Backpacking in Japan 日本は好き

I woke up on time in the morning but just being very lazy to travel on bus again. Somemore have to find the way to get the tickets to go to my destination. Decided to cut cost not to go to the planned destination.

I decided to go to market for a look to see how was the Japanese market :)

This bridge was introduced and recommended in the brochure for tourists. It was just painted in red and nothing special

Luckily I decided not to walk here last night

This is the market!!! Speechless ~

Changed to other place...go to have a cup of free sake ^^

It was free + I am a alcoholic. Pretty hard for me to say no to this temptation :P

First time, sake became my breakfast!

Be patience, listening to the explanation first to qualify for the free sake ~
I didn't understand what she was trying to say. My brain was full of sake sake and sake

Jiang jiang, time for the drinks!

Don't be too thick skin, better said bye bye after free testing.

Here wasn't free, you needed to pay for each cup of sake you ordered

Alright, went to next sake factory for free testing :P

Actually sake was good to drink in winter especially for the skinny people like me :P

Haha, please eat something in addition to the alcohol ^^

Not a proper meal but better than not eating anything. Consisted of all sorts of flavour like chocolate, black sesame, red beans...

This seems to be famous local snacks, tried one! the taste was really

Sarubobo :)
Dolls type amulet (O.o)
I suddenly feel like I want to sing Hamasaki Ayumi's "Dolls"

The brochure said this place was also a tourist attraction. But the building seems like abandon and the temple also closed to the public (=.=?)

Went for lunch. Lunch set was cheap

I read from a book saying that certain place serve ramen together with rice partly because of the ramen is quite salty. I like white rice (^.^ ) but i don't like pickle...

No more places to visit! Such a boring town :P

In the end I have to surrender to revert to my original plan. Went to Takayama station to see if i can get the tickets there.

Information online did not reveal that I can easily get the tickets at the train station! Today was such a good weather to go up to the hill >.<
I also missed the bus and have to wait for one hour!!! I aware that most of tourist attractions were closed for business very early. As such, I decided to try up onsen for my very first time.

What?!!! The free onsen came together with the ticket was closed! It was only 4.30pm! I didn't see any attraction here. All were onsen and have to pay

Tried my luck and walked around this place to see any hidden interest of the area. I found this --

free for my feet soaking :)

Then free onsen behind the shrine

So happened that there was one local, a pretty young lady went in together with me. I quietly took off my winter cloth, pretending that I was also the local. The lady was pretty fast to be ready to go into onsen. Then I realised I didn't have small towel, I decided to give up of my first trial. I also surprised to see the young lady and a number of old ladies.

Friends, go ahead to try the onsen and feel then you will be able to understand what am I surprised of

"Final" destination -- Shirakawago

When the bus passed by many other housing area then only I realised I underestimate the size of Gokayama. Again, I was the only person in the bus, I fell sleep on the way to Shirakawago. When I woke up I saw the bus went pass a place bears the name - Shirakawago, I was very panic and pressed the bell to get off from the bus. The bus had to stop at the next bus stop. I was really upset, walking wasn't a problem but walking with two heavy bags during winter was a big problem! But the bus driver was so kind, he asked me my destination, informed me that I not yet reached Shirakawago. Shirakawago still have long way to go! BUT the bus fare stop 'jumping' any more ^^ (I have paid the bus fare when he asked me, it wasn't cheap. Almost 2,000 yen!!!)

Many tourists on the road when i reached Shirakawago ( ^_^)／やぁ！

Many people said they don't like Shirakawago because it was commercialised. But I like this place and I like the crowd after not seeing crowd for the whole day :P

Compare to two other village, here have more houses and they were more concentrated.

I was trying to walk to the viewing deck. I walked very long and I was very hungry and tired. I only ate the free bread and coffee in the hotel for the whole day to right with this cruel weather ~

Viewing deck is too far, i think i can only stay on the viewing deck for 5minutes even i can reach there.

I gave up walking after half an hour. And the last bus went up to the viewing deck also saying bye bye to me ＿|￣|○

Missed the opportunity!

Suddenly i saw him running around on the snow. When I looked at him, he ran away from me. Then I tried to wait for him to come out again. He came out after 2minutes ^^
I took a lot of photos and videos then only he realised I was there stared at him :P
He tried to hide again ~(=^・・^)

He was really dangerous. Jumping from the roof of the house ＼(>o<)／ギャーッ！

I wasn't the only one scared by his 'action movie'. All the tourists also got the shock

I walked to the bus station very early. The museum in this village more expensive and I think the artifacts in the museum will be almost same as the previous two villages. Nothing else for me to see, and I cannot miss the last bus to out. I have tried to book a minshu here but one night went up to minimum 8,000 yen! And they were fully booked! Left the room up to 12,000 yen! If i missed the bus, I don't know whether i can find a room in this peak season.

Finally i spent some money to buy warm food to eat. It was just a snack but not an ordinary meal ~

さよなら白川乡

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It was almost 8pm when i arrived at Takayama. I didn't know the exact location of the hostel! I thought it should be somewhere near to the train station but NO

Where to find the hostel

Luckily due to touristic hotspot, there were many hostel along the road. I stood outside those hostel to "borrow" the free wi-fi to find the address of the hostel and tracked the location with google map. Thanks to the wi-fi and the smartphone advanced technology!

There was a french guy in the dorm, he was a student studying Japanese language. Not many things to chat and I have to hunt for my first proper meal of the day! My shoes were wet due to the snow, it was great that they provided the rain boots though they were too big for me. Freezing cold air again ~ almost all the shops were closed. I walked for almost 1 hour then only decide to eat in this shop.