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!

yukata.

What a poor correspondent I am! Another busy week has come and gone. For those of you fortunate enough to be my Facebook friend, you will have seen some pictures of the highlight of my week – dressing up in traditional Japanese clothes. I was wearing a yukata, which is a lightweight form of kimono for the summer. Today, these are rarely worn on a day-to-day basis, although they are used for special occasions or festivals.

The women wrapping us up into these dresses where amazing. No two yukatas were the same, each bow was tied in a different way, and there were a myriad of accessories and shoes to add flair to the already extravagant outfits.

After getting frocked up (which was quite the process), we partook in some traditional Japanese dance. I think the dances we learnt are ones similar to those used at Gujo Odori (a big summer festival dance). Whilst the moves weren’t so complex, manoeuvring in the yukata was the true struggle.

Despite yukatas supposedly being designed for summer-wear, by the end of the afternoon I was feeling so hot and uncomfortable. Nonetheless, it was well worth it and a delightful afternoon of playing dress-ups!

hakubutsukan.

Following our frolicking in the garden, it was still a little early, so Julie and I decided that for 300yen, the historical museum at the entrance of the park couldn’t be so bad. I’m a bit of a sucker for museums, but even so I thought it was quite the bargain. A very friendly curator took us around a section telling us what I’m sure were a number of very interesting facts. Even Julie said she didn't understand half of what he said, so I felt better about my ignorance, but he gave us candy so I was pre-disposed to think well of him. There are artefacts stemming back to the pre-historic era all the way through to modern times. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the older things, but I got one of this gorgeous Datsun.

There were even things for people who think staring at old stuff is boring. There was an incredible to-scale model of the Gifu area in medieval times (complete with binoculars so you could appreciate the intricacy) and a number of activities to do. I chose to try my hand at some traditional ink artwork where you layer colours to make a picture.

Best of all, Julie and I got to go into an imitation Japanese house and try on traditional Japanese clothing. I was devastated that the lighting was so poor and I only had my phone, but you get the idea of me in my faux-Japanese form.

After tearing ourselves from the museum, Julie and I finished our day in the way we always do – udon and purikura.