Heading to Takayama

October 1, 2012-

Never thought I'd finish with September 30 …. did you????!!!?  Well.  Today we're moving on. 

Literally!

We're heading to Takayama today.  Via a bus ride.  

But first- BREAKFAST!  (of course!)

I think I can see our table is set and our breakfast is waiting for us (in the far right corner of the room)…

Mmmmm!!! Breakfast! So many different and unusual foods! And check out the one-size-fits-all slippers on Ava! LOL!!!! She definitely has some growing to do!

Good bye, lovely inn!

Time to pick up some snacks, buy a few souvenirs and get some coffee before we head out on the morning bus to Takayama.

Mmmmmm!!!! Lovely cheeeeeesecake!

One last look at Kappabashi and the lovely mountains in Kamikochi.

Waiting for the bus…with treats and more treats!

Girls, did you enjoy Kamikochi???

Yes!!!!  (they both have pins on their jacket that were given to them buy a shop keeper)

Last thoughts on our stay here:

• Nearly everyone we passed while going on our hikes said Konnichiwa (hello) to us.  When was the last time someone passing by said hello to us here?  
• The people were friendly and helpful.  
• We weren't stared or pointed at; it felt so nice not to feel like a freak
• We weren't photographed
• The area was CLEAN!  Absolutely no trash anywhere! Actually, something we couldn't figure out is WHERE to put our trash as there were very few trash cans.  
• Many of the folks visiting looked like they had brand NEW clothing and shoes.  I wonder how many of them ended up with massive blisters and sore feet after going for hikes in their new and fancy looking shoes!  
• We definitely want to come back here- they have the same kind of hut-to-hut hiking as they do in the Austrian alps.  Ava just needs to grow a bit so that she can carry a bigger pack!  :-)

Since we're heading out on a morning bus ride we didn't have to book our tickets in advance.  We bought our tickets about an hour before the scheduled departure time.  So….it might be useful to know where we're heading!  Our first bus ride is to Hirayu….then we'll get on a different bus to Takayama.    

Our bus!

Time to go! doesn't look like there is anybody else going with us? (oops….spoke too fast. more people are coming!)

at Hirayu: Hop out of one bus, buy tickets for the next bus to Takayama…and hop back on (a different) bus:

scenery as viewed from the bus (and hence blurry):

 Many of the houses we passed by had little well attended and cared for gardens associated with them…with flowers and vegetables growing.  

Looks like we're heading into a bigger town….more houses, buildings, cars and:

Circle K!!!!

I think we've made it to Takayama!!!

(more scenery photos from the bus):

Wow….those houses come right up to the edge of the road!

hilarious statue on one of the bridges we crossed

A little lady walking on one of the bridges (with very unique statues!). We saw many elderly people walking with hunched backs. This is something we haven't seen in China. Do these people suffer from osteoporosis or is something else???

Finally, after about a 1.5 hour bus ride we're at…

Takayama Station:

We asked at the information booth at Takayama station how to get to our ryokan (Japanese style inn) and the helpful lady made a phone call and told us someone fromt the inn would come to pick us up.  Sweeeeeet!!!!  How very nice!  Mind you, we are very mobile with our backpacks and our one small suitcase but still it's nice not to have to walk (and maybe get lost)…especially with little ones….and around lunch time!!!!  (tired, cranky and hungry children can be a recipe for disaster)

Now we're waiting for a few minutes for someone to come pick us up from our ryokan.  So nice they're willing to come to the station to pick us up!!!

See you soon at Oyado Yamakyu (ryokan)…..