Golden Week Road Trip - Day 3

So I've been sleeping in my car at night...but where? At 道の駅 michi-no-eki (literally, road station). There are michi-no-ekis planted around Japan at regular intervals. You can even pick up free michi-no-eki road maps, showing the major roads and michi-no-ekis in the region. The michi-no-ekis have a large free carpark, clean public toilets, restaurants and souvenir shops (sometimes onsens too!). There were many others sleeping overnight in their cars at the michi-no-eki too (but their cars are usually luxurious MPVs or campervans).

My "neighbour" packing up the next morning...they'd set up a tent and were drinking all night.

白川郷 Shirakawago

Very close to Gokayama, this is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring Gassho Zukuri houses. Shirakawago has a different feel from Gokayama. It is more of an actual working village with more activity than Gokayama, which has more of an open-air museum feel set amidst dramatic mountain landscapes. I liked both, and I can't say one's better than the other like how you can't say if an apple is better than an orange.

View of Shirakawago from 城山展望台 Shiroyama Tenbodai

The manhole cover shows what the town is known for

Main street lined with gassho zukuri houses turned into souvenir shops

Man patching the thatched roof of a small shed

Walking around town was nice, but it was very crowded...I even saw a car from Okayama (very far down south, near Hiroshima)

Kanda House, open for public viewing

Wada House (big!), also open for public viewing

Crossing the long suspension bridge...

to the open-air Heritage Museum

which has many gassho zukuri houses on display...

including a soba-making workshop, where you can try making soba...
and some souvenir shops

高山 Takayama

First stop, lunch! One of the famous food items Takayama is known for is Hida soba. His is the name of the district Takayama and Shirakawago is in. I had a platter for 5 small bowls of Hida soba with different toppings (clockwise from bottom left: seaweed, fried prawn, grated yam and raw quail's egg, simmered sardine and mountain vegetables). Verdict: Tastes like normal soba to me!

The streets were decked out for a festival

I ran into the lion dance troope (part of the festivities) further down the street. These lions were smaller (2-men) than the ones I saw in Takaoka (5-men).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggzm8hIYt2U

Picturesque red bridge leading to...
古い町並 Furui-machi-nami (Old private houses).

Many are now shops selling souvenirs, traditional crafts, sake or restaurants...but one's a dentist!
Many people choose to take a rickshaw tour

Bumped into some tired children also taking part in the festival.
Teahouse near 城山公園 Shiroyama Park...

which is a busy park with many people playing games...

or having picnics and BBQs

Lots of temples and shrines in the Shiroyama Park area.

For dinner, I had the other food items Takayama is famous for - 飛騨牛 Hida beef with 朴葉味噌 Hoba miso (miso paste with shiitakae mushrooms, onions, etc. roasted over a fire on a hoba (magnolia) leaf)! The beef was good! But very expensive.

My onsen for that night was ひだまりの湯 Hidamari-no-yu. Fantastic place! Huge...basically a spa. There's a walking bath (for exercise), beauty bath, bath of the day, outdoor bath, individual outdoor bath. Great post-onsen facilities too - massage services, a restaurant, a manga room, a movie room, sleeping room, and TV room. When you check in, they give you a locker key with a barcode on it that you can slip on your wrist. All charges incurred from the restarant, vending machine or massage centre will be charged to your account using the barcode and you pay when you leave.