Bachwig travellers: Tsumago to Takayama

Day 6 - Tsumago to Takayama

Takayama

Thursday, 3 July 2014

It was a long journey to Takayama. We decided to get a taxi to the train station at Nagiso. There was a bus that connected but we figured it would be easier with all our gear. So it was an early start to get a 9.50am train.

At breakfast we received our photo from the night before printed off with images of the Ryokan and presented in a origami swan. We then packed up and got in our taxi for the train station. We wanted to be early to get our reserved seats fir the trains but the man at the station couldn't reserve them ( we think that is what he as saying) so we just took unreserved seats which is fine at this time of the year.

We had three trains. One local train between Nagiso and Nakatsugawa, then a faster train (but not the limited express) to Nagoya , the. Hida wide view to Tanakawa. The landscape was spectacular - very green and mountainous and the train track mainly follows a river. It is very beautiful.

We arrived in Takayama hungry because we didn't have time at any of our transfers to grab a sandwich - and there was no food trolley on any of the trains. It was starting to rain a little and we jumped in a taxi to the Rickshaw Inn. We were warmly greeted and able to check in. Even better our room was on the same floor as the entrance - no stairs!! Our room exceeded my expectations even though I had seen photos. These dark rooms are hard to photograph well. We had the biggest room - the Sakura family room. It has a lounge area, table and chairs and a slightly raised tatami mat sleeping area. A nice bathroom and you can UAE the shower traditional or raise it us to come over the bath. Fantastic. No bidet in the toilet but who cares!

We felt like we had our own private entrance as we go down a hallway, past some decorations just to our room. Hopefully this shows up in the photos.

We headed out to try and find some late lunch and that was proving a bit of a mission as most places close about 2.00pm for lunch. We ended up eating steamed buns and drinking green tea, knowing that dinner wouldn't be far away. We had forgotten to bring a guide book or map with us but we stumbled on the old area (which shows how well located the Inn is) and enjoyed a wee browse in this area. It was raining a bit so taking photos wasn't really that easy. We found a small information centre and got a street map and then later on found a bigger one. In there we found a pamphlet about a free English speaking walking tour at 9.00am. We were thinking about a tour to Shirakawa-Go and looking at a couple by the lady in the information centre wasn't offering any help rather than pointing to what we could already read on the map.

We headed back to The Inn via a Liquor store for some wine. We put some washing on and settled in to reading in the Inn's lounge. The lounge is better lit than our room and very pleasant with nice background music playing in the background. For dinner we asked for recommendations and settled on a local pub called Wadu. Luckily we had a map because it had no English signage. There was a bar with bar stools and a room with Japanese seating. Luckily there was also a table with a 'well'. Really interesting food. We got brave with a few dishes and it was cheap and fun.