Takayama Highs and Lows- 10 March

Today was an interesting day. I'm not sure how well it will come across, as there were quite a few things that happened which didn't warrant a photograph. Oh well, if you are just reading this blog for the pictures then you will miss some of the experience!

--- Minshuku in the snow ---

--- Yet another photo of the river ---

--- My borrowed, rusty bicycle ---

--- Ancient tree, forgotten the name, will add it if I remember ---

After making up my daily temple and shrine quota I decided to see where this bike could take me, and headed off for the Takayama historical village.

--- Notice that all the rocks are exactly the same shape? Snow reveals all ---

--- My footprints ---

The historical village is centered around a man-made lake. All the buildings are original farm-houses and country-style dwellings that were bought and moved to this location, in order to preserve the local cultural heritage. You were allowed to go inside all of the buildings (after taking off your shoes) but it was difficult to take picture as it was very dark inside. I spent nearly 2 hours here, exploring the houses and the grounds.

--- 'Hina-Ningyo' Doll's Day statues ---

--- A white swan! ---

After leaving the village and eating a delicious bowl of ramen for lunch (only 700yen!!) I remembered that there were more castle ruins at the top of the mountain. This marked the beginning of the low point of my day. Though the hike was beautiful, the photos below are evidence of that, I frightened myself stupid because I was so alone. Also I didn't realise just how much snow there would be, in some places it was higher than my knees! But for some reason I kept going and did reach the ruins at the top.

--- No this isn't a weird angle, that path is just really really steep ---

--- View from the ruins. While taking this photo I realised that if I slipped, a very real possibility, no one would ever find me. Sobering thought. ---

To try and calm myself down I went to an art gallery/museum. At 1300yen entry it was probably the biggest waste of money ever. There were 3 things in the entire collection I actually liked:

If you ever go to Takayama, don't bother going to the Museum of Art.

--- My purchases for the day ---

After the disappointing museum I rode back home and came across a giant warehouse store which sold all manner of wonderful things that might cheer up a girl. So after spending a while wandering around I bought the over-the-knee socks you can see in this picture. The other things are some silk fabric pieces I bought on my way up the mountain.

To finish off the day on a high note I had some really delicious vegetables at a tiny little Izakaya. The owner was a lovely lady and we had a really lovely conversation before I headed home for bed.