We left Musamoto and drove through the mountains to Takayama..

The weather was excellent so our leaders took us to an unscheduled stop. A national forest. People in the front of the bus saw monkeys. We walked next to a beautiful river flowing out of the mountains, the water was crystal clear. I used my phone app plant id to identify a cousin of our native virgin bower (clematis family), and long leaf bamboo, the moss is thick on the fallen trees, it is my version of heaven.

For lunch we had ramen noodles ( the real thing in a soy base.)

Takayama is famous for its annual fall parade. The floats are huge, 1000s of pounds, carried by large groups of men. Floats were built by neighborhoods and maintained by them. The floats have been used for hundreds of years. They are very elaborate.

The city also has a large Shinto Shrine,Shinto is the main religion is Japan and the Emperor is the head of the religion.

The next day(I no longer know what day it is). We visited Jinya which was the head quarters of the Shogunate. The headquarters revealed the class structure. For example, if the tatumi mats had an edging it represented a higher class room. The gardens courtyards were breathtaking. Also breathtaking in a negative vein was the torture room.

Then on to the old town and sake breweries. Sake is a rice based plant that fermented for a year. The quality is based on hoe polished the rice is. Highly polished rice fetches a much higher price.

The hotel was lovely.

After lunch were boarded a bus to our next stop.