I heard from Mick pretty early today to report that his back was a bit sore from sleeping on the floor. Quickly followed by a comment saying he was still having fun. While the room’s furniture is challenging for sleeping, he says there is nowhere to sit and nowhere to put anything. In other words, a lot of bending is involved.
The weather is much colder here and they all needed their thick coats and gloves.
But today was far from a “rest” day: 20,000 steps later and the travellers had experienced some very special cultural activities.
Shortly after stepping out to explore Takayama, Mick was approached by this local TV crew who asked to interview him. They were at the Miyagawa Morning Markets. I’m unsure what Mick told them – as he has about 10 words in Japanese.
The markets are quite touristy which might explain these figures.
Their next destination was to an open air museum called Hida Folk Village (Hida no Sato). And, apparently the walk there was a little longer than some (aka Mick) had wanted to walk.
The village contains more than 30 traditional houses from the Hida region, the mountainous district around Takayama. The houses were built between 200 to 400 years ago and relocated from their original locations to create the museum in 1971.
“In a village-like atmosphere, the museum features buildings such as a former village head’s house, logging huts, storehouses and a number of gassho-zukuri farmhouses, which are named after their steep thatched roofs resembling a pair of hands joined in prayer (“gassho”). They were moved here from nearby Shirakawago, where gassho-zukuri houses are the reason for the region’s World Heritage status.”
There was a ‘little accident’ that occurred during their visit which I’m told required a fast exit. Apparently Mick accidentally broke the handle of a door in one of the houses – the one belonging to the “wealthy” man. Due to the language barrier, none of the group knew how to explain this. So….
They decided to cut their visit short and RUN.
But that was not easy either as they needed to put their shoes back on, struggling with cold fingers and more bending made for a comical, slow-motion getaway.
I do hope they could fix it! The door handle I mean.
Their next destination was to a rice cracker factory, and thankfully they were under much closer supervision from the employees who taught them how to make crackers using the byproducts of another famous Japanese product – sake.
After all that walking, the boys very much enjoyed sampling their ‘work’ as they ventured to their next activity. I was told it was the highlight of the day, and based on the number of photos – I believe them!
They went on a sake brewery tour where they learnt a lot about the process of making sake, the different types of sake, and of course the different tastes of sakes.
Mick and Bernie both enjoy drinking sake. Me not so much. Before they left for this holiday, there was much discussion about trying sake and participating in a sake tasting. So today was the day.
Im told that they got to sample quite a lot of sake. One of those bottles is labelled ‘21’. I hope that is not how many samples they had.
The owner of the brewery they visited is the 15th generation of the family to run and own the business. In Japan, the brand name of a sake must change name when the owner sells. This is a very old branded sake – over 500 years old.
Tom sent me this photo of Mick and the owner who was more than happy to pose with him because of the amount of sake they bought before leaving. That reminds me – I need to check his credit card activity.
Jane and Mick's Holiday Adventures 