I got up at 6am and walked over to the morning market which is set up by the river. It was very small but I managed to buy bag of blueberries (another purple purchase!) from a lady that was selling flowers and blueberries. By 6:30 it was already hot and I went back to the shady spot I had spent time painting at two days before.
By 8:50 I was on the bus to Shirakawa-go a Unesco World Heritage Site, that consists of a group of traditional thatched houses called Gassho so called as their shape resembles a monks hands in prayer. I first dropped my bag off at the inn I was staying at, it is one that is a little further out then the other buildings but is lovely and quiet and has a great view of the mountain range. (I am looking at the view as I write this before dinner.) I then went for a massive wonder around the forests and the village. I took my time and went up all the little paths I could find (most of the time they didn't really go anywhere and I would have to double back but they were nice all the same). It was quite difficult to try and stay cool as there was very little shade to be found. On the way down from a viewing point I followed a small road in hope that I could find a path down to the river, my troubles payed off and I was able to get down to the river bank take my shoes off and wade into the water. I also took off my long sleeve top and dunk it into the water and put it back on all wet! It was such a nice way to cool down. I then sat on a rock in the shade while my shirt dried in the sun.
The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the village and just looking. There are lots of little paths and manny many chana
S with water in them. There are little swift like birds darting through the rice fields and one or two eagles soaring overhead. The loudest sound is the crickets and if you are by a river the river.
I went back to the house I was staying in and had dinner with the other guest and man from Milan in Italy, who is a lecturer on urban planing at an Architecture university. He is traveling through Japan in two weeks and is covering so many places in just 15 days. Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Niko, Shirakawa-go, Kanazawa, Hiroshima, Mount Fugi, plus on or two more that I have forgotten. After dinner I went out for a walk, I didn't meet anyone on the streets. The sounds coming from the houses were that of people getting ready for bead or cleaning up after dinner. I got to see my first fireflies, only two of them but that was quite exiting for me. There were lots of frogs that you could hear out in the fields.
Friday morning had me walking around the town again while it was not too hot. At midday I went the small museum they have and sat down to watch a small movie they had made about how to build these houses. It is fascinating all the different and complex joints! No nails used how they made load paths to carry the weight of the roof to the grounding stones that they had set in the ground, truly groovy stuff. At 1:50 was on a bus to Kanazawa, that is where I am now. Sitting in the Guest house called Pongyi which is very welcoming and amazingly small, but well organised. The building was kimono shop and has been converted, the female dorm I am staying in used to be the storage room for the Kimonos! I feel as through it will be a very pleasant late couple of days.
I am looking forward to coming back to Melbourne. I have both the melbounre International film festival and Open house Melbourne to look forward to (as well as friends and families company of cause).
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