Takayama

We left Hakone by bus to Odawara Station, a Shinkansen to Nagoya, and a local express train for 150 minutes to Takayama situated at 573m the other side of the watershed in the Hida Mountains and surrounded by the Southern Alps at 3000m.
Most Japanese obey the instruction not to walk up or down the escalators at stations.
After checking-in at the ryokan, we went to Hida No Sato Open-Air Folk Museum where old buildings had been relocated around a lake which had carp.
We sat on the floor for dinner at the ryokan where Hida beef was cooked in a heated pot. After dinner, we played various card games but mainly pontoon (21) with small coins to make it more interesting.
There was an onsen at the ryokan as at a number of the accommodations on the holiday. Some were from hot springs and had minerals whereas others were just hot water. A few places had hot baths with silver foil on top to keep the water warm.Read more