the japanese alps

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click for map!

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off we went to takayama, an old town which we used as a gateway to the japanese alps. even though we were told that it was peak season, the place was practically deserted, and all the old streets with traditional architecture that had been converted to shopfronts like everywhere else in the world were either closed or only pretending to be open.

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we stayed in a hostel that was attached to a buddhist temple (zenjoji). the monk was away, so the guy running the place said that we could use the monk's sleeping quarters if we were keen. we were keen. it turned out that the sleeping quarters were the altar itself and the few tatami mats in front of it, so we just threw a few mattresses out and pulled a curtain so people couldn't see us. i wonder if two men sleeping together on a buddhist altar amounts to sacrilege? behind a thin veil of acceptance, we all know that buddhism is as misogynistic and homophobic as the rest of them. incidentally, when we tried to take a photo of the two of us in the temple, g turned into a wispy spiritual being - caught on camera!
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underneath the altar was a circular maze into which one could descend by some steep wooden stairs. it was pitch black in there - but if one followed the wall around and kept their hands receptive, they might find a metal lock attached to a door leading to an inner sanctum. finding that lock assured that the person would find happiness in this life. we both found that lock baby!

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then it was time to head up into the alps themselves - the reason we'd come up to takayama in the first place. we took a series of buses up to kamikochi and then did a fairly easy 10km loop either side of the asuza river.

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it rained the whole way there and back, but that only served to make the hike more excitement!
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for myself it was another private victory on the bung leg front.
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the whole way we were surrounded by forested peaks covered in a shifting blanket of mist and cloud. there was a magical feeling to the area, not in the sense of believing something for which there is no evidence, but in the sense of being awestruck by the beauty of what actually exists.
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back in takayama we went to a traditional merchant's house and a village of transplanted or recreated traditional buildings around an ornamental lake. they were so boring we were ready to gouge each others' eyes out.

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here's a video of g doing the single most interesting thing at the folk village hida-no-sato.
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this food collage shows 90% of our travel diet in japan - 1L fruit water, green tea icecream and chocolate snacks that were supposed to last all the way to the next town but were invariably devoured within the first five minutes of boarding any train. incidentally, this rare photo of g shows him doing his 'i've been a nasty cunt but now i'm going to be irresistably cute and you won't be able to help not just forgiving me but being totally smitten' pose. works every time god damn it.
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and then it was time to get back to tokyo and springboard it over to kansai for a while. join us next time for some pottsie adventures!

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