Hida-Takayama

Not only is Kong prone to making things up every now and again but, from here on in (or at least until Judo training started again), his memory ceased to be the razor sharp record that it normally is. Or was it the day before that it got blurry? Who knows? Who cares? And who’d remember anyway? What makes me wonder is the singing – the singing took place in Hida-Takayama not Morioka.

There are two things that have contributed to memory slippage. The first is the amount of train travel. Having refreshed and rejuvenated ourselves at the Morioka onsen we repacked the mini-bus and headed back to the train station. It was the 20th of October and we were headed south to Hida-Takayama, a seven hour train ride with changes in Tokyo and Nagoya. In truth it was not so bad. The scenery was, frequently, breath-taking and we had a "beer bitch" for the whole journey (not that anyone took real advantage of it).

Memory was not the only causality of train travel...



The second reason for Kong's faulty reportage is that we stayed at the Ryokan Seiryu, a traditional Japanese style Inn in the heart of downtown Hida-Takayama. As the word “tradition” implies, it looked nearly exactly like the other "traditional" Japanese Inn we stayed at in Morioka. As a result, the two places have seemingly merged in my mind.

[Hida-Takayama Wander Exploration Map]


After another evening of soaking in a hot bath, feasting, drinking, and letting post-contest bones and muscles repair, the youthful masters took to the town. Sensei Rick tried to keep us on a tight leash by telling and retelling the story of 11 pm lock-outs from the Ryokan and the mid-winter making of card-board tents to sleep in. To his credit it almost worked. Almost...

Unfortunately, since "what goes on tour stays on tour," this segment must end here. All Kong has to say is...Dennis...I can't believe you lost the artifact. The risks, the dangers, and how perfect it was...and you lost it!

Next: A day amongst the the Samurai houses of Hida-Takayama, more train rides, and a battle with local thugs in Kyoto.