The Adventures of Eloise and Abbey: Takayama

Takayama is a town in the mountainous Hida region and we chose to visit as it is one of a few cities that still have a traditional touch with a very well preserved old town.

Takayama Old Town

Being in the Hida region, Takayama is also famous for its Hida beef and we had previously tried their steam beef buns and to our delight there were a number of shops that specialised in these beef buns

Our favourite lunch in Takayama .... Beef Buns!

One of the attractions just outside of Takayama is the Hida Folk Village which is a fantastic open air museum show casing originals of the 'praying hands' grass huts from the area. An added bonus was all the autumn leaves surrounding the village.

Checking out the insides of the roof

Another attraction in Takayama was the Higashiyama Walk which starts in the old town and was a pleasant 3.5km walk/stroll that took us through the city's 'suburbs' past some temples and to Shiroyama Park which was on a wooded hill on the former site of Takayama Castle.

Exploring the burbs of Takayama

Snack stop

The walk took us through some abandoned buildings

At the top of the hill there was a great a playground and a homely looking café selling yakitori sticks and green tea ... which was a perfect snack on a cold day.

The walk downhill back to town took us past a few more shrines and magnificent autumn leaves.

Back in Takayama I discovered during my morning run a great and incredibly cheap sushi train restaurant where all the locals go for sushi. Luckily we had a car that could take us there and allow us to eat like a local ! We ate until we could not eat anymore and the total bill was around $50!

Look how many we've eaten so far!

One of our day trips from Takayama was to the nearby town of Hida Furikawa which like Takayama has preserved the atmosphere of the Edo period. Its a town with canals that are filled with carps.