Monday - day trip to Shirakawa-go
Our day got off to a stressful start when Julie lost her necklace between the cracks in a raised section of flooring next to our bed. We could see the necklace between the cracks, but we needed something that would allow us drop in ... more on that later.
Our focus for the day was a day trip to a nearby town with very distinctive, alpine style housing: Shirakawa-go. The bus trip would be just under an hour each way.
Shirakawa-go is another UNESCO site.
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
Located in a mountainous region that was cut off from the rest of the world for a long period of time, these villages with their Gassho-style houses subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The large houses with their steeply pitched thatched roofs are the only examples of their kind in Japan. Despite economic upheavals, the villages of Ogimachi, Ainokura and Suganuma are outstanding examples of a traditional way of life perfectly adapted to the environment and people's social and economic circumstances.
We took the bus back to Takayama. On the way home, we passed this Bob Dylan theme bar that Evan Neumann recommended to us. It was closed (for the pandemic?) but everything was preserved inside, so maybe in a few years we'll be back.
We had dinner at an amazing local sushi restaurant. Food was excellent, but just as important, the staff provided us with a wire of just the right thickness that we could use to dangle into the cracks of the flooring to help Julie recover her necklace. It took a while, but it worked!
Julie and I dipped out for sake later that night. She is officially a sake convert.
