Day 22 - Nagamachi, Omicho and Higashi Chaya

We started by taking the JR Bus down to a street near the samurai district called Nagamachi. My navigation skills have been extremely horrible this year, so I ended up taking our group too far from where we were supposed to go. The walk was pleasant though, with a water channel right next to us. Houses on the other side had small bridges for their cars/feet to cross. Once we arrived on the street, we started by touring a low class samurai house. 

The low class samurai house reminded me of a typical Japanese home. It had tatami mats, a bathroom, and rooms. There was also a small backyard. After visiting, we ventured down the street to more locations open to the public. That included a small garden and a richer samurai house. The garden in the richer house was amazing for such a small place. We took a break at a rest house before we headed to a sweet shop next door. 

At the sweet shop, the sales lady there spoke quite perfect English. It was the first time during the trip that I didn't have to try and communicate with my very limited Japanese. Once we bought some sweets, which were quite delicious and had a long shelf life, we proceeded to find Omicho market. We passed by a street with earthen walls. It had a really yellowish colour and... Earthen texture. 

Once we found the market, we went in a bit before deciding we should stop by the ramen restaurant outside for a bite to eat.  We all ordered the Tonkotsu ramen, and it turned out to be extremely tasty! With my stomach being satisfied, we headed down the market. 

It was a lot smaller than the other markets we visited so far. It seemed to focus on selling seafood, for there were tons of those shops and sushi restaurants there. We bought a couple types of fruits as well since the price seemed reasonable. What was interesting about this place as well was large ice blocks scattered around the market. I'm assuming it's used for people to cool down?

We returned to our hotel to drop off our Packages and rest for a bit before proceeding to Higashi Chaya: a tea house street with geishas in the past. It definitely had a old time feel as we walked down the place. My brother and I  managed to find a nice little owl figurine for our grandfather and some sale for our relatives. We left the street and proceeded back to Kenroku-en to find a souvenir shop that allowed you to blast your own glass wear!

Unfortunately, it was probably too late when we arrived. We just strolled around the shop before we left to take the bus to an arcade. After spending some time at the arcade, we went back to the station to book tickets for an upcoming trip. 

It was then off to dinner, which included hayashi omurice. Then dessert, which I haven't really purchased yet throughout my trip! These carbs are slowly killing me, but... Excuse my language... YOLO. 

And that's pretty much our day today! One more full day in around this area before we hit up Tokyo. 

Higashi Chaya District