Japan 2: Okuhida Onsen Village

Wednesday, April 2

We enjoyed a freshly prepared breakfast at the guesthouse, then we departed Shirakawa-go to our next destination. This involved the hour drive back to Takayama, then continuing another hour onwards toward Okuhida. Again, the GPS was able to take us to the Okuhida Hotel, and get us to the region, but not to any specific destination within it. The Okuhida region is supposed to be known for its hot springs, and apparently most of the hotels in this area have hot spring onsen to visit.

Okuhida...

We drove along the winding mountains road, looking specifically for the Okuhida Garden Hotel Yakedake. Well, easier said than done. And that simplified [bus] map on the Japan-guide website, not particularly helpful. The GPS did find the Okuhida Hotel for us, which looked closed so we didn’t even enter it. But on driving up the road, down the road, again and again and again, you get the point – there was no other hotels in site. The hot springs and hotels here are really well hidden!

The beautiful drive to Okuhida region

What you can’t miss however, is the Bear park. Not to mean you should visit it, in fact you probably shouldn’t. We did visit the bear park for lack of knowing what else to do in this area and, we all love to see bears. The bears here are really cute, and some will even do tricks. They do seem to schedule shows with the trained bears but we didn’t stay to watch the show, nor did we want to after seeing the facilities. 

I see it mentioned again and again on travel websites, Japan has a different attitude towards animal care than we have in western countries. I must agree. The bears were kept in bland concrete enclosures, and the seemingly sick, injured or bullied bears were kept separated in smaller barred cages. As animal welfare enthusiasts, we regretted paying this establishment money that encouraged keeping these beautiful animals under these conditions. Some of the bears were clearly trained to do tricks, because when they received human attention, they did these tricks non-stop.

The reason you can’t miss the bear park is because it’s a pretty iconic and obvious building. And more importantly, right opposite the entrance to the bear park is a small road leading steeply downhill – right to the Okuhida Garden Hotel Yakedake!! We tentatively drove down this road, at a loss for where else this place could possibly be. It’s absolutely insane how this gigantic bright blue building is impossible to see until you literally are driving into its car park. But it was so worth the search.

... and what to do at a Japanese onsen:

Entrance to the hot springs was 500Y, we brought our own towels, but they rented towels for an additional 200Y. This was the best onsen we visited during our time in Japan. I specifically looked for this one because it had a mixed gender bath. That made it a nice introduction to the onsen world because as a group we could enjoy it together, and also because you wear provided dress/shorts for the mixed gender bath. As you can see from our exasperated search for the place, it’s in a still, peaceful, middle-of-nowhere location in the mountains, adding to the serenity of the experience.

Sorry there are no photos, but that would have been impolite, to take photos in such a private setting.

So, what to do in an onsen? This question plagued my mind beforehand, because we westerners like our clothing and modesty. Well, as my friend told me when I discussed the matter with her after her experience in Japan: you get over the nudity quickly.

Okuhida Garden Hotel Yakedake had both single and mixed gender baths. You enter the bathing area through the changing room. You remove your shoes at the entrance and replace them with provided slippers. Select a basket to fill with your clothes, and undress completely in the changing room. From here you proceed to the shower area. All onsens we visited had stools to sit at, and provided liquid soap, shampoo and conditioner. You shower before and after entering the baths.

The gender-separated baths are strictly clothing free. No bathing suits, no underwear, nothing but the small dainty towel that you may balance on your head while in the water. The onsen is an addictive experience, especially given the cool temperatures in the mountains. It is truly a relaxing experience, and Okuhida’s outdoor onsen was aesthetically one of the nicer ones we visited. And we visited many.

In fact, I may as well call this trip the “Onsen Tour of Japan” because THAT’S how many onsen we visited.

On the way into the mixed-gender onsen, of course clothing is required. The hotel provides dresses for the women and shorts for the men to wear into the mixed-gender baths. There was even a small cave hot spring that had super hot water and a refreshing waterfall at the entrance.

Note that in some more formal onsen parks, the strategy for entering the bathing area is a bit different. In Kobe, we visited an onsen theme park, where at check-in they gave us robes and a towel. The etiquette in that situation was to use the first changing room to put your clothes in a locker, and put on the robes. Then, fully enrobed, we walked through a public area to the baths. Before entering the gender-separated baths we entered a second changing room, where you place the robes in lockers, and undress completely to enter the showers. That was a lot of fun to figure out, and a few Japanese women were giggling at me in the first changing room when I was confused, so hopefully this post will save someone else the same embarrassment.

Limestone Caves

On the drive back into Takayama, we stopped by a small limestone cave attraction. I recall admission being about $10-11 per person. Honestly, if you've ever seen any cave before in your life, then you can skip this one. First, there's no geological tour available in English, which I find is the main interesting thing to do when visiting a cave. Second, this particular cave was pretty underwhelming. It was underwhelming to the point where I bailed on my plans to visit Akiyoshido Cave, which is the largest limestone cave in Japan, because I didn't want to risk a day's long train ride for a similar experience to this.

Takayama

And this, is where our evening draws to a glorious end. We checked into the K's House Takayama Hostel, which provided very comfortable accommodations. There were actually quite a few families staying at the hostel in early April, probably something to do with the peak season.

But today's icing on the cake was our dinner. 

We went to Maruaki Hida Beef Restaurant for dinner. The place is run by a butcher that prepares the meat himself for yakiniku (like Korean BBQ style), sukiyaki (meat and vegetables cooked in a broth, fondue-style) and shabu shabu (thin-sliced meat boiled in water). Hida beef, is like Kobe beef, but more affordable. We ordered 2 plates of the best cuts of Hida beef and a plate of regular cuts. What came was perfectly marbled, butyraceous melt-in-mouth beef, including a side of vegetables per dish. The rice was served with pieces of dried Hida beef to mix into it, adding a smokey salty flavour. For the best meat I've ever eaten, including all sides, and 1-2 drinks each, the whole meal came up to about 4200Y per person. Honestly, we had a piece of tenderloin later in the trip, and there is no comparison to the mouthwatering Hida beef. It is worth a trip all the way out to Takayama to eat this beef.

Moving on, tomorrow we explore the rest of the delicious food of Takayama!

Previous: Shirakawa-go   Next: Takayama

Japan 1: Shirakawa-go

Japan. I have always meant to write posts previously about Japan, but never had the photos to back them up with. Lucky me, I got to return to the remarkable and whacky country that is Japan this year, and better yet, in cherry blossom season!

14 Day Japan Itinerary

Trip Style: Self directed

Transportation: Shinkansen by JR Pass, rental car in Takayama

Average Accommodation Cost: $50 per person, per night, based on 4 person occupancy most of the time.

Travel Dates: March 31 - April 13, 2014

The river beside Shirakawa-go village

Monday, March 31

We arrived around 7pm to Tokyo Narita. From the arrivals terminal, it's easy to find the JR office to exchange our JR order for a train pass. The JR Pass is definitely a worthwhile purchase when travelling on the bullet trains in Japan for 7 or 14 days. It can only be purchased before you depart for Japan, and overall most websites appear to sell it for the similar prices. I used this website to estimate the total cost of the long distance trains I planned to take, and my JR Pass made it a little cheaper. An added bonus is the included NEX Narita Express, which is the most direct train into Tokyo from the airport.

Rustic farm tools in Shirakawa-go

We arrived at our accommodations around 10pm, and this includes some time getting lost in the renovations at Kanda station. We dragged our luggage past the temple at Asakusa on the way to our hostel, and had some ramen across the street in a pinch, to prepare for another big day of travel tomorrow.

Accommodation: K's House Tokyo Oasis. This is probably the best hostel I've ever stayed at, and sadly we only stayed the one night as it was booked out the rest - this place needs to be booked a few months ahead of time. It's clean, with a Japanese-Western toilet (includes a warmed seat and yes, it squirts water at your butt - don't worry it's only on demand), comfortable futon mattresses on the bunk beds, and personal lamps and power plugs, which you won't find everywhere.

Walking in the forest just uphill from Kidoya guesthouse, Shirakawa-go

Tuesday, April 1

We dragged our luggage back to Tokyo Station to embark on our 5 hour train to Takayama. We went to the JR office to reserve our seats and assure ourselves room on the train. The majority of the journey is not by bullet train, but it's a scenic train ride through the mountains and along a rich river to Takayama.

Arriving in Takayama, there is a tourist office right outside the train station, where maps of Takayama are available in a few languages. The town centre is only 5-10 minutes from the station and very easy to find. But we just crossed the road to the Toyota Rent-A-Car. I had tried to book this car online, along with a friend who spoke Japanese, but the online system just ends up telling you to call them. Amber's aunt called them to book the car on our behalf from Japan, and it was a very confusing time trying to arrange the rental details when we arrived because the staff didn't speak any English. We found out when returning the car that there was a 200km limit on it... which we had gone slightly over. I think it was too hard for them to explain to us, because they never charged us for it.

The point being, renting a car was difficult, and we may not have been able to rent it without the help of a local that speaks the language. It did save us a bit of money though, sharing the car with 4 people instead of paying for individual bus fares to Shirakawa-go and Okuhida. There was also the added flexibility that made it worthwhile. The GPS in the car was enough to get us to the general vicinity of these villages, but as the attractions are poorly signed, we had a lot of trouble actually finding them.

The drive to Shirakawa-go was easy along the highway, which is a toll road (I think it was around $10). Once we got off the highway, there were no signs to the village. So we followed the car in front of us, which turned right, and we kept following the road, and this very road led to the old village.

The village is famous for its gassho-zukuri style farmhouses, where the rooftops make the shape of hands held together in prayer. I get the feeling this village is prettiest in either full winter (where they have a festival where the village is lit up at night), or full summer. With the muddy rice fields and stale mounds of dirty ice, April is clearly not peak season for this region.

Gassho-zukuri style farmhouse

The town can easily be seen in a day, depending on how much detail you want. We browsed a few of the stores, and Mike had what was apparently one of the best apples in the world from a store on the main street. There are some museums about the UNESCO Heritage town's history.

Accommodation: We stayed at the Kidoya guesthouse, booked through this website. It wasn't my first choice of guesthouses based on reviews, but it was the only one available. As our first Japanese accommodation, the lack of warmth from the hostess wasn't noticed. In retrospect, this was the least friendly of our accommodations, but we weren't really bothered by this. Dinner was included, and the food was great. Mike and I, who rarely eat seafood, both finished the fresh river fish that was prepared for us. Dinner (and breakfast) was an assortment of small dishes, providing tastes of several items, after which we were full. I find people tend to underestimate the portion sizes in Japan. Tourists expect small portions at high prices. I find, most places, it really is the opposite.

There was a Japanese bath at the guesthouse, but I was too cold to even get out of the futon to go enjoy it. It gets really cold here at night. There was a kerosene heater in the room, that smelled awful, and I still needed all the blankets I could get on my futon. After all the travel and the early morning, we didn't have the energy to venture out to see the town at night.

The farmhouse was a nice enough experience, but in retrospect I would just stay in Takayama and go to Shirakawa-go as a day trip. The hostel in Takayama was much cheaper, and there's lots to do and eat in Takayama.

Next: Okuhida Onsen Village

Israel 9: General Assembly, Yad Vashem & Beit Shemesh

Monday, November 11

Today we visited the grave of David Ben Gurion, after walking through a nature reserve where we saw several native Ibex. We did have some sort of educational talk at this point but after the last night, I may have fallen asleep in the warm sun instead. You can surely tell that exhaustion is starting to set in, as my photos become fewer and generally worse for wear.

We went to the Gaza border and talked about some of the issues associated with the Gaza territory and the Palestinian Israeli conflict in this region. Nearby, we visited a local organic farm and planted some vegetables which have grown considerably since.

The Gaza wall. The closest city to the wall is far in the distance.

Returning to Jerusalem, we got to attend the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations. We watched a series of speeches and interviews of prominent Israeli figures, including the CEO of El Al Airlines, and the CEO of SodaStream, which is a company facilitating social bonds between Israelis and Palestinians by building factories where members of both communities work side by side. After the seminar there was a massive party just for all the Birthright groups; dinner was ready to go, there was live music and everyone was dancing.

Joel from our group started drumming during the DJ set for several hundred people in the audience.

Arriving late back at the hotel, we still had a sociable group activity before retiring to bed.

Tuesday, November 12

This morning we visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum. We had a guided tour through the museum – and if touring, I think it’s worth getting a guide for this because we learnt so much more than what was available to read on the signs. It’s impossible to see the entire place thoroughly in one day, there are so many individual stories from survivors that are documented. We focused on the history of Hitler’s rise to power, how the socialist government was elected, and how he changed the way people perceived their society through propaganda and military training.

Usually it is arranged for a Holocaust survivor to come and speak to our group in person, but we weren’t able to experience this because the survivor that would have talked to us passed away. This just emphasises the importance of a place like Yad Vashem; the work it does to document the stories of the individual survivors, and archive the evidence gathered of the crimes. The number of survivors still here to tell their stories is dwindling, and there is no evidence to substitute hearing from someone who experienced these crimes against humanity first hand.

This is from the organic farm near Gaza, but I put it here because I don't have photos from this day.

Our next activity was a huge contrast from Yad Vashem. We headed to Beit Shemesh, which is D.C.’s partnership community. We were greeted at a local restaurant for snacks and a brief introduction to the town, before we visited a mosque for a talk about Muslim culture.

We walked to the local community centre, where we divided into small groups and visited with the Israeli Arabs in their homes. The three of us had an amazing time at Ahmed’s house, which was pretty much built by his father. As the kids grew up and got married, they would build an extra level onto the house with an additional flat for the new family. We met the whole family, they offered us snacks and drinks and then we chilled out on the patio with some argilah. This was our first experience of an Israeli home on our trip, and everyone on our tour was impressed with the hospitality we received. We were sad to leave our new friends in Beit Shemesh.

For our last night in Jerusalem, we went to town. The locals were keen on taking us to Kings bar in the town centre. Again we all had a blast in town, but it also had the bitter taste of the final night of the tour. The group had grown so close in ten days. I’ve been on group tours before, but Birthright was such a personal journey and we had all grown by our experiences together over the past days.

Previous: Masada, Dead Sea & Negev Desert

Israel 8: Masada, Dead Sea & Negev Desert

Sunday, November 10

We rose early at 4am, and with barely any need for a sweater even in November, had a brief breakfast of cake and stretched for our hike up Mount Masada. There’s a few ways to get up the mountain – a gondola, a direct trail to the top, or the serpentine path to the top. We took the latter (takes about an hour to walk) and made our way up the mountain as the sun was rising. We were just in time to see the sun rising above the clouds in the horizon from the mountaintop.

There’s something about Masada. I love the place. Masada is my most memorable Israeli attraction from my last trip to Israel fourteen years ago. The place still feels surreal to me, especially when I can so vividly remember walking that same trail in the Spring heat over a decade ago with my dad. I have more photos of Masada than the rest of the entire birthright trip. I don’t know what it is, but the place has left a deep impression on me.

It’s worth getting up early for the sun rise climb. For one thing, the heat is more manageable at dawn without the sun on your back. Additionally, the view is stunning, the golden light and tall shadows making the ancient ruins all the more beautiful.

The story of Masada has always fascinated me. Essentially, the people of Masada had an almost self-sustainable society on a mountain in the middle of the desert. When the Romans laid siege to the mountain, the Jews on the mountain had more resources to outlast the siege than the Romans did. So when the Romans finally built a ramp to the mountain to conquer the city, the people of Masada chose to die with freedom at their own hands, rather than be captured or killed by the Romans. You can see all of the ancient buildings, some of which have been skilfully reconstructed.

Remnants of Masada's walls are below the black line, reconstructed walls are above the black line.

The spectacular view from the top

Descending the mountain on the same serpentine trail.

After we descended the mountain, we checked out and drove about an hour to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is about 30% salt. When I think about this, I can’t help but relate to our physiology, which is 0.9% NaCl… 30% is a LOT of salt. So we were warned of a few things, like don’t get the water in your eyes, don’t shave the day before because any cuts will be very painful in the water, and don’t pee in the water. Really, don’t, and this is a personal not public health message. I believe the term was “Retraction Reaction” – referring of course to the retrograde pulse of dead sea water which would flush through a closing sphincter. Like, ouch.

Floating in the Dead Sea is a luxury spa experience. We were at private beach that was run by one of the cosmetics companies. Just for browsing through their products, we got use of their showers, change room facilities and a private section of the beach to enjoy. No one in our group used the mud, because we didn’t have a lot of time and the mud is supposed to stay on for 20 minutes. I just walked into the sea – and by the way, while the white fuzzy ground looks charming it is very sharp and salty so be careful and tread light – and after I was deep enough I just let my body sink into the water, and the buoyancy was perfect that my entire body floated but my neck and face stayed out of the water with minimal effort. It takes more effort to stand upright in this water than it does to lie on your back or belly. And girls, you will feel awesome because, well, everything is lifted. Then there’s also the silky feel of the saturated water on your skin. Your skin will feel great for the rest of the day.

Our next stop was the Ha’am Hashayarut tents in the Negev desert. We took a short camel ride when we arrived just before sunset, then settled into the tents for the evening. The tents were designed for communal sleeping, we fit 43 of us into one half of the tent, and the tent was divided so we could hang out in the other half.

After a couple hours of free time, we gathered into the dining tent for a Bedouin dinner. We were served communal bowls of curries and cooked vegetables, and fresh flatbreads – I suppose most like chapatti/roti – that were rolled up to accompany our meal. We had a brief talk with our Bedouin host about their traditional hospitality, and he showed us how they prepare their coffee and played the simsimiyya for us.

This night was freezing compared to the previous balmy night at Masada. We gathered around the bonfire to keep warm, and there was a bit of singing and dancing here too. I didn’t sleep at all this night because, eluded into thinking that the south was warm too since Masada was so warm, I had forgotten to pack all the thermal clothing I had brought specifically for this night in the desert. It was so cold, and sleeping in my down jacket wasn’t enough to stay warm. Bring thermals!

Previous: Jerusalem - Part 2   Next: General Assembly, Yad Vashem & Beit Shemesh

Israel 7: Jerusalem - Part 2

Hiking in Sataf Reserve

Friday, November 8

Pigeon farm inside an Edomite cave

Today was a relaxed day, starting with a hike through an Edomite hideout at Sataf Reserve. We walked through the old caves that had been carved out of the chalky rockbed. Some of the cave homes had extensive passages and rooms, and there was also an underground water cistern, and an underground pigeon farm. The Edomites used these caves to hide from the Jews, who ultimately converted them. I never knew Jews to have forcibly converted anyone, so I found that pretty shocking.

An Edomite cistern

We tried some carob, picked fresh from the trees at the reserve. I wonder if most of the chocolatey items offered at the hotels were made of carob rather than cocoa, because despite tasting chocolatey, the chocaholics like me found them pretty unsatisfying. I eventually made it to Max Brenner back in Tel Aviv for some real chocolate, and the restaurant in Israel is so infinitely better than the ones in Australia.

Carob tree in Sataf Reserve

After the hike we grabbed lunch at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem – aka the Shuk. So far, this is the best market I’ve ever seen, anywhere. There was so much fresh baked goodies, dried fruits and nuts, halva, pomegranate products… the list just goes on. 

I had lunch at a falafel stall that sold me a giant and delicious pita packed with hummus, salad, falafel and fries for about $4. Some others in our group went to Azura, an Iraqi restaurant, which I actually returned to after the tour for lunch based on their amazing experience there. When I went to Azura, the food came almost instantly, and the goulash I ordered was very delicious – the beef was perfect. The portions are a bit small but it was plenty of food for me.

Like I said, I returned to the market on another day, and honestly I feel that just about anything you get here is probably going to be great but you need to make sure the baked stuff is fresh when you buy it. On another day, I got the most amazing chocolate-filled bread pastry, it was 10 shekel, came fresh out of the oven, and we ate 3 entire loaves of it in 2 days, we kept going back for more. I digress…

The chocolate yeast-bread place

A hole-in-the-wall bar that I went to on my return to Jerusalem after the tour

We were given a few hours in the afternoon to prepare for Shabbat. I was really lucky on this trip because one of the Israelis offered to teach me some Krav Maga. I’d heard a lot about it, being the martial art of the IDF, and I’ve wanted to try it for some time. So in Jerusalem, taught by an actual IDF soldier, I had my first lesson in Krav Maga. I just wanted to mention it because I’m still stoked about it. It's a practical martial art for someone like me because it trains efficiency of motion, and you don't have to be massively strong to use it effectively for self defence.

Back to Old Jerusalem

We headed back to the Western Wall to welcome the Sabbath. I don't have photos because we weren't supposed to take photos after sundown. We watched the sunset over the temple mount, lit candles borrowed from a resident because we forgot to bring candles, and had a small ceremony on a rooftop overlooking the Western Wall. We could hear singing from the ceremonies taking place all around us. After our ceremony, we descended to the wall and us girls joined the singing and dancing happening right at the foot of the wall – the very place where people were solemnly praying, mourning and reflecting just 24 hours ago. I have been to Shabbat services before at several synagogues, but nothing could ever compare in atmosphere to the pure celebration of welcoming the Sabbath in Old Jerusalem.

Some ruins in Jerusalem

Following a much abridged celebration at the Western Wall, we walked back into town to the beautiful Inbal Hotel. A unique part of our November Birthright experience was that we attended the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, which this year was held in Jerusalem. This allowed us the privilege of dining with some of the philanthropists that funded our trip, as well as some birthright alumni that were on a leadership trip. We had an amazing catered meal at the hotel, followed by singing and dancing, it felt reminiscent of a bar mitzvah reception.

We walked to our hotel for a brief group activity before bedtime.

A photo from the Medieval Knights Festival held in Old Jerusalem City, visited after the tour.

Saturday, November 9

Shabbat shalom! After five days of action-packed itinerary we finally have a day of rest. We got to sleep in! Like, really sleep in! We spent the whole day at the hotel with lots of break time. We did a group activity in the morning, based around discussions of Jewish identity and ideals, and selected Jewish texts and commentaries. It’s amazing that we had 43 people in the room (and about 150 opinions), and yet chaos did not break loose during these debates.

Approaching the entrance to Old Jerusalem from the modern city centre

At the end of Shabbat, we walked into town where we met up with the birthright Alumni group for a Havdallah ceremony to welcome the new week. They joined us for some improv comedy, then we parted to find some dinner in Jerusalem’s city centre. I think a small group of us ended up eating at Big Apple Pizza, which was actually really great pizza – the kind with the thin but crisp crust, and served piping hot.

Sidewalks of Old Jerusalem

From here it was back on the bus to our next guesthouse at the foot of Mount Masada. It was only the next morning that I got to see the stunning view from our guestroom’s patio.

The view from Masada guesthouse the following day.

Previous: Jerusalem - Part 1