ryokan.

I have finished for the semester! I leave tomorrow for Okinawa, but wanted to quickly post about Bec and my trip to Takayama. Takayama is in Gifu Prefecture, but way up in the mountains. We chose to take the scenic route via train.

Rebecca wanted to stay in a ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn), so we checked in and changed into our yukatas. I didn’t realise how much the walls made everything glow, so didn’t change my settings accordingly, sorry everything looks a bit… yellow.

Breakfast and dinner was included in our stay, all of which was set up in our room for us. We were extremely excited when dish after dish began being placed on our table. What was a real surprise was the accompanying video camera. The owner of the ryokan came in and began speaking to me in rapid Japanese. From what I could gather, she was asking permission to do some filming for promotional material. Having agreed, I sat very self-consciously attempting to make appropriate small talk in Japanese. I did not do very well.

Nonetheless, eventually they seemed to get what they wanted and left us to enjoy our feast. It was absolutely magnificent, but I will write more of that another time.

After dinner, Bec and I sauntered off to the ryokan’s onsen. Returning to our room, like magic our dishes had disappeared to be replaced by futons. Unable to resist, we sunk into them and slept soundly.