Takayama - Japan
Train ride with the Takayama Line
The ride to get to Takayama from Kanazawa, at least in some parts, was supposed to be one of the most scenic train rides in Japan and I can fully agree. In Toyama you have to exchange from the Shinkansen to a normal train. It doesn’t match the quick Shinkansen drives, but the train rides through beautiful mountain landscapes are unique. We enjoyed it fully. You can also continue south till Gifu, but when leaving we went north again, since our next stop was Tokyo.
Of course a hot milk tea and some sushi to go plus some snacks were again a must have on the train raid. We also had a bento box as well. Japanese food is just way to tasty!
Takayama
The old town of Takayama is super picturesque and traditional as well. We enjoyed walking around and looking at the buildings and sites.
Oh how I love Japan and it’s beautiful autumn colors!
Santuario Sakurayama Hachiman Otorii, the area was full of small bats flying around at dusk.
No clue what this building was, but it looked great with the lighting.
Hida no Sato Folk Village Museum
Still in town there is a museum with some traditional houses that used to be built in different centuries in the area. It is a big open area to walk around, with a nice lake and you can also go into some of the houses to see how the people used to live in the past. There are still villages in the area where the citizens still live in those type of houses, but we didn’t have the time for a full bus day trip or more to get back and forth to those places. Maybe next time. But the museum was already great as well to get some impressions. Also the autumn colors did not disappoint either.
This was the interior of a small temple in the museum area. Each wooden roof tile was painted with a different motive. So unique and beautiful!
Ryokan Shitanda
This trip we treated us with a really special hotel. We had a stay in a traditional Ryokan with a Onsen. It was so special! The house was gorgeous and the Onsen super relaxing. We were lucky that we could use the women’s Onsen for ourself as the other guests where a men’s group. The water was from a hot spring in the area.
It was also the first time we slept on a traditional futon on the floor and we were both surprised how cozy it was. From our room we could look at the koi pond with so many beautiful and colorful fish. The owner was also super nice, he picked us up by van in Takayama and brought us back our last day. Sadly, we couldn’t stay very long, I wish we would have had a week or so to fully relax.
The area around the Ryokan was super cute. Not only the koi pond, that was part of the Ryokan, but also the houses and fields around it. We even found a cute temple when walking around in the area. So calm and realxing. It felt like in a different world, especially compared to the big Japaneses cities. I would 100% come back here next time we visit Japan.
