Float, float on....

We arrived in Takayama late afternoon to the rain & cold. Our accommodation was the Country Hotel, an oddly chosen name, given that it was right in the centre of town.  The only room we could get was a smoking one. It smelt ok, however smoke seemed to permeate throughout the rest of the hotel , giving the impression that every other guest was a chain smoker.  We had a walk around the narrow streets but the weather meant our hearts weren't in it so we sought relief in ‘YU Japanese Bar’ where we were greeted like old friends by the owner & his wife who spoke excellent English. Mr L enjoyed what he declared to be the best pale ale yet, whilst I sampled the local sake served in a wooden square cup on a dish. They were excellent hosts & generously plied us with delicacies & nibbles to accompany our drinks whilst sharing information on the different types of saki.
Fortunately the weather improved the next day so we were able to explore this relaxed  town with its very traditional styled buildings & then climb the hills that surround it, from which we could see the snow topped mountains of the northern alps. Then rather randomly we decided to go bowling. Well why not. We caused a little stir but with plenty of pointing & nodding we were ready to go. Unsurprisingly Mr L beat me by a hefty margin but it was good fun & we finished the evening off with an Indian meal - for a change. The real purpose of our visit to Takayama though was to go hiking in Kamikochi, in the northern Japan Alps. The area is closed during winter & had only opened up a week prior our arrival, but there was still plenty of snow around. In fact a number of the trails were still closed. As a consequence it was v v cold. Two coats worth of cold. But the sun was blue & the views (sorry I'm talking about views again) were lovely & the glaciers very impressive. Frank Josef glacier eat your heart out!  We spent a lovely day there & it was good to fill our lungs with some clean fresh air before we returned to smokers paradise hotel. 
We were delighted to learn that by complete fluke our visit coincided with the Takayama Festival of Floats. There are normally 2 festivals each year where one half then the other half of the 23 floats from this town, are paraded but it seemed they were having an additional ‘super’ festival where all the floats were to be paraded at the same time. It started early so we were able to watch some of the 2 day event before getting back on the train.  The floats are huge wooden ornamental structures on wheels, highly decorated with carved wood, gold embellishments & tapestries. On the top of the floats children played drums or recorders.  They are stored in huge garages & to pull them onto the street takes a team of 12-20 men. Each float is supported by a different group of men in different traditional costumes. We watched several being pulled into position then, when they were out all the men from each group gathered around their float & drank beer or sake to celebrate their achievement. It was approx 10am. Well deserved I'd say. It wasn't really clear to us what was happening as some floats were left on the street & others were pulled through the street in a parade, alongside groups of drummers, men dressed as dragons & local dignitaries, but whatever was going on it was an impressive colourful sight & we were glad to have been there to see it before heading to the train station.

After more than 7 months away & our flight home now booked, we are both excited & sad that our travels are coming to an end. Too soon for reflections – there are still a few weeks left – but wanted to say thanks for following us. Each blog has attracted over 90 hits & with this being the 63rd It's amazing you have stuck with us for so long. We haven't had any comments for a while so hope you are still enjoying these ramblings & the song titles too.