Our first full day in Takayama focused mostly on the ‘old country’. The town itself is typically pretty touristy (or so we are told), but it feels a little bit like a secret gem that nobody is visiting. Especially considering today is the first day that didn’t feel like the air/heat was trying to kill us. We started at the morning market which was a mix of local food and craftworks/art. Always have to try the market food…
We then headed to the bus station to visit a traditional village — we arrived to the station and there was a crazy long line for a different village and only two people waiting for the bus to the one we were planning to visit. It is these moments that always make us wonder if we should be in the line with all the people, and we still always choose the more off the beaten path options. Again, this place seemed like a hidden secret as it felt like when we were walking through the traditional homes, we had the place to ourselves. At one of the houses, we were able to sit out and just listen to the frogs and bugs chirp — really peaceful.
We ended up spending way more time at the village than we expected, which is always a nice surprise. We chose right again — especially knowing how many people were standing in line for the other village (at least two bus loads).
However because we spent so much time, we were starving when we arrived back to Takayama. Much to our surprise and sadness, many of the restaurants close mid afternoon in preparation for the evening rush (or are only open for lunch), so while we don’t seek out fast food, we do try to go to McDonald’s at least once in every country to see what is on their menu. Surprisingly good burger — beef, white cheddar, egg and a sticky soy sauce topping.
Now the heat is catching up to us with the heat of the day, so back to our house to relax our feet and stay out of the heat. Honestly can’t remember a day on this trip that my entire being wasn’t overheated, so today has been such a good day not feeling like that.
Lunch was late and we really don’t eat big meals when we travel anyways, so we just wandered back into town through the old homes looking for something light. We ended up at a grocery store and just picked up some bits and back to the house to finish laundry and chill. The steps are catching up to us [we are at about 40 miles walked since we arrived].
