Takayama, Japan

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It was a beautiful, but hot day in Takayama. After breakfast, we wandered around the old town. There were two markets to see- one very small, local produce and the other, more touristy and commercial products. We prioritised these first as they were only on in the morning.



We sampled Taiyaki, a fish- shaped sweet snack, cooked from a batter and filled with various fillings (we tried the chocolate, custard and cheese). They were tasty. We also tried so many more samples of sugar coated peanuts, in more flavours than imaginable. We bought some as a gift of the plum wine ones (our favourite).



I bought some lovely handbags, cloth, sweets, snack, liqueur, sake and more for gifts for people at home. We had a lovely day, meandering around the old town. It was a beautiful area. We went into a Tatami factory where a couple were making them, then binding them with a decorative border. It was incredible how neat and tidy they were and that it was completed with precision; and incredibly quickly.

We visited a couple of temples (there were many in the town) and gardens and did some shopping- I discovered Uni Qlo- fabulous shop. I managed to increase my luggage by 3kg with clothes and shoes that day.

We went to a restaurant for an early dinner, where we ate Japanese steak. Marcus was desperate to eat Hida beef, which he sampled ona skewer during the day, but I preferred Australian beef. Our dinner was very nice-large sizzlers with salad. My muscles were grateful for the protein (and were still still).



It had been an extaordinarily hot day and, despite much water and cold drinks and ice-cream, the air-conditioning gave us some reprieve. the flooring in our room was tatami mat and we slept on futons. Thankfully, I was able to double mine up so it was much softer. My aching body was in heaven as I fell into a deep sleep.

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