sanposhita.

Takayama is such a charming place. Rebecca and I woke to another overwhelming breakfast. I particularly enjoyed watching her face as she sampled umeboshi for the first time, although was unfortunately unable to capture it on film.

One of the very friendly women at the ryokan recommended we wander over to the nearby markets. The  morning markets are held next to a river, and almost exclusively sell locally made crafts or lovally grown fruits and vegetables. We bought some presents and knickknacks for friends at home and headed down to the river to say hello to the koi.

Most of the central area of Takayama is made up of stone-cobbled streets with traditional-style Japanese shop fronts selling various wares. We spent most of our day wandering, eventually returning to our ryokan to change into our yukatas.

And preparing for another feast.

The next day we had planned to hire bikes to explore more of Takayama, but decided to climb up to the park by foot instead. Too hot to face the descent, we searched for four leaf clovers instead.

My wish was the Bec would never go home, but I made the mistake of revealing my wish. Rookie error. We had one last cake together and said sad goodbyes. Overwhelmed by Rebecca’s good looks, Japanese people came up and asked to have photos with her, which were later posted on the café’s blog. Classic.

Although it was sad to say goodbye, I was so glad Bec was able to come and see some of Japan with me. I loved all the places we went together, and am excited to be travelling to Kyoto and Takayama again soon!