My First Real Climb - Amou Pass

Before I had even left Shirakawago this morning, my inner tube blew! Upon closer examination, I realised that my tire had a sidewall tear. Apparently, the Kenda Small Block Eight tires that I was using were very light, but that meant that the sidewalls were thinner and more likely to wear out quickly. Took me about 30mins to replace both the tire (good thing I brought a spare) and the inner tube before I could get going.

Leaving town, the climbing began almost immediately. This time, the climbing was not gradual Hirugano Highlands kind of ascent but more like Tibet-Nepal kind of climbing with roads that wound endlessly up the side of the mountain. My objective of the day was to clear Amou Pass (1289m above sea level).

It took me a total of 2 hours to cover the 13km up the mountain to the top of the pass. Along the way, it started to drizzle slightly which just made the ride more unpleasant!

View of the surrounding valley from Amou Pass

At the top of the pass, I stopped to snack on the onigiri`s that the kindly lady owner of Furusato Minshuku had made for me. After that, donning my helmet, jacket and gloves (which I had taken off during the climb), I prepared for the descent to the town of Kawai.

Onigiri`s from the owner of Furusato Minshuku

From the peak of Amou Pass, it was a 20km downhill ride all the way to the town of Kawai. Certain portions were rather steep with quite a few hairpin turns so I tried to maintain my speed at a safe 20-30km/h.

Climbing up worked my legs, but going down wasn`t all coasting either! By the time I reached the bottom of the pass, my fingers were a bit numb from constantly gripping the brake levers for more than an hour!

The downhill ride from the top of Amou Pass

From Kawai Town to Takayam City, it was a mostly flat road. The rain which had stopped when I cleared the pass, began again as I entered Takayama City. I quickly checked into Murasaki Ryokan and then hibernated the rest of the evening away.

Today was just a preview of what is to come as I enter the Japan Alps National Park from the city of Takayama. From here, its uphill all the way to Norikura Highlands - the highest point in Japan that is accessible by public road.

World Heritage Site - Shirakawago

Just north of Shokawa village is the artificial lake, Miboro Lake. This lake was created by damming the Shirakawa River to flood part of the Shokawa Valley. An extremely calm lake - perfect place for watersports!

Miboro Lake

Below, these are 2 sakura (cherry blossom) trees that were transplanted from the flooded region of the Shokawa Valley. These trees are called the Shokawa Sakuras and each tree is 5m tall and more than 400 years old!

The Shokawa Sakuras

The road from Shokawa village to Shirakawago was mostly downhill with lots of tunnels to go through and bridges to cross. I made it to Shirakawago in good time and checked into one of the Gassho-Zukuri ryokan in the village.

Shirakawago was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 due to the unique architecture of its Gassho-Zukuri (Clasped Hands) buildings. These buildings are constructed without using a single nail and are made totally of wood. The roofs are a type of grass that is specially grown for use in the construction of these houses. The shape of the roofs allow them to withstand the heavy snowfall that this region experiences during the wintertime and most of these houses have been around for hundreds of years.

Visitors to the village are not allowed to smoke and its not surprising that amongst the local populace, not a single person smokes!

Entrance to Shirakawago Village

Deai Bridge - Connecting the tourist bus terminal to Shirakawago

My accomodation for the night was at Furusato Minshuku (120 years old). This place was run by a very kindly 83 year old lady. She did it with the help of various part-time helpers from the village.

The picture below shows Furusato Minshuku with its newly repaired grass roof. According to the old lady, they repair their roofs every once a year, and once in 5 or 10 years (depending on the condition of the roofs), they`ll completely replace the grass.

My first stop after I dropped off my stuff was the Gassho-Zukuri Minka-en. This place was a little area which housed historically significant Gassho-zukuri buildings from the Shokawa Valley region that was flooded by Miboro Lake. Each house had been turned into a small museum displaying the local way of life as well as a history the family who owned that particulary house.

Irori - An earthen fireplace found in almost every house

Inside the Gassho-Zukuri Minka-en

In front of one of the oldest Gassho-Zukuri houses - Built in the 18th century

After visiting the Minka-en, I took a hike up Shiroyama to get a bird`s eye view of Shirakawago. It was a short but steep hike up the hill. Lunch was at the restaurant at the top of this little hill.

Shirakawago Village

After lunch, it was still too early to return to the minshuku as the lady owner had gone out of town and locked up the place. So, I headed for the Shira River which ran between the tourist bus terminal and the village. Shira River literally means `White River` and you can see how it got its name from the foamy water caused by the many rocks in the river.

My nap spot by the Shira River

In the evening, dinner was prepared by one of the helpers at Furusato Minshuku. A very interesting meal of pork, fish and mountain vegetables!

In the Heart of the Shokawa Valley

My route for today brought me across the Hirugano Highlands. Initially, I thought the climbing would be very tough, but luckily, the increase in altitude came gradually over 30km so the incline wasn`t that steep. But this meant the road up to Hirugano Highlands was a constant climb!

This area is a popular ski region during the winter and along the way I passed by numerous advertisements for ski resorts. Most of these resorts converted to golf courses in the summer.

Start of the road to Hirugano Highlands

The Shokawa Valley and the surrounding Hirugano Highlands

The roads leading through the Japanese countryside are usually populated by `Michi-no-Eki` such as the one below. These road-side rest stations are meant for long distance truck drivers, bus tours and tourists driving their own cars to take a short restroom and snack break at. Such rest stations are the only place with restrooms in the countryside!

Below is the origin point of the Nagara River. It flows from north to south, starting from this spot all the way to Gifu City where I stayed 2 days ago.

From the Hirugano Highlands, it was a 20km downhill coast all the way to the little village of Shokawa. It was only afternoon and I could easily have done the next 30km to Shirakawa-go, but I had already booked accomodation in Shokawa so I thought I`d take this opportunity to have a good rest.

I lounged in my room for most of the afternoon since the village was a very quiet place with not much to see. In the evening, went out to check out the streets and to have my dinner.

A watermill used to produce soba - Shokawa village`s specialty product

Dinner was a rather interesting one at a small eatery 5 minutes from my ryokan. The first course was a small bowl of soya bean milk. It did look similar to what we have in Singapore, but tasted totally different! Instead of being sweet, this soya bean milk tasted of miso and was much thinner than the soya bean milk I was used to.

Japanese `Dou Jiang`

I ordered the set meal which included a serving of the local specialty soba. The soba was delicious and the fish was yummy too! Apparently, they cooked the fish for four hours till it was soft enough to be completely consumed - head, tail and all.

Notice the small green stalk at the bottom of my tray. That`s actually a stick of fresh wasabi! They served it on a porcelain grater so you grated it yourself and add it into the soya sauce to eat with your soba. Interesting huh!

Purest Water in Japan

The ride to Gujo Hachiman town was a rather pleasant one accompanied by the Nagara River all the way. It was much flatter than expected, probably because the route followed the river`s bank.

The Nagara River

Since it was a Sunday, the roads were rather quiet in the morning, save for the couple of fishermen who were driving to their favorite fishing spots along the river. All in all, it was a really peaceful ride to the town of Gujo Hachiman.

If you look carefully you can see the kayakers by the riverbank

Reaching Gujo Hachiman just before noon, I dropped by the tourist information office to ask for recommendations regarding accommodation for the night. I was introduced to this very nice minshuku called `Fukinoyu Minshuku`. The owner of this establishement was a very friendly lady and her husband. From the Mercedes in their garage, I could see that this place was probably doing rather well!

My room in Fukinoyu Minshuku

Gujo Hachiman is a town situated at the meeting point of four rivers in the Shokawa Valley region. Because of this, the town is well known throughout Japan for extremely pure and delicious water that flows straight from the nearby mountain ranges. No matter where you go in town, you can hear the sound of water flowing.

Below is Sogi-sui Spring - apparently the water that flows from this spring is ranked as the BEST spring water in the whole of Japan! And lucky for me, it was a 5 minute walk from my accommodation.

Sogi-sui Spring

The Nagara River is just one of the 4 rivers that flow through this quiet little town. In summer, scores of children and sunbathers gather along the riverbanks to enjoy the cool waters. Even today, though it was a little chilly, there were still quite a few swimmers in the water.

The Nagara River flows directly through the town

There were schoolchildren jumping off this bridge into the river below!

After a quick lunch at one of the many cafes in town, I took a short hike to Oto-hime Waterfall (Princess Waterfall). The path to the waterfall led through a nice, quiet wooded area and it was a 15 minute uphill hike to the origin of the fall. Being away from the center of town, this walk was much quieter and more pleasant!

Path leading into the woods to Oto-hime Waterfall

The waterfall itself was no Niagara Falls but it was located in a really peaceful spot in the forest that would have made a great picnic site! The sound of water against the rocks and the gentle rustling of the leaves just added to the serenity.

Oto-hime Waterfall in the back

Coming back from Oto-hime Waterfall back into the center of Gujo Hachiman, I started my trek up the slope to where Gujo Hachiman Castle was located. Avoiding the main roads, I followed the advice of one of the locals and took a shortcut through the backalleys of the town.

Shortcut up to Gujo Hachiman Castle

The castle itself was nothing spectacular especially after having visited Himeji Castle, but the view from the castle`s grounds was not bad. Didn`t bother going into the castle though.

Gujo Hachiman Castle

View of Gujo Hachiman town from the castle courtyard

Instead of taking the same route back to town, I tried a more roundabout way that took me along the ridgeline of the hill that the castle was situated upon. This hiking path took me through a beautiful forest of tall trees. The downhill route wasn`t so good for the knees though... hahaha...

My trek back down the hill

Dinner was a simple affair of bento from the local supermarket again. Tomorrow I ascend the Hirugano Highlands!

Ukai - Cormorant Fishing

Headed east from Hikone City towards the city of Gifu this morning. With my new backpack on my back and 5kg of luggage off the rear of my bike, it was much easier riding.

My new Adidas backpack - 2,320yen

Along the way to Gifu City, I passed by the town of Sekigahara. This little town is situated in the plains of Sekigahara where the largest ever domestic battle was fought during the Civil War period. After this battle, the warlord Ieyasu Tokugawa united Japan under his banner.

The Plains of Sekigahara

Location of Ieyasu Tokugawa`s Command Post

The ride from Hikone to Gifu City was rather flat and uneventful and I made it to Gifu in good time, reaching at around noon. It was still way too early to check into the hotel so I went to a little park in town called Kanazono Park to wash my bike. Degreasing my drivetrain and re-lubricating took me a whole hour! But I guess its about time to clean my bike after more than 1,000km of dirt... hahaha...

Gifu Castle (the speck in the top left corner) and the 3 Storeyed Pagoda

Check out these parking lots! What if the owner of the car on top wants to go out for supper at 1am?

Checking into the Weekly Kanazono Business Hotel, I left my stuff and took a walk towards Nagara River to catch a glimpse of Ukai or cormorant fishing. Apparently, the fishermen use birds called cormorants to catch fish. Strings are tied around the throats of these birds so that they can`t swallow the fish they catch. I have no idea what a cormorant is, but I guess it looks something like the bird in this statue.

I was much too early to watch the fishermen go out and catch fish with their birds, and I didn`t want to pay 3,000 yen to get on these boats to watch them fish, so I just snapped a few photos and headed back to the hotel.

More boats on the other side of the bridge getting ready to watch the Ukai

I made my way back to the hotel via the bank of the Nagara River. The view at dusk was spectacular!

The Nagara River at dusk