The other side
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Takayama, Chubu, Japan
For over two weeks we have been travelling mostly to cities large and not so large and are having to search each day for all the beautiful things we are discovering here . Finally we are faced with natural beauty spread out before us and in abundance.
After about twenty minutes on the Shinkansen travelling from Kanazawa to Toyama we board a limited express train bound for Takayama in the Japanese Alps. Almost instantly the scene turns to deep green forest and the rolling hills turn to towering peaks. The rivers are wide, shallow and rocky. We immediatlely make the comparison to New Zealand's South Island. As we move closer to the Alps we catch glimpses of majestic peaks still partially covered with snow even though its only days away from the beginning of summer.
The journey continues for about an hour and a half. We haven't taken many train journeys in all our travels but we are thinking that this must be right up there with the best. The scene becomes less comparable to New Zealand and more like the Swiss Alps. The peaks tower at impossible angles and the rivers are wide, deep and azure blue. Instead of wooden chalets with potted flowers though we see steep tiled rooves and topiary gardens .
We arrive in Takayama to find a quaint town surrounded by mountains. Its is immediately evident that the population has swollen significantly with the arrival of hundreds of summer tourists. We are a little tired of this scenario but not to worry as our destination is not Takayama itself but an onsen town in the hills about fifty kilometres east. And for another change of pace we will be driving in our own hire car rather than travelling by train. It will be a welcome respite from the constant boarding and disembarking of trains with a fifteen kilo suitcase.
The journey past Takayama continues to be enjoyable. The scenery is dramatic and picturesque. Our resting place for the night is a traditional ryokan next to a cascading river. Our rooms are very basic but most traditional rooms are fairly minimalistic anyway. All the best rooms have been booked out by a group of older Japanese men travelling mostly solo but a few of them are accompanied by their wives . As we arrive we see a parade of them in matching yakutas making their way to the outdoor onsen. At dinner it becomes apparent that they are celebrating a specific event but we are not too sure what the occasion is. Whatever it is the dining room takes on a festive air. Our kaiseki dinner includes a huge variety of dishes. We start with a sweet sake aperitif and finish with a whole skwered fish which tastes delicious but nobody seems to know quite how to eat it including most of the Japanese men.
We head for the outdooer onsen after dinner in the hope we will have it pretty much to ourselves which we do. There are so many protocols which were very carefully explained to us by the friendly hotel staff but we still prefer no witnesses as we bumble our way through. Soaking in the steamy water under the stars is idyllic and we soon forget about the regimen and pretty much everything else for that matter. Now I know what all the fuss was about. There is something just a little bit magical about this.
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2025-02-09