Traveling to Japan : 飛騨 Hida, 長野 Nagano, 箱根 Hakone
Hi everyone.
December is here! Hope you all are having a safe and fun time for holidays. It has been grey and dark in the past weeks but finally got some sun and people on the streets look pretty happy. I love when it's sunny and the air is cold and crisp. Hope we get many sunny days this winter.
I haven't forgotten to write about my trip to Japan. I was taking too much time to choose the photos to put on my blog :)
After the beautiful time in Kyoto, my friend and I headed to Nagoya, picked up a car. Then headed to Hida, Gifu.
宮川 高山市 Miya river in Takayama city
飛騨山脈 Hida mountains
This is a memorable place in Japan for me. My parents grew up in this beautiful village in the mountains.
I remember that we took a couple of trains to get there from my hometown of Saitama to Gifu and it takes a whole day. Once we got there, we stayed at my grand parents and shared time with family. My grand parents used to live in the mountain which is a 15min. ride from the village. I remember that I enjoyed playing around. Picked up some vegetables, went in the woods, ran with my uncle's dog... making rice cakes on New years day. I was looking for those special family times every year. Since it is far from Saitama, we only go there once a year during Summer vacation or New years day.
It was over 15 years ago that I visited last time. I still have some family living there but haven't have a chance to go back.
I was glad to have an opportunity to go back there this time. It was on our way to Matsumoto, Nagano so I didn't visit my aunts and uncles but stayed one night in Takayama city.
It is an old yet beautiful, quiet and peaceful place. It is surrounded by green beautiful mountains. Every morning, the local farmers come down to the city and open the market.
This place is well known for hot springs. We hit a public hot spring and had a great relaxing stay there.
宮川朝市 Miya river morning market
中橋 高山市 Naka bridge in Takayama city
酒屋 高山市 In front of a liquor store 高山市 Somewhere in Takayama city
Next day, we drove to Matsumoto, Nagano to meet one of my friends and her lovely newborn girl. We had a lunch at a Macrobiotic cafe in the middle of the golden rice field. The food was made with so much love and passion. I really appreciate their work and hospitality.
安曇野市 Somewhere in Azumino city in Nagano
一絲 ito Special lunch plates at the macrobiotic cafe Ito
一絲 ito Japanese curry with summer veggies at the macrobiotic cafe Ito
諏訪湖 Suwa lake in Nagano
The end of the first part of my trip to Japan with hot springs in Hakone, Kanagawa. Hakone is very popular hot spring place from people who live in Tokyo. Because of the easy access and so nourishing by seafood and nature besides Mount Fuji. We picked a Japanese style hotel that had a private hot spring. We stayed two nights there to nourish our mind and body. We went up to Mount Hakone to see Owakudani which was closed for 15 months from last year. Active volcanic activity continues on Mount Hakone. By the way, Mt. Fuji was very shy so we didn't have a chance to see the top of the mountain.
箱根登山鉄道 Hakone Tozan railway 箱根神社 Hakone shrine
箱根 大平台 In a foggy morning at Hakone Ohiradai
箱根 大涌谷 Owakudani in Hakone
After the relaxing days, we went back to Tokyo. I stayed in Tokyo for a couple of days. Then headed to the west again to see my friends and their family.
箱根神社 Hakone shrine
Love and gratitude,
Maya xx