4:55 pm: Stranded, well not so much stranded but our travels have definitely halted. The Japan trip travels have taken a mild hiccup. I wrote this post whilst being stuck at Inotani Station. Up until now most of our impromptu traveling has gone quite smoothly. We should have known the minute we boarded the train. It wasn't technically even a train! More of a small 2 carriage transportation which actually in my opinion resembled more of a tram. So here we are. In the sticks. Whoop-Whoop. Nothingness. The station is literally in the middle of nowhere. Single platform station with a single track that goes back and forth. The train tracks run in between two constructs. The first is the train platform and the second is a poor excuse for a bus depot. When I say bus depot what I actually mean is an old shanty, doorless shelter that houses a couple of books, customary vending machines, old sun worn benches. Oh and I forgot to mention that there's Japan's Most wanted criminal posters plastered everywhere. Very unsettling. Currently waiting for an interconnecting bus to the next station where we're planning to board another train to Takayama. This better be worth it.
The day started with out final breakfast at New Osaka Hotel. Today we had scheduled a Kanazawa/Takayama day drip. The day hasn't gone to script. Catching the JR line to Kanazawa was quite simple. What we thought would be a simple trip from Kanazawa to Takayama wasn't the simple train journey we had fore casted. 5 hours of travel time. BIG SIGH.
The TIC lady gave us a thorough detail of things to to in Kanazawa. Unfortunately due to time constraints we needed to get to Takayama by nightfall. That left us with exactly 1 hour to explore Kanazawa. We called this part of the trip "rapid fire K" or Kanazawa in a nutshell. The main attraction was Kenronken Gardens supposedly one of the top 3 gardens in japan. Meh, nothing glamorous, top 3, really? This led to more inane photo commentary.
73 photos remaining, better transfer some over to the Gigabeat tonight. We were in and out of Kanazawa quite quickly and boarded the first train we could find at 1:00 pm. Proceeded to catch the first train we could find to Takayama. The train was PACKED! School kids everywhere. I felt like the biggest inconvenience to the other commuters. My luggage took up so much standing space and I was constantly having to shift and move my luggage for passengers. Train ride was through some beautiful Japanese backdrops. I alone only shared these sentiments as everybody else on the train probably passed these settings day in and day out. What we thought was a direct train to Takayama wasn't to be, a one of the train staff at Inotani station went through the carriages and informed us that this train was heading back to where we had just come from. So we got off. Here we are in Inotani waiting for the bus. 5:05, ten minutes left. I accidental left my umbrella back at Osaka, just hope it doesn't rain. Least my Gigabeat is charging.
Right before the bus was due to arrive a busload of European tourists got off. At least we were heading in the right direction, the tourists knew what they were doing. The bus arrived and we jumped on. I slept majority of the bus trip, but what i did see was amazing. Beautiful Japanese country side. I'm pretty sure we still had to catch another train before we got to Takayama. Arrived at Takayama just before sunset and proceeded to look for overnight accommodation. As usual we referred to the LP for advice. It recommended Richshaw Inn, a Ryokan nearby the station. Took a while to find the joint infuriatingly it was booked out. We had failed to take the advice of "book well in advance". Dammit! It looked so nice as well. Ended up resorting to Country Hotel which was very nice, we opted for the larger room for an extra 25 bucks a night. It was made even bigger because the room we were given was fitted with the emergency escape crane gizmo. After settling in we ducked downstairs for dinner and grabbed some Hide beef. Very delish!
11:35 pm: Finally in hotel. We're waiting for clothing to dry downstairs, second session of drying. Hotel has laundrette so we stuffed all our dirty clothes into the washer. Still damp after one drier run. Finally booked Tokyo accommodation (so we thought) staying at a place called the Kent. Takayama has been pretty disappointing so far. Although the train ride was awe inspiring! I'm over blogging for today...
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