tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31269946935939624132011-04-21T16:00:00.169-07:00lee's_trip_to_japanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11074148856284725896noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126994693593962413.post-17184673336144184212007-04-12T01:06:00.000-07:002007-04-12T01:11:09.049-07:00We only stopped here for a night. Ryokan Meiryu was nowhere near as nice as the Takeyama ryokan - might possibly have something to do with being a larger city?<br /><br />Highlight: Nagoya Castle (7 floor castle rebuilt from scratch after WW2 bombing)! Pretty impressive!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3126994693593962413-1718467333614418421?l=leeandkerrystriptojapan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>lee's_trip_to_japanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11074148856284725896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126994693593962413.post-69488081651181117402007-04-12T00:39:00.000-07:002007-04-12T01:27:50.784-07:00This was where Weh and I went initially, staying in a ryokan. I really enjoyed it, although, as it was my only experience of a smaller town in Japan, I didn't really have much for comparison.<br /><br />I really recommend staying in a ryokan (tradition inn), especially one with an onsen (hot bath), although I suspect most may have that.<br /><br />Some highlights were Hida Takayama Shunei Kaikan (lacquerware museum) and sake breweries, although these may not be unique to this town. Hida-no-Sato (Hida folk village) was decent though. Old houses that were to be demolished had been preserved and reconstructed in this area. Fairly interesting for a couple of hours...<br /><br />I also recommend stepping into a Pachinko place for a few minutes, if you happen to pass one. It's kind of like pokies crossed with vertical pinball... Quite strange, and hard to explain unless you see the oddness.<br /><br />I guess in retrospect there is not too much specific to Takayama that I know definitively makes it better than any other village, but let me know if you intend on staying there and I can provide more information. I guess we stayed there for what I thought was a good length of time (2-3 days), seeing as our overall trip was so short. But I suppose with these kind of towns there is only ever so much to do...<br /><br />One small tip: if you catch a train trip that includes several legs, and if you get numerous tiny tickets, insert them all at once into the machine. I was fooled by this for a while... :)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3126994693593962413-6948808165118111740?l=leeandkerrystriptojapan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>lee's_trip_to_japanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11074148856284725896noreply@blogger.com0