Shirakawa-go, Japan

Another of the stops we had roughly planned when we started researching Japan, this is a traditional village in the mountains. The houses are still lived in by residents, and the fields still worked as normal - but now it's a major tourist stop with buses and coaches coming and going frequently.

We got there in the morning, and although it was still busy it wasn't overun (yet). The houses were so cute, but it was still the mountain backdrop which stole the show. It wasn't AS impressive as Kamikochi, but still stunningly beautiful to see.

We enjoyed a traditional lunch here, sat on the floor as we were too embarrassed to ask if they had seated tables, and then enjoyed an award winning pudding that lived up to its reputation.

A thoroughly enjoyable day out, we escaped on a bus after lunch as we noticed just how busy it was starting to get.Read more