Bears and time-travel in Takayama, Japan
Takayama You are a traveller. You drag yourself around Shin-Osaka station with heavy feet. You haven't slept well, troubled by a snorer in your dorm room, and you’re carrying 25kg of baggage on your chest and back. It feels like wading through water. Your companions are lagging behind, bickering about which direction to walk in. But you know where to go. When you finally lead them to the gates, the bearded one is desperately fiddling with the zips on his puffer jacket to retrieve a Japan Rail pass. The curly-haired one is watching him, patience running thin, anger simmering and about to boil. Shinkansen The tension all fades as soon as you see the bullet train poke it's long nose along the track. The Shinkansen takes you to Kyoto in about 15 minutes. You don't stop there, changing at Nagoya and riding through to Takayama, a sprawling city nestled in between snowy mountains. You head out for a walk around a local park, nervously eyeing signs that read ...