We had booked a tour for 8:30 AM for this day, so we got up at our usual time (between 5:30 and 6:30) and got ready for the day. When we approached the bus terminal, which was next to the station, I was told to go pick up my tickets from the bus office. It was my first guided tour this trip, and they had a tour guide that spoke fluent English. As she was explaining our day, she asked where each of us came from. There was a family from Hong Kong, a family from China, and a guy from France. When it came to our turns, we told her that we came from Canada. Our tour guide was surprised and told us that she lived in Canada for a year. When I asked her where, she responded: "Calgary". What are the chances?
Our first stop was for Ainokura, which was quiet, but filled with Gassho styled houses with the sloped straw-thatched roofs. It was a peaceful town and the residents there seemed to be quite friendly.
After 50 minutes or so, it was time for lunch, so we headed to a location just outside of Shirakawago. Lunch was a fantastic affair, with a variety of food from Gifu (or Takayama I guess?).
Once lunch was completed, we went outside to take a couple of pictures since we overlooked Shirakawago. At that point we were talking to the tour guide and we asked where she lived in Calgary. She didn't quite remember the place, but mentioned a neighbourhood that was nearby... which happened to be the neighbourhood that we lived in! What a small world!
We then had around two hours to explore Shirakawago. There was quite a bit to see, and a lot of small shops to explore. We even got to go inside Kanda House, which was a house turned into a museum of sorts. After visiting Kanda, we got some time to explore the Open Air Museum -- a section of abandoned homes. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time, so we only saw one house. After coming back to our hotel, we set out for supper. We wanted to try out a burger place, but it was fully reserved for the night. We wandered around and finally settled for ramen. And fortunately we did for this ramen was quite scrumptious!
After dinner, it was off to the convenience store for late night snacks and breakfast.
A fulfilling day and one I would probably do again! Shirakawago and Ainokura were very beautiful places to visit.
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