Takayama : Japan Kansai-Kanazawa-Kinosaki Drive - Part 4

Day 5
It's all about Takayama today~ Its a drive to Takayama Old Town, then to our onsen hotel for the night in the middle of Hida-Takayama~


The drive today is short and easy, which gives us more than ample time to enjoy the streets of Takayama Old Town as well as an early check-in so we can have a nice outdoor onsen dip after we check in.

Hello Takayama~

I really enjoyed Takayama~ It's got such old world charm but everything was so clean and neat~ The best thing I enjoyed about Takayama was the streetfood! Wah seh~ The amount of delicious street food this place managed to squeeze into one stretch basically caused us to have our lunch while standing up~ LOL~

1. Hida Beef meat bun for a start~

2. Beef Croquette next!

3. Skewered BBQ Beef~ Yum!

4. Beef Stew~

5. Hida Beef Burger!

6. Finished off with Pudding from this shop!

The cold weather really helped with the appetite~ but it also helped with the walking after the food~ Clean, flat and neatly organized streets made it such a joy to talk around the old streets and taking in the sights and atmosphere. Along the way there was a few shops that offered free sake/miso soup so we gladly obliged~

J fascinated by the small fishes in the drain... the water was very clear!

We spent around 3 hours in Takayama before we continued our journey to our hotel for the night~ As we drove deeper into Hida-Takayama, the scenery started to change~

Our lodging for the night was at 奥飛騨温泉郷　穂高荘　山月 (Hodakaso Sangetsu)

Now the thing about this hotel... is the fact that it has a mixed outdoor onsen! (One more item on the bucket list checked!)

The outdoor onsen is situated on one side of the valley so it offers a magnificent view of the opposite mountains~

And as with all onsen lodging in Japan, its the dinner I look forward to the most~

For this stay package, it also came with A5-ranked Hida beef~

And we were still in time for some Ayu 鮎 fish!

After dinner all of us were so satisfied and tired that no one tempted to venture outside to challenge the outdoor onsen for one more time~  We did take a stroll outside the hotel and it was starting to snow. And that gave us the sight below:

Wow~

Breakfast was just as wow~  but unfortunately I was still trying to digest the food from the previous day...

After breakfast we still had some time before checking out so we took a walk outside the hotel. The scenery of the entire place basically changed overnight~ The fresh snow with the last of the autumn leaves gave the place very fresh and vibrant colors~ Everybody loved the cool crisp air~

Next stop will be Shirakawa-go and Kanazawa!

See the rest of the trip below:

• Part 1 (Osaka-Nara-Kyoto)
• Part 2 (Kyoto)
• Part 3 (Gero Onsen)
• Part 5 (Shirakawa-go)

Gero-onsen : Japan Kansai-Kanazawa-Kinosaki Drive - Part 3

Day 4
The plan for today was to make our way from Kyoto to Gero Onsen. A straight drive would have been 3.5 hours but I chose a detour for our route which will bring us to Hikone Castle and Nagahama city.




Along the way we made our way across the Biwako Ohashi Bridge. Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in the whole of Japan. On this cloudy day we even saw a rainbow as we drove along the East coast side of the lake towards Hikone Castle and Nagahama City.

Driving over the Biwako Ohashi Bridge

After nearly 2 hours we finally reached our first checkpoint for the day, Hikone Castle!

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Though not as glamorous or popular as Kumamoto or Himeji castle, Hikone Castle is actually one of 5 castles to be designated as a national treasure and one of 12 original castles still standing.  It is located beside Lake Biwako and took all of 20 years to build! Given its awkward location, I figured this was the only chance I would get to visit this castle, and I'm glad I made the trip! It's a charming little castle and it simply blows my mind to think how people in those days manage a 20-year construction project! LOL~

The streets of Nagahama

After the castle visit, we made our way to Nagahama city for some lunch. We checked Trip Advisor and the #1 restaurant in the area was Yokaro. By the time we reached the restaurant there was already a small queue in front of the restaurant... I guess #1 ranking does bring in the crowds~

Kyoto : Japan Kansai-Kanazawa-Kinosaki Drive - Part 2

Day 3
The plan for the day was to visit Kinkaku-ji, then Arashiyama area for lunch, Nijo Castle and then Kodaiji Temple for the evening illumination before dinner somewhere around Gion area.



It was a rainy day in Kyoto~ by the time we reached Kinkaku-ji, the rain was really coming down and we had to activate the umbrellas... -_-;

After patiently walking through the designated path, we were rewarded with the view of the Golden Pavilion and it didn't disappoint~ It's really because of views like this that we travel thousands of miles every year~ Although this temple was a rebuilt from 1950s due to an arson, it sits on the site of the original temple which was built as early as the 1300s. (We really ought to take good care of our national treasures!)

After strolling through the gardens of Kinkaku-ji, we started our drive towards Arashiyama. The rain has gotten lighter by now and it was a comfortable stroll along the street in front of Arashiyama station while searching for a place to have our lunch. We decided on Arashiyama Kohaku Dou

Osaka/Nara/Kyoto : Japan Kansai-Kanazawa-Kinosaki Drive - Part 1

2 Autumns ago we decided to bring J to Japan for one good holiday before he starts primary 1. Our HK friends joined us for this trip as they always wanted to travel around Japan with us as we speak Japanese and can order nicer food and bring them around with more ease.

The plan was to meet up in Osaka, pick-up the car and then make a quick stop in Nara before checking-in to Kyoto. From there we will travel to Hida-Takayama, Shirakawago, Kanazawa, Kinosaki, finally a quick detour to Takeda Castle before returning the car in Osaka. The total distance traveled for this trip was at least 1,000km.



Day 1
We took the afternoon SQ flight to Osaka-Kansai as Grandma is with us on this trip so we want to take it as easy as possible. By the time we reached Kansai Airport, it was already 9pm. By the time we reached Namba it was already past 10pm. Our HK friends met us at the station and walked with us back to the hotel. Along the way I grabbed a few snacks from Dotonbori before the stalls closed for the night~

Gyoza to fill the tummy~

What's Osaka without takoyaki?

Dotonbori late at night~

This trip we stayed at Ibis Style Osaka. it's around 15 minutes from Namba Station and located near enough to all the action @ Dotonbori.



Day 2
Early next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, and the restaurant for the hotel was on the top floor of the building and it was a glorious morning~ The buffet spread was decent enough for a business hotel but the queue can be pretty long!