INSANE. They're typically housed in huge buildings with pristine restrooms, shopping, food courts, vending machines, and food stalls so you can purchase freshly cooked delights to go.  I started getting off at all the rest stops just so I could check them out and admire all the wondrous things in them, even if I didn't need anything.

Views of rice paddies and mountains the entire way

And beautiful green rivers/lakes!

• Arriving in Takayama, I checked into my hostel and met up with Mark/Kate in the old town to wander around (they were staying in a fancy ryokan nearby).  Takayama is dreamy - all the wooden merchants' houses and such remain intact and the entire town seems so cozy and peaceful and quiet.  All the shops close at 5pm, so it's incredibly serene.

Little Takayama houses down by the river

And they have the fish kites flying over the river. Takayama is really well-known for some of its annual festivals.

Giant fish in the river. Plus not sure if you can see, but there's a stork standing on a rock too.

So peaceful

• In the mornings, Takayama has two morning markets (from 6:30AM until noon).  The larger ones borders the small street next to the river, and you can find food stalls chock full of local goodies and snacks, as well as cute little souvenirs and trinkets.  All I can say is, JAPAN REALLY DOES LOVE A GOOD THEME.

Takayama's morning market

This is a Sarubobo, a local amulet/doll from the area that is believed to be good luck charm for many different aspects of your life. They are from the Takayama area, and EVERYthing is adorned in Sarubobo theme. You can buy them in tens of different colors (each color symbolizes luck for a different part of your life, i.e. black wards off evil spirits, blue is good luck in work, and pink is good luck in romance), they are printed on everything and available in hundreds of different forms, and they are basically everywhere.

I purchased the world's largest apple ever at the morning market, and it took me 3 separate sittings to finish the whole thing.

And then I purchased a pudding, and the man had pudding hats for us to wear #JAPAN

Takayama's riverside is so picturesque

An example of the old-school wooden houses

• Even just wandering around Takayama's city streets is amazing - the whole town is like a really old dream (the best kind!).

More old-schoolness

Mark and this mascot are wearing the same color

These streets are crammed full of the cutest shops ever

The trio

• After spending the morning walking town, we dedicated our afternoon to a hike that winds through the outskirts of town, called the Higashiyama Walking Course - it goes through the forest, passes by tons of temples and shrines and neighborhoods, and eventually winds back to the city itself. 

But first, lunch! This is a beef bowl with rice.

A very pretty temple to start our walk

Dreamy forest hike - the best part was that there was nobody else around the entire time. So we could wander to our heart's content.

Get ready for lots of temple pics

I like the leaf colors

This bridge is super, super old because they don't let you walk on it. So Kate and I took a photo holding it instead, obviously.

Here is a cemetery near the temples

Zen sand garden

Pretty blossoming flowers!

So, so many temples

Kate and a mini-car, called the Midget. I've now changed my dream car from a Smart car to this one, as this one looks even more fuel-efficient.

Rice paddy reflections

I love Japanese children. Though as Kate pointed out, using a super zoom to take a photo of random children doesn't sound that socially acceptable 

After a long day of walking, we headed to a small sake distillery and each did a tasting. Kate and Mark got to drink theirs out of fancy wooden boxes.

Whereas mine had gold flakes inside it. I was drinking gold, y'all.

This lady is walking the streets of Takayama in a yukata, and I like it.