Hiking the Japanese Alps in Kamikochi and back to Takayama

We decided to take it easy today and have breakfast at 8am. 

Packing is always the worst thing about traveling, especially with so many stops that we make. We always have to plan in advance. If we have to leave super early, I try to pack the night before so that theres little to do in the morning. If we have more time during the day in the city in which we woke up, I know I can take my time in the morning. But it still means packing in the morning because we have to check out before starting the day's explorations. This was one of those days. I packed and we left for breakfast. 

We got to the dining room and were led to a table already set with a traditional Japanese breakfast. A pretty large one actually.  Having had one of these before, we knew there would be little to our liking. Kansekei dinners are usually ok, but breakfasts are somewhat harder. I dont know what it is about the Japanese and their tendency to make everything sweet. Tofu? sweet. Eggplant? Why not add sweet syrup? The same thing goes for a few other of their dishes which I could not identify. Normally, we would deal like good little boys and girls. This time however, there was something different in the air. As we walked in, a waitress followed us with a tray of food and took it to another table. On that tray, there were two plates filled with scrambled eggs, veggies, orange juice, tapioca (Im not sure about that one, but it definitely was some kind of white pudding/yogurt). There was coffee on the table, and ours only had tea. Oh, and the best? Each person got two mini Challahs. Ori and I both looked at each other and knew that was not to be our breakfast, but we didnt understand why or how we could change. 

You ask. 

No, you ask. 

No, you ask. 

Chicken.

And all throughout we couldnt stop laughing at how much we were craving a simple scrambled egg and veggies. 

Finally, we asked one of the waitresses. She had no idea what we were talking about, so she called another. The second one eventualy explained that the first morning you eat Japanese, the second n

aight you earn the right to choose a Western breakfast or Japanese. 

Oh. We both said with slight disappointment (more than slight, but we didnt want to insult her too much about her local food). She was so sweet, she offered to bring us challas. You want bread, yes? She asked. Yes, please, we both answered in unison. 

OMG, we are such horrible tourists. Why come to Japan and not eat our food? she probably thought as she brought us warm from the oven mini challas. 

Ok, so I have to pause and vent here for a second. I had to pause my wriing this entry for changing trains. And guess what? Half the entry and the photos and collages have disappeared when I just re-opened the ipad. And yes, I DID save, continuously! I guess Im lucky its the first that this happened on this trip, but seriously? Did it have to happen? And it was such a good entry! I was so descriptive and even wrote an cute little story. And its all gone now. So for the first half hour after finding out, I had no desire to rewrite this entry at all. But Ori looked sadly at me - no entry for today? So, I guess Ill try to rewrite it. But I make no promises about it being cute or funny or anywhere nearly as good as the last time I wrote it. 

So, where was I? Right, breakfast. Ok, we ate our warm challah (and some of the other stuff) and left for the hike. On the way out of the lodge, we noticed a sign on the wall warning of bears and that we should carry bells to warn the bears of our arrival. I was sure someone was pulling our leg - lets laugh at the tourists kind of joke. I felt like we were in the Japanese version of the Family Trap and Japanese Hailey Millis was laughing at us. For those of you who dont know or can remember what Im talking about, in the Family Trap, Hailey Mills tries to make her father's fiance look a fool when she tells her to hit two sticks against each other to warn off the mountain lions. Not only is it funny cause it wouldnt work, but funnier yet, the father later tells the fiancee there are no mountain lions in that area. Thats how I felt. Odds are bells wouldnt work, and what are the odds that there are bears in that area specifically? So we left with no bells. 

Thankfuly, the clouds had cleared up and the sky was as blue as had we painted it ourselves. 

We started the walk east of the lodge, eventually crossed a bridge and walked back west, passed the lodge location (n the other side of the river)

When we got to the eastern point of our hike, there was a little pond. They had made the area into a total tourist spot. There was a cafe and real rest stop and --- an entrance fee! Yup, a 300 yen entrance fee per person to the POND. Ori and I were both shocked and more than a little annoyed that they were taking advantage of the tourists this way - local and international. The entire Kamikochi area was open and free but to see this particular pond they charge. Ridiculous. 

We stopped there by the river and had a Takayama apple (yum!) and recharged for the western side of the hike. 

You like the above shot? That was alomost a very expensive shot. This was taken seconds before I almost dropped Oris phone into the lake under this bridge. Oops. I think that might be the last time that Ori asks me to photograph him using his phone. 

Ensuring that the phone was safe and in perfect working condition, we crossed the bridge and continued the hike. The colour of the water changed every few kilometers. At some point it was black, mostly though the river was a beautiful and as clear as tourquois glass.

There was another little pond a few hours later where we stopped for another break. By this point there the day trippers had arrived and the paths were a little busier. This is the point we learned that the bear bells is no joke. Every few minutes we would pass another local with bells on their bags. Oops. The point was further reinforced when we saw the following sign:

We thought we would hide out at the little pond for a bit and try out the drink I had bought at the convenience store the night before. Japan is notorious for odd drinks and we try to taste different ones. When Ori chose a beer I thought Id try some plum drink. So there we were in the middle of nature and I pop a can of cooler and took a sip. Oy! It was not what i had expected. And here i was in the middle of  nature and now stuck with a full can of alcohol. I looked at Ori and he looked at me and neither one of us knew what to do about this can.  Oy. There was a group of three Japanese who looked at us during this exchange.  At first I thought that they were thinking that im just one big alcoholic. But they pointed at the can and said something. Ori pointed at the can and offered it to the guy. He motioned back in his hands that hes driving but thank you. The other two girls giggled and said "Oyshi" Oyshi? Ok. If you say so. I then offered it to her and she giggled, and smiled back. Woohoo, here you go! I gave her the can and thats how i got rid of the can. She was happy, I was happy. And back to hiking we went. 

Before going on with the day, I have to show you a photo of the little pond. It really was a tiny little puddle, but Ori took a fabulous photo of it. 

The colours were different shades of bronze - from shiny bronze to the old torquoise of the antique variety. 

We went on and just couldnt stop taking photos. This is one of me wearing a Samurai tshirt doing a semi Samurai pose. And no, I was not drunk. I told you, I hardly had a sip of that disgusting drink. Ori on the other hand... no,... just kidding. 

The scenery and the attmosphere was so amazing we were on a natural high from nature.

But wait, it got better. remember how I wrote earlier that our bus had to stop to let monkies cross the road (no chicken jokes here please), well, when choosing the route for the hike, I suggested to Ori that we go in that direction just in case we see them again. Well, as we got near that area, Ori touched my shoulder and said - Sivan Look! And there off in the distance were two monkies. I got out my other lense so that I could take better photos from afar and not scare them away. We were both quiet and taking pictures. Others were not as careful. There were two Japanese women who were walking towards us and the monkies from the other direction. They were ohhing and ahhing about the monkies and didnt quiet down at all as they got closer. Worse yet, when they saw that there was a babby monkey they just got louder and more high pitched. We just wanted to yell at them to shush. Funnier yet, as we walked, we were stepping on dried leaves. Ori asked that I try to avoid the leaves as the sound scares them off. Really? I asked? Those women screeching doesnt budge them but the cracking og the leaves will? We both laughed at the ludicrosy of that idea. So we too walked closer.

We had so much fun with them we just walked around with them and after them and they totally ignored us. The big one actually walked passed me. Cool!

They eventually walked into the forrest and we continued on our hike. 

and..

and...

And then there was this one - 

And suddenly I was transported into a Group of Seven painting instead of being in Japan. 

Wow. No words can truly describe the feeling of being among these mountains. 

And so we said goodbye to the Japanese Alps and went back to Takayama. 

Tomorrow - Hakone!

Takayama Fall Festival

Im writing this blog entry in the middle of the day sitting on a blue tarp in from of an old wooden temple among thousands of people. All of us are anxiously awaiting the start of a marionette show. Ori and I have been sitting here since 10:20am. The show is to start at 12:00. Knowing the Japanese, they will start on time, thankfully. Why are we doing this? Sitting under the hot sun? Because otherwise, there would be no chance we would see anything. The tarp fits approximately several hundred people, and  around us are standing a few thousand more. By the time we got here there were already hundreds sitting on the tarp and we were lucky a few nice people inched together to make room for us on the quickly filling floor. 

As we're sitting and waiting, an older Japan man sitting ahead of us turnrf around and gave us a can of Asahi beer - "Gift, for you." "Arigato Goisamas" and we politely open the beer in front of him (yup, its about 11am, but hey, its five pm somewhere in the world. 

At noon the loudspeaker starts saying something in Japanese, we assume its to announce the start of the Marionette show. Eventually, she gets to English, but even though the crowd is pretty quiet, the sound quality is pretty lousy so the only thing I actually understand is that nine men are behind the marrionettes' movements. It was fascinating. Not only the show, but the audience and their reactions. For one, there are no children. I don't know whether this is intended as an adult festival, but I hardly saw any children. The only ones around were those of foreign tourists. So there we all are, a few thousand adults waiting in the hot sun for a marionette show :) 

The dolls shook their heads and hands and legs and did some loop de loops. Every time a doll did something, a flip or jump from one rung to the next, the whole audience - Ohhhed and Ahhhed. It was contageous, even I got into it. 

Twenty minutes later the show ended and everyone calmly and slowly got up and lined up to leave the courtyard. I on the other hand wanted to run and find the nearest bathroom. Sitting for over two hours and drinking endless water so I wont get dehydrated. If was the first time on this trip the Japanese organized and leisurely stroll was driving me crazy. 

We then walked around and took a look at the floats, saw the parade of the portable shrine. The local kids walking before and after the shrine were banging on some kind of bronze gongs with wooden hammers producing a very loud high pitched sound. Note to those coming to future parades, dont stand to close to them if you value your hearing. 

Later we watched a mini parade as four of the ten floats passed by. They were pulled and pushed by men, young and old, and there were people atop.

Sometimes it was a few children and sometimes it was a whole group of people playing musical instruments.

For a second it was touch and go for one of the floats as it tried to turn the street corner and almost toppled over. The crowd Ohhed all at once. If one of those things falls, its not only the people in it and on it that would be injured but all those around it and maybe even a house or two as the streets are very narrow, the houses very close and the floats very high.  

That quickly righted itself and the first parade of the day ended. We walked around some more and tasted of the local food. We had some of the local apples (yum! its the season), chicken nuggets (who knew it was a local thing), corn on the cob (ok, maybe not so local, but the sauce on it was, as was the price), Shwarma (hmmm, definitely not local but Ori had a craving). For dessert we tried the chocolate covered banana and candied grape. Umm, kinda disappointing actually. 

We did NOT eat the above dried and salted jellyfish. Just thought i'd share the photo with you. 

We walked around the old area of Takayama and walked into a few goods stores. I even tried on an antique Kimono. Unfortunately, the fit wasnt right. Somehow, my, umm, chest, is a little more curvaceous than that of the average Japanese woman. So no Kimono for me. 

We tried a local beer and Ori made friends with some locals also partaking of the brew.

We then walked into a Saki brewery to try some Saki. We got a little ceramic Saki cup to try and went about trying to find one that we liked. Most people there (a few Japanese but mostly a group of Australian teachers and parents accompanying a class trip) were filling up their tasting glass and treating the place as a open bar. Ori and I would pour a drop or two, not wanted to waste if we didnt like. We figured we would pour more of the one we liked once we found it. Unfortunately, we never found one. I guess Saki is not our drink. There was a nice Japanese man standing next to me explaining the different types, tastes and percentages. Asking my feedback of each taste. I thought he worked there or was maybe the owner, as he cared so much. I didnt want to insult him, but I really didnt like any of them. He was really nice about it. Then after trying a few and figuring out we werent going to find one i liked, he gave me his tasting glass and he walked out. I dont think Ori and I will be bringing back Saki with us. 

We kept bumping into Erez and Maya throughout the day. It was nice. Funny that out of the hudreds of thousands in town we saw each other several times. It was nice to see friendly faces.

At six pm we went and sat through the full procession of the the floats - ten of them - through the streets of Takayama. They were all lit up and really special. 

You'd think that during a festival, the shops and restaurants would be open late and take advantage of the hords of extra people who want to spend money in their little town. But no. You can join in the Japanese experience but you cant change them. The market normaly closes at noon, so it closed at noon on festival day as well. the shops normally close at 5pm, they do so as well during the festival. And the restaurants? Try finding more than five open after 7pm. Good luck. Considering we'd eaten samplings of local food throughout the day, we werent that hungry early on, so we knew it would be an issue finding a place to eat dinner. This we knew out of personal experience of the night before. We arrived in the afternoon and walked around town. Then around 7 we started looking for places to eat. Guess what? They were all closed. By eight, the streets were empty and dark and creepily quiet. You would never have figured out a festival (one of the three largest in Japan) was going to take place the next morning. 

We finally gave up and walked into the nearest 7-eleven and bought dinner there. I got a green salad (impressively fresh) and potato gratin (who knew Japanese chefs knew about it), and Ori got gioza and chicken salad. Oh and apple juice. We got a large container of it. Why do I mention it? Because Japanese apple juice is awesome. Whether from one of the vending machines or some 7-eleven.  Its not just any juice, its cider. We had the cashier heat up what needed to be eaten warn in his microwave and walked back to the hotel. Actually, it was pretty yummy. But probably wouldnt repeat it too often. 

Back to the present day. We found a restaurant we'd walked passed several times (there were always lines outside) and decided to join the line this time. They had Hida beef (local specialty) and I was excited (a meat dish without pork!). Ori had the ramen with beef and i had the grilled beef on rice. I wanted on the ramen noodles but the chef was aghast at my request and said it tastes better with rice. Trust me he said. Good thing I did. It was delicious. Small dish but YUMMY! (Ori says his was ok too but that mine was better)

Happy and satiated, we went back to the hotel and crashed. Tomorrow is a big day - Shirakawa-go trip and then to Kamikoche. 

I cant believe how much we are able to squeeze into each day. Its amazing and exhausting all at once. 

Ok, off to sleep now. Back tomorrow with more updates.