Narai

From Takayama we drove towards Narai through what felt like miles and miles of tunnels, showcasing Japanese engineering at its best!  Narai is a tiny little town town in the Kiso Valley and we could not drive all the way there so we dropped off the car at the nearest large town and caught the train for the remainder of the journey.  

Tunnels through the Japan Alps 

This is how the girls entertained themselves throughout all our train trips

During the Edo period, Narai was the half way point between Kyoto and Edo for travellers along the Nakasendo route.  Narai, has well restored old buildings and it felt like we had travelled back in time. 

We stayed at a traditional minshuku (Japanese rooms) and we loved the tatami mats and futons. Dinner and breakfast was also provided as part of the board and what a feast dinner and breakfast was!

In front of our minshuku

We all slept in the one room on futons laid out on the tatami mats 

Playing dress-ups

Dinner was provided by our hosts and it was a beautifully presented three course meal. 

At night the streets of Narai is so very quiet. 

Breakfast is also served by our hosts and its again another great presentation and where fish is on the menu!

Our Japanese breakfast in Narai

We had a couple of hours to kill whilst we waited for our train to Tsumago so we walked around town again and took some more snaps.