Takayama and Kamikochi

Takayama

We’re slowing things down a bit for our last few stops in Japan, allowing for a bit more down-time. The first of these is in Takayama, where we have 5 nights rather than the 1-2 proposed by most itineraries I’ve seen (thank goodness for the luxury of time!). It’s a sweet town nestled in the mountains with a beautifully preserved old town, lots of shrines and lovely sites and a cute morning market along the river. It’s also quite small so we’ve had time to wander around, getting momentarily lost in the small streets, and revisit a few places, which helps me feel like I’m something other than just a tourist. 

It’s also a great place to sample Hida beef - top quality wagyu beef meeting specific standards for marbling, colour and texture resulting in a light, tender, melt-in-your-mouth experience (apologies to my non-meat eating friends). I happened to read a review for Suzuya Restaurant on our arrival, which also just happened to be a 4 minute walk from our apartment. The food was fantastic, but what made this a really special experience was the joie de vivre of the staff, including the fun instructions for how to cook our dishes complete with ‘sizzle’ sound effects 😂

I lined us up to do a cooking class here too (found through ‘airbnb experiences’ - thanks to Linda R. for the tip!). Our host, Don, led us through cooking Gohei mochi with a yummy sauce of sesame seeds, peanuts, sugar and soy sauce (this kind of mochi is sushi rice compacted around an icy-pole stick and grilled; what I’ve taken to calling a rice popsicle), Tsukemono steak (like a frittata with pickled cabbage) and Hida beef cooked with miso on a Hoba leaf (large leaf found locally and used as plates and to wrap food).

Kamikochi

We took a day trip to Kamikochi on one of our days in Takayama. Kamikochi is within the Chubb Sangaku National Park in Nagano. Depending on how it’s written, Kamikōchi means “highlands” or “the ground that God descends upon”. The latter is certainly appropriate on the day we visit. It’s a stunning landscape of crystal clear rivers and streams, verdant forests and soaring mountain ranges against blue blue sky. The quintessential babbling brooks and birdsong are punctuated by the bells that many hikers hang from their packs to ward away bears!

We did a 9km round walk along gently undulating tracks to the sacred Myojin Pond. We went on a public holiday so it was busy, but I really appreciated the Japanese norms of quiet and respect, which allowed for our peaceful enjoyment.

Next stop: Kyoto