Before leaving Kanazawa we strolled through the castle and the Kenrokuen garden. We were lucky enough to get a free private guided tour of the garden, and made it just in time for a tea ceremony.

In the evening we arrived in Takayama and checked in to a traditional Japanese ryokan. We were welcomed with a huge drum, and given an orientation of our room including a tiny tea ceremony. Our room is covered in tatami mats, has a table, and legless chairs. And no bed! The staff roll out futons every night and put them back in the morning!

We donned our yukatas (bathrobes), o I (belt), haori (short jackets), tabi (divided by the big toe to allow for wearing sandals) socks and slippers and went for our kaiseki dinner in a private little room. It was quite the feast.

After dinner there was a band playing by the reception and Terry did not let the chance go by to sing a little.

Then we tried onsen, Japanese public bath, for the first time. No bathing suits allowed! But men’s and women’s onsen are separate. There were lots of lotions and soaps but not all with English explanations so I wasn’t sure which was which. I tried them all and rinsed off. Luckily there were instructions on how to wash and bathe. Terry said that in the men’s onsen they were not quite as shy as in the women’s. They were out in the open air balcony chatting and strutting their stuff.