As we made our way south from Tokyo/Hakone to Kyoto, we took a detour cum side trip to the lovely town of Takayama, in the mountainous Hida district (west of Honshu Island). The journey on the Shinkansen involves a change of trains at Nagoya. The train journey from Hakone inclusive of transfers takes about 4.5 hours, but the scenery in the Hida region is spectacular. We also discovered later that the food rivals the scenery!
One of the many beautiful gorges in the Hida district
In spring, the cherry blossoms bloom by the riverside
Upon arrival in Takayama, we made our way on foot to our hotel, The Rickshaw Inn. As mentioned in an earlier post, it makes sense in Japan to use the luggage forwarding service. The Rickshaw Inn is centrally located in town. This small narrow inn is very popular among travellers as it is clean,reasonably priced and offers a little kitchen and laundry facility.
Our Japanese room - mattress on tatami mat.
Taller individuals (6 footers and above) should be careful when exiting the bedrooms as the door is quite short. They post a notice to be careful on the outside door but not on the inside. The bedroom is spacious but the bathrooms are rather narrow, typical of Japanese hotels.
We headed out to dinner to Origin, a Japanese pub (izakaya) located close to the train station. You won't find an English signage in the front, so look out for the bamboo poles.
As you enter the pub, you will come across a bar counter. Further inside, there are more rooms for dining. Origin has English menus but the staff don't speak much English.
Before we came to Japan, we had only heard of the famous Kobe Wagyu beef. When we arrived at the Hida district, we discovered a well-kept Japanese secret - the Hida beef - titled "The best beef in Japan" at the Eighth All Japan Beef Convention". Like the Kobe beef, the breed is also the Wagyu, but raised at the Hida district. Apparently, the success of the Hida beef is thanks to one bull "yasufukugo". According to some, since the yasufukugo was born, the Hida beef has become more marbled and tasty. I have to say that the Hida beef is the best I've tasted! Our first experience with the Hida beef at this local izakaya was good, but the best was yet to come.
Hida beef on Hoba Miso (DIY grill beef with Miso sauce on magnolia leaf)
One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.
~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story
One of the many beautiful gorges in the Hida district
In spring, the cherry blossoms bloom by the riverside
Upon arrival in Takayama, we made our way on foot to our hotel, The Rickshaw Inn. As mentioned in an earlier post, it makes sense in Japan to use the luggage forwarding service. The Rickshaw Inn is centrally located in town. This small narrow inn is very popular among travellers as it is clean,reasonably priced and offers a little kitchen and laundry facility.
Our Japanese room - mattress on tatami mat.
Taller individuals (6 footers and above) should be careful when exiting the bedrooms as the door is quite short. They post a notice to be careful on the outside door but not on the inside. The bedroom is spacious but the bathrooms are rather narrow, typical of Japanese hotels.
We headed out to dinner to Origin, a Japanese pub (izakaya) located close to the train station. You won't find an English signage in the front, so look out for the bamboo poles.
As you enter the pub, you will come across a bar counter. Further inside, there are more rooms for dining. Origin has English menus but the staff don't speak much English.
Before we came to Japan, we had only heard of the famous Kobe Wagyu beef. When we arrived at the Hida district, we discovered a well-kept Japanese secret - the Hida beef - titled "The best beef in Japan" at the Eighth All Japan Beef Convention". Like the Kobe beef, the breed is also the Wagyu, but raised at the Hida district. Apparently, the success of the Hida beef is thanks to one bull "yasufukugo". According to some, since the yasufukugo was born, the Hida beef has become more marbled and tasty. I have to say that the Hida beef is the best I've tasted! Our first experience with the Hida beef at this local izakaya was good, but the best was yet to come.
Hida beef on Hoba Miso (DIY grill beef with Miso sauce on magnolia leaf)
One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.
~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story
No comments:
Post a Comment