Kelso even joined us, and here is our room at the traditional Ryokan Murayama. We slept on futons on the tatami mats, enjoyed a soak in the ofuro, and admired the snow.
As part of our stay, we dined on a traditional Japanese dinner. Snails, baby squid, tofu, shabu shabu, rice, soba noodles, sashimi, and mountain vegetables were on the menu. Luckily, so were wine and beer!
On Saturday morning we got up, enjoyed our traditional breakfast of fish, rice and miso soup (although fish is a bit hard to stomach at 8 am we think), and headed to the morning market. There is a big market in Takayama for food, crafts, flowers etc. Here is a photo of Aaron & Kelso in front of a sake brewery, myself posing as a sarubobo doll, and the Main World Shrine in Takayama.
Then we enjoyed the scenic, curvy drive to Shirakawago. Along the way, we stopped at Mihoro Lake for this nice view:
When we arrived in Shirakawago, we went directly to the viewing point to see the view from the top. Very picturesque!
Shirakawago is a World Heritage site for its gasshō-zukuri, the thatched roof style houses. The roofs are very steep to survive the massive winter snowfalls.
Then we wrapped up our roadtrip by enjoying the various caution signs. This one warns you to watch out for monkeys!
