Tokyo to Takayama

NB. Photos and edits in purple added 26/06/07


Chopsticks on the noodle bar counter

We breakfasted again at the stand-up soba bar around the corner from our hotel. Today it was eggplant tempura soba, a beautifully fanned slice of battered eggplant, crisp on the outside, sweet and creamy in the middle. It was a race to gobble the thing before it went soggy, but thankfully my slurping splash factor was a significant improvement on yesterday (only a couple of drops today instead of great big puddles of mess).


Nasuten tempura eggplant soba 360 yen


Noodle bar, Ikebukero


Chikuwaten tempura fish soba 360 yen

With a few snacks collected from the bakery (one red bean bun--packed with sweet paste filling--and a bun called a custard strudel which was mostly a sweet bun with a small dollop of custard paste in the middle) we headed to Shin-Osaka to catch the shinkansen to Takayama.

Obento boxes at the train station generally cost about 850 yen to 1,000 yen. The refrigerated ones from convenience stores are even cheaper. We picked up two boxes for a total of 766 yen from the Bell Mart store on the platform. There were maki sushi slices, pockets of rice-filled inari, and a mixed box of goodies including chicken karaage, pasta salad, noodles, rice, potato croquette, chicken schnitzel and a funny miniature hot dog with grill marks down its side.


Snack fridge at Bell Mart


Hello Kitty nagoyan snacks


Magazines


Snacks


Obento stall

I've also started a Kit Kat adventure tour. I couldn't resist picking up some matcha milk Kit Kats.


Kit Kats


Seats inside the shinkansen to Nagoya


Snack trolley


Snack time! Vanilla and green tea ice cream 350 yen


Rice paddies, mountains and houses


Train signals on the Hida Wideview train to Takayama

If you ever get the chance, make sure you travel in the front carriage of any train in Japan and watch the driver! He make a series of hand signals throughout the journey (lots of pointing ahead with a white-gloved hand) and will constantly refer to the timetable clipped in front of him, periodically barking out a confirmation of his destination.


Bell Mart sushi lunchbox 367 yen

Lunchtime!


Bell Mart lunchbox 399 yen


Green tea Kit Kat

These were milky like a white chocolate Kit Kat, more creamy than sweet. Thumbs up.


Dam


Takayama train station

Five hours later (including a transfer at Nagoya) we arrived at the picturesque city of Takayama. The place seemed a little bigger and busier than three years ago, but it still retains a town-type atmosphere. The streets are narrow and most people get around on bikes, usually on the side of the road or on the footpath. Many homes have rice paddies out the front, and every now and then I had to remind myself to look in the distance and appreciate the mist of mountains surrounding us on the horizon.


Tea box at the minshuku with tea and biscuits

We arrived at our minshuku family-run guest house and took a quick tour of the town using the free bikes provided. The Miyagawa River runs throught the centre of town, crossed over by a number of bridges. We made a quick visit to the Takayama Betsuin Temple Treasury House where the cherry blossom tree out front was in the final stages of blooming.


Koshogonin Torinzan Daioji Temple


Cherry blossoms


Late afternoon

But it was now 6.30pm and time for dinner (6.30pm start for everyone). Just inside the entrance to the minshuku is a huge collection of communal slippers. Everyone removes their shoes, places them in the cupboard, and then shuffles about in pink or blue floral slip-ons. At the entrance to the dining room, slippers are removed to protect the tatami mats inside, round cushions are your seat at the low-level dining tables.


Kaiseki dinner

Our kaiseki-type meal included about a dozen separate dishes all laid out before us. A burner to our top right was soon lit - the hotplate with Hida beef and cabbage soon started sizzling. Other highlights included a small salted whole river fish (a specialty of the region), a silky cube of goma (sesame seed) tofu and the most wonderful plate of sashimi that included the sweetest strips of tender squid I've ever eaten!


Sashimi


Firefly squid


Beef and vegetables


River fish


Bamboo shoots and goma sesame tofu


Cooking the beef


Tea


Rice


Tofu with angelica spear

We retired in our cotton yukata bathrobes, the usual blue and white pattern. Heavy woollen coats, a chestnut brown with wide sleeves and tied at the front with string, were provided to help combat the brisk mountain temperatures. With stomachs full from our resplendent dinner, one becomes very grateful for wrap-style clothing!