Matsomoto

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Today we left Nagano and are making our way to Takayama (though my pronouciation isn't the best and took a bit for the girl in the train station to figure out where exactly I wanted to go!) via Matsomoto.

Matsomoto isn't too far from Nagano and is lovely! We also discovered that while we had wandered around aimlessly looking for a place to celebrate beer o'clock in Nagano - it was very easy to find that in Matsomoto. Pity it was 10 am in the morning...


Matsomoto has a lovely castle - or actually a donjon. The castle is no longer there but the donjon remains. A donjon is like the defence castle. The castle had 3 moats around it and the donjon is where one of　the bridges is that cross the moat. Its a gorgeous building and grounds and the second we walked into the grounds, Japanese hospitality and friendliness once again was showcased. A volunteer guide approached us apologised for her English (which was great and obviously waaayyyy better then our Japanese) and offered to give us a tour. It was great!

The Castle dates back to the 1500's and is one of only 4 National Treasures of Japan. Aiaka (our guide and prob have spelt her name wrong) showed us through the castle, pointing out to us little defence mechanisims - such as the slots in the floor where they would through rocks at their enemies or how the windows had slats that would open and close - allowing them to reload their guns (it did take 3 them minutes). Also the hidden floor, the area where the lord would have to kill the area where the lord would have to kill himself if attacked (luckily it never happened). It was a pretty amazing building considering it's age and that it was only made of wood! the beams inside and the floors were so beautiful, and so old. Also considering how many people now must walk over them as a tourist site!


After Matsomoto it was back on the train to　Takayama. A trip that means heading towards Nagoya, only to head back up slightly more west from where we started! But the trip was worth it! The train trip from Nagoya to Takayama is through the Alps, and is spectacular! Green forests, gorges, the river and bright red bridges..．The train has massive (clean) windows so you just soak it all in...

We finally arrived in Takayama and went to our accomodation - an actual temple...

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