J-hoppers was the name of the hostel I was at. Had the room to myself for a change the previous night, so took the luxury of sleeping in late. Rise and shine, and a quick coffee and toast later, I headed to the much acclaimed morning markets vi the old part of town which still had the traditional style streets and houses. Was a pleasant sight to see narrows streets with cute little souvenir shops, paper shops and small food shops, with the owners apparnently living on the next floor right above the stores.
Purchased a small green 'see no evil' frog and a black sesame, red bean steamed bun for lunch. The morning markets reminded me of a small town Indian bazaar - a few stalls with fresh food and vegetables and some ready to eat foods. Not much compared to the hype - the fact that it was not a weekend had something to do with it perhaps.
Moved on to the Hida Folk Village after - it was a village dating back 500 years , recreated by physically moving the grass thatched houses of the workers, the miners, the blacksmiths etc from the mountains to Hida to educate people about the regions rich past and culture. Wooden houses , double thatched roofs that could support 2m of snow on them in winter, huge hearths where the fire for cooking burnt , an iron blocker for stopping the Sparks and smoke from filling the house. And a clothes line above the fire to dry the clothing that was wash d by hand at the back. There were many silk making machines as the area was rich in silkworms and that was a big trade item. There was also a special storage room for miso.
All in all - a place that took me back in history for a little while.
Onwards to Kanazawa - where kenrouken lay - one of the 3 most famous landscaped gardens in Japan. And here's the anti climax - I was huge disappointed at the first impression of the place and it was all downhill from there. The place seemed so old and dated back in time, plus it was very I rudimentary - no decorations , no frills , just some 400 year old trees, some stone bridges, some non commentable fountains and ponds and that was it. I was taken aback at the strangeness of the lackadaisical 'best" garden , that too in Japan - the land of zen gardens. Oh well - you can't win them all.
And with that sentiment, headed back to Kyoto.
Purchased a small green 'see no evil' frog and a black sesame, red bean steamed bun for lunch. The morning markets reminded me of a small town Indian bazaar - a few stalls with fresh food and vegetables and some ready to eat foods. Not much compared to the hype - the fact that it was not a weekend had something to do with it perhaps.
Moved on to the Hida Folk Village after - it was a village dating back 500 years , recreated by physically moving the grass thatched houses of the workers, the miners, the blacksmiths etc from the mountains to Hida to educate people about the regions rich past and culture. Wooden houses , double thatched roofs that could support 2m of snow on them in winter, huge hearths where the fire for cooking burnt , an iron blocker for stopping the Sparks and smoke from filling the house. And a clothes line above the fire to dry the clothing that was wash d by hand at the back. There were many silk making machines as the area was rich in silkworms and that was a big trade item. There was also a special storage room for miso.
All in all - a place that took me back in history for a little while.
Onwards to Kanazawa - where kenrouken lay - one of the 3 most famous landscaped gardens in Japan. And here's the anti climax - I was huge disappointed at the first impression of the place and it was all downhill from there. The place seemed so old and dated back in time, plus it was very I rudimentary - no decorations , no frills , just some 400 year old trees, some stone bridges, some non commentable fountains and ponds and that was it. I was taken aback at the strangeness of the lackadaisical 'best" garden , that too in Japan - the land of zen gardens. Oh well - you can't win them all.
And with that sentiment, headed back to Kyoto.
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