Takayama

Though I planned to stay in Nagoya for two nights, I was really only using it as a base to get out to Takayama for a day trip. Takayama is a small town way up in the mountains, about a two hour train ride from Nagoya station. It's supposed to have some very well preserved old parts of the city as well as some old farmhouses.

The ride through the mountains was beautiful, snaking through tight valleys between towering peaks alongside a rushing river.

Though I had been enjoying the nicer weather after the dreariness in Kyoto and Osaka, the heat was starting to become a problem. I had an umbrella to help provide some shade, but wind sometimes made it too much of a nuisance to use. I ducked into the city streets of Takayama hoping to find some shaded places to walk around.

They have preserved the center of town extremely well, with old storefronts and residential buildings along quaint narrow streets. I think they are known for craft work here, and many stores are filled with beautiful wood and metal pieces.

Many streets still have small water canals along the street edges that still brings river water to residences and businesses.

They're also known for having several local sake breweries. You could spot them easily by the bunched balls of cedar branches that are hung out front, called sugidama. I stopped inside one and did some tasting, picking up a few bottles for gifts. The brewery also had this beautiful little courtyard with a terrace made from wood tiles.

The exterior building also had interesting walls made from what appeared to be cedar and bamboo.

I spent the afternoon walking around town, and also saw some traditional farm houses, but sadly my camera lost battery power later in the day. There was so much more to do here, but the fact that I had to get back to Nagoya, along with the stifling heat, made it necessary for me to leave visiting some of the surrounding area until my next trip. I did manage to get the camera to turn on for a last shot of the sunset out the window of my train on the way back to Nagoya.

That night, I met a few other solo travelers in my hotel's common room. Four of us, including an Australian, an Italian and a Frenchman, all of whom spoke good English, went out and did a little bar crawl around our neighborhood. We tried a british pub, a very small karaoke place where people actually sat at the bar and sang, and a few yakitori places with food and drink. We met a bunch of people, but after the subways closed our neighborhood emptied out a bit, leaving us searching for a place that had any people inside at all! We headed back to the hostel to hang out before heading to bed.