Travel days and bullet trains.

We have 2 travel days. When I planned the trip I realized that going from Takayama to Kyoto was either going to take a several hour train trip or we could divide the trip into 2 parts and travel on our first day to Kanazawa overnight and continue onto Kyoto the next day. The trips on both days went very smoothly. I was a little worried as we had to transfer from one train to another but everything was well signed in the stations and I had chosen schedules that allowed us at least 20 to 30 minutes between connections. The only other confusion with the trip was the number of tickets that one received for the trip. There was a basic fare ticket, two reservation tickets and one ticket for riding the bullet train. One had to enter different combinations of these tickets into the various turnstiles that one encounters. Earlier in the trip I had entered the wrong tickets and they had become stuck in one of the turnstiles which caused some duress. Thank goodness for google Gemini. Gemini was able to explain all of the transfer steps and which tickets should be used at which transfer site and on entering the stations. Priceless help.

We rode on some bullet trains which were very fast and those segments with the bullet trains just flew by. Having travelled on fast trains in Europe, it wasn't a totally unique experience but still very fun. The interesting phenomenon I noticed on the trains was how quickly people get on and off. These trains run on time and people are all typically lined up to get off the train before it is stopped.

We didn't arrive in Kanazawa until around 2 pm. Our Air BnB was chosen because it was a whole house very close to the train . We decided we only had time for one thing in Kanazawa so we settled on the Kenrokuen garden rated Japanese 3rd most beautiful garden. We wandered around taking in the beauty of the garden. Many of the tree branches had grown very long and were propped up by only faintly visible poles. That's the secret of how the Japanese are able to get that appearance to their trees in their gardens. After one circuit of the garden we started to fade. We left the garden for a drink and snack hoping to be revived but afterwards just decided to head back to our Air BnB. We hadn't made any decision regarding supper but that decision was made for us when we returned to the accommodation. Just down the street from us was this Ramone noodle restaurant that opened at 5:30. By 5 there was a line up already starting. We got in the line at 5:15 and had to wait to get into the restaurant but had a great Ramon bowl for supper. Always a good sign when the locals are lining up for a restaurant.

The next day we headed back to the station and headed on to Kyoto. While at the Kanazawa train station we noticed a digital water clock that sprayed little jets of water to show the date and to show greetings. It was very neat. Our trip to Kyoto was pretty uneventful. Our train was a little delayed from a suicide on the track earlier in the day. I can just imagine how a body would look if it was hit by a trip. Well I am a pathologist so I do think about these things.

We managed our train transfers and tickets well and arrived at 1 pm and we're met at our Air BnB by our host YoYo. We are staying in a traditional 100 year old Japanese house.The kitchen isn't really in the house but to the side of the house kind of as a transition from outside to inside. There are bedrooms upstairs requiring navigating some very steep steps. All the furniture in the house requires one to sit on the floor. To access the bath, shower and toilet one has to go outside into the garden. It is very unique. It is not a simple trip if one has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. One has to navigate down the steep stairs, down again into the kitchen, through the kitchen and then into the back yard. It goes without saying that I left a few lights on overnight to navigate this perilous journey to the bathroom. The other nice thing about our accommodation is that it is in a non-touristy part of town which is pretty unique as Kyoto seems pretty touristy. It was nice to walk around after supper and take in the true experience of living in JapanRead more