Day 9 Kanazawa and Shirakawa-Go
We woke to a glorious sunny day. The locals warned us that
that this area gets heavy rain and this week of sunny weather is unusual. Breakfast
was a banquet that extended over four rooms. The staff were very solicitous of
us escorting and explaining endlessly. Honestly, if you couldn’t find something
the tickled your taste buds then you were probably just being awkward. All
tastes, Asian and European were catered for.
The solicitous attention extended to the taxi driver, who on
hearing us comment about the weather, downloaded a local weather report and passed her phone back to us. She knew
exactly where to drop us off. That was the end of the smooth passage, as the
tour companies all took their tour passengers from the same place and there was
mass confusion as to which bus to get on. No-one would answer a question unless
you stood in a long line, then you would find that you had to go to some other
line. This went on and on, till finally we boaded bus 11 with a cheerful young
man that was our tour guide. We were much luckier than Liz and her family who
had their tour cancelled without any warning.
The trip out to the UNESCO heritage village was wonderfully
smooth. We drove through an area known for its high rice production and the
landscape was incredibly green. Up on the hills we could just see some of the
autumn colours coming through in the distance. In a couple of weeks, those
hills will be ablaze with yellow and red.
The village is still a working place with 120 homes. Each one
was carefully preserved. Even the thatched roofs were maintained. We saw photos
of midwinter here and the houses are almost totally swallowed up by snow. The
whole village was soon swamped with tourists as this was a three day holiday
for the locals. We had arrived by 9 so we had got a long walk in before the car park filled and the shops had opened
by 10. Still, when we went to get a bit of food at 11, the lines were very
long. I got a stick of freshly BBQd wagyu beef and then we bought a Japanese potato
cake to have on the bus during the return trip. Johnny is a creature of habit and couldn't stop looking for a coffee and cake place. We felt sorry for the cars that arrived at the village after us and after an hour and a half drive, had another hour’s wait to get into the crowded
car park.
The returning bus dropped us off an hour and a half later near
the castle in Kanazawa. Rather than going straight in, we got some ice creams
and headed into the Geisha district. On the way over, next to the river, we
diverted to walk through the cluster of tea houses that lined the river walk
and the nearby streets. The geisha district was so interesting. The whole
little enclave of houses, shops and temples had been preserved. The locals have
a strange but lovely tradition. Some couples come down to the kimono rental
shops, select their kimonos and undertake the walking tour in costume. It’s so
nice. We took a winding route through the laneways, eventually ending up at the
street that led us over the bridge and back to the castle. Again, the area was
heavy with tourist traffic. On the way back the castle we passed a vast specialist confectioner. This was the sort of place that makes Johnny's heart flutter. They even had a museum that included all the moulds they had used since the Edo dynasty. Only Johnny could think this was astonishing and wondrful.
Even though the feet were throbbing by this time, there was still more to see so we walked back over the bridge to the castle precinct. This covered an enormous area and consisted of many buildings. There was a massive restoration program in place to rebuild one of the major palace buildings that had come down during an earthquake.
While our plan was to then go through the magnificent Kenroku-en garden opposite the castle, there was just no more fuel left in the tank and we headed back to the hotel for a rest and a call home, before setting out for dinner.
After last night we thought we would be super organised. We went out early. We knew where we were going and what we wanted to order. Can you believe it. They were booked out. Bloody public holiday! We tried several others nearby and they were either booked out or just closing. This time, we had some idea about other options so we found a sprawing basement place, and they had a table! We ordered two steaming bowls of ramen and they tasted delicious. Beer was the perfect accompanyment. Then it was back to the hotel to pack for an early start tomorrow. We are off to Kyoto by train, with a change of trains from shinkansen to Limired Express Thunderbird at Tsuruga.
