Memories of Japan -Part II

 So I left you as we were getting the train to Inuyama, that is after the frantic search for the train passes.

Inuyama is on a river and has the oldest standing castle in Japan and the third most important Tea house. (They love to rank things) The best thing here was that it happened to be the day of a parade and street festival. Our first Japanese street food! My favorite was a waffle like fish shaped thing with custard and red bean paste inside. We also were introduced to Karikuri the elaborate marionettes  kept in towers that get paraded around in some towns.

The river in Inuyama

Which way do we go? Imagine signs you can't read leading you around! Thank goodness for kind people and a sense of direction.

The oldest castle. It is five stories high and has great river views from the top.

 We stayed in a hostel that was very unhostel like but with a great bath in the basement.

From Inuyama we went to Takayama. We stayed here for four days in a Buddhist temple. This was one of the best places we stayed in Japan. Takayama itself is a great town with tons to see and do. Dave and I took two day trips without Anika here. We figured out that we need to have breaks from each other from time to time. Anika got to practice some independence and check out the town on her own. We also sent her on a scavenger hunt with a map and some clues of what to go see (you can see the result in her blog just click Anika at the top of my blog if you want to see Anika's blog)

One of the days Dave and I went to the Japanese alps and hiked in Komakochi National park. It was so beautiful I felt like I was in an National Geographic photo shoot. The other day we went off we went to Ogimachi which is a UNESCO world heritage site, like so many places in Japan. Here we visited 250-year-old farmhouses that have been relocated into the Gasshozukuri Minkaen open air museum. They have huge thatched roofs that can take 200 people to re-thatch. Both these places are so photogenic its like you can't take a bad picture. And we took tons of pictures.

Stunning view Komakochi

One of the preserved thatched roof houses

We were in the Japanese mountains for a week and I think this was my favorite part of Japan. Except for our Tokyo friends!

Kyoto

We went to Kyoto for five days. Everyone love Kyoto and I could see why. It is full of history and culture. It's flat and we rode bikes around most of the time. The one highlight for me was the onsen we found near our first lodging. It was a neighborhood place with indoor and outdoor tubs, sauna, DIY salt scrub room, cold plunge and more. There was a good restaurant too. I enjoyed seeing whole families spending time together here, women talking to each other, grandmas introducing grandchildren to the hot water and women doing each others hair like women do all over the world.

We also stayed with our first SERVAS hosts in Kyoto. Tomoko and her family were very gracious and experienced hosts.  Not to mention her house is a block away from some of the most famous temples and gardens in Kyoto. Her sister Sumoko took us to the mother of all Shinto shrines Inari. If you don't know what SERVAS is go to www.servas.org. It was great to stay in a real house and see how people really live.

Tori gates Inari shrine

Nara

This is where I went into shrine and temple overload. Nara is another UNESCO world heritage site place. There are so many temples and shrines I have no idea how long it would take to see them all. The thing that stood out for me the most were the deer, who wander freely through the temple area harassing tourists for food. The good rule following Japanese try to feed them only “deer bisquits”. But the deer have other ideas. We sat down to eat baked sweet potato we bought from a vendor. In five minutes the deer surrounded Anika and she had one on each side trying to get the last bit of her potato. She says one nipped her ear!

Dave and animals always seem to have a connection.

Tokyo

I did not expect to like Tokyo as much as I did. It is huge, crowded and sprawling. But the trains make it easy to get around and there are lots of different neighborhoods to explore. Our best Tokyo story is when we lost Anika on the train. We were headed to the Ghibli Museum and had tickets for a timed entry. As Dave rushed onto the next train and I followed we turned around to see the doors close with Anika on the other side! We got off at the station we were headed to because we were meeting a friend there who had our tickets and was going with us to the museum. Dave turned around and went back to the station where we last saw Anika to find her. I stayed to meet our friend. The friend came and said she couldn't go with us as she had a problem at work. But she gave me the tickets and wished us luck. Now I am standing alone on the train platform waiting for Dave and Anika. I realize I have no JR rail pass, Dave has them and no Japanese money. I can't go anywhere. I search the crowd as each train stops looking for my people. I am starting to get worried and have all the what ifs go through my brain. What if she didn't stay there? What if he can't find her? We are in a city of 17 million people!! Well it all worked out and I saw Dave and Anika approach from the next train to come in. We rushed to the Gihbli Museum and made it on time. This was an amazing museum that highlights the work of Hayo Miazaki who made Totoro, Spirited Away and many other animated movies.

This gives a very slight idea about the cool design of this museum.

Nothing in Japan and especially Tokyo would have been so good without our host Shige. He introduced us to many interesting young people, arranged for our stay at the university, took us to eat great food and generally was super fun. He was the best thing about Japan!!

Us with Shige and his family acting silly

Well I think that's it for Japan. It was amazing. Now on to New Zealand where we have been for a little over two weeks.