The delightful folk at our Matsumoto Ryokan all lined up to wave us off, one nearly shedding a tear. Jen, who was driving today, was not overly appreciative of an audience while reversing onto the particularly busy street.
We aimed to take the scenic route (ie Highway 19 - weaving through the mountains), but GPS Lady wouldn't have a bar of it. She attempted to convince us to take the toll-way for at least 20 minutes. After we had placed some fairly large mountains between ourselves and any toll-way, she settled into a sullen silence. The above-mentioned mountains had a light dusting of snow in their upper reaches, it appears Winter was chasing us south.
Kiso Valley is a series of small villages lying on what used to be the postal road, way back when (ie somewhere in the Edo period). We called into Tsumago, one of the most faithfully-preserved villages in the Kiso Valley.
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| Lily emulating your standard Japanese teen. |
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| Taking a breather at one of the many small shrines around Tsumago. |
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| I tried twisting that rock, but the bamboo wouldn't shut off. |
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| Souvenir shop - more chopsticks than you can poke a ..erm, never mind. |
Spotting a very rustic looking shop selling some not-so rustic soft-serve ice-cream, we sampled a cone each. I adventurously (such a risk taker) tried some chestnut-flavoured ice-cream, while everyone else stuck with vanilla. We had just about finished ordering when several bus-loads of Japanese school girls descended on the very ice-cream shop we happened to be standing in. Much giggling and gesturing towards Joshie and the bigger kids followed - before they were eventually hurried on their way by some mildly exhausted-looking teachers.
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| Joshie was heard to ask, "Why are the people looking at me?" He then resumed smearing his ice-cream across his face. |
Not wanting a repeat of our Matsumoto night-driving shenanigans, we set our course for Takayama with an estimated time of arrival some time after 4pm. It was a lovely afternoon for driving, blue skies, autumnal leaves and gracefully winding roads.
That's when GPS Lady decided to provide an alternate path to Takayama than that sign-posted. Somewhat foolishly, we listened. We made some good time along an increasingly deserted road, before coming across a road closure.
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| Once again GPS Lady - we thank you. |
The assumption was it was closed due to snow, but we really had no idea - save that we were not going to press on into goodness knows what. Clenching our teeth, we ignored the pleas of GPS Lady for us to return to the closed road, and rejoined the highway with Takayama clearly signposted on it. The side-trip meant we arrived at the Rickshaw Inn in the dark, just as it started to mist rain. The young lady behind the counter was, however, very warm and welcoming. Each of the Martin kiddies were given flashing badges of the Rickshaw Inn to wear (clearly this made an instant impression on them).
Thinking we'd pop around the corner to pick something up for dinner - we ended up wandering the streets for quite some time (I may or may not have had the local map upside down). We have purchased some essentials, including an actual box of cereal for breakfast (I can't remember when we've last made our own breakfast), as well as some truly terrible instant coffee - the fact that I am not currently face-planting on this keyboard is testament to its caffeine content however.
Weather-willing, we shall check out the Old Town, called Sanmachi-Suji in the morning.
