Andre and Wendy: Shirakawago and Takayama

Today is moving day from Kanazawa to Takayama. This is the day we had all the issues with booking trains because of some issue with tracks, so we booked a bus. It actually worked out very well. We didn't catch the bus until 1:40 today so plenty of time to walk around Kanazawa one last time. We visited 2 museums, the bank museum and candy forming museum, which was really a candy store. The bank museum was interesting, it also had a doll display.

Met up with Heather at the Omicho Market in Kanazawa which had been on our list to do. Our first day here Andre and I stopped at the market on the way to our apartment but it was late in the afternoon and not much was open. Today was much different, with around 180 stalls open and busy selling seafood, vegetables, butcher shops and restaurants. The only purchase we made was we tried was seafood shumai which was delicious (squid, crab and scallops). Lots of tourists just wandering the market, but also a few locals out doing their shopping.

Picked up a few things for a snack before the bus ride then finally time to get on the go. All tourists on the bus, it is about twice the fare of just a regular bus ride but the bus rides were all sold out when we arrived. A regular bus also does not do the stop in Shirakawa.

About 1 hour in we pull into Shirakawa and I am shocked how many buses are in the parking lot. This is a UNESCO heritage site because of the Gassho style houses. There are 114 of them here. We visited the Kanda house which was very interesting, like a museum inside. We spent about 80 minutes in the town, which was about the right amount of time. So many people, reminded us of a very busy Banff day, a little too much.

Another hour brought us to Takayama where we will spend the next 4 nights. This is a much smaller city, less than 100,000 people. We are in the mountains now and it is much cooler again. On the drive here we saw snow quite low in the mountains. Got checked into our AIRBNB, Heather is staying with us for the next 4 nights. This is by far the biggest and nicest place we have been in so far. I knew we were on the 2^nd floor, but I forgot that that actually means the 3^rd floor, quite a few stairs. A very nice lady showed us the way, not much of an explanation of anything as she had very limited English. She did send us a note after we got into the apartment as some music started playing, at first we thought she had music start but her note said that music is played outside to encourage the children to go home, what a nice thing.

Walked into old town and explored a little bit, pretty quiet at this time of night, found a place making Goya dumplings so supper is looked after. Stopped at a couple of stores to stock up on breakfast supplies and we are done for the night. Looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.

Steps 17500 / 11 kms