We had to get up early today since we made a reservation for a bustour to Shirakawa-go. When all the other passengers finally arrived (a few Chinese people were a bit late) we departed.
On the bus Yamamoto-san (our tour guide) gave us some great explanation of where we were headed, he also was familiar with “Dank je wel!” (which seems to be a popular Dutch sentence to know, at least it’s better than “…. In de keuken”)
Before we actually went to Shirakawa-go we made a short stop at a lookout point where we had a great view of the village.
When  we wanted to leave again we had to wait for the Chinese people, since they got lost or something (not sure how though, since this area wasn’t that big)
Now we finally arrived at Shirakawa-go where we first had to cross a suspension bridge before entering the actual village.
The village reminded us a lot of Hida folk town, but it felt a bit more rustic. The weather was great so we took some great pictures.
Yamamoto-san also advised us to visit the Doburoku Museum, since we liked sake.
In the museum they had a special kind of unrefined sake (called Doburoku) which can only be brewed (and drank) in Shirakawa-go. It looks a bit like some sort of porridge and has a sweet/sour taste. It was superb!
Afterwards we walked around some more to see some great scenery.
But now it was time to go again. At the bus we had to wait again! But this time it wasn’t the previously mentioned Chinese, it were some bloody Hungarians! On the way back to Takayama we noticed we made a good choice going on the morning tour, the road towards Shirakawa-go was now one big traffic jam which went on for several miles.
At Takayama we waved Yamamoto-san goodbye and strolled around Takayama some more.
They have some creepy statues here decorating the bridges.
Next to our hotel we even found this huge tree which apparently was estimated to be over 1200 years old.
For dinner we avoided the main streets again to find a good place to eat at ran into Suzuya, where they also served Hida beef!
We order two different dishes. One was a mix between Hida beef with miso paste and some vegetables cooked on a magnolia leaf. The other was a BBQ style dish, where we got to cook our own beef again
It was absolutely amazing, but we didn’t expect any less 😉
Afterwards we headed back to the hotel again, tomorrow we’ll be traveling to Matsumoto by bus with a stop at Kamikochi!
Looks like you are having a great time, doing the Geek thing and discovering the surprising japanese cuisine :-). Love it.
Just wait till we arrive at Akihabara, it’ll be geek heaven 😛