Berry's SEAJ trip Day 55: Mountain village and gold temple (7/30/15)

Woke up ~630am to HG staring at me. Not talking, not messing with me, nothing, just staring (little creepy; makes me proud). I go back to bed and wake up ~8am to HG slapping my chest and saying something I don't understand so I say I'm getting up and he wonders downstairs. As I am having breakfast, they take the kids to daycare and I realize that Berry is missing; HG  stole Berry and hid him so I couldn't find him. Takao eventually finds it in a storage room I didn't want to venture into, it not being my house. I tell them they need to pretend like we didn't find it and torture the kid (they do later and it is awesome).

Miyama. Such a beautiful picture, cant wait to get closer.

That is where we are going Berry. 

Panoramic view of the village from the highway. 

Berry getting into the thick of the town. 

Berry with all the flowers. He knows what he likes.

Berry loves the flowers all around here.

Roofs among the mountainous backdrop surrounding this village.

Berry found this beautiful flower on our walk around town.

Berry stopping to smell the flowers. He has the right idea. 

Berry and the Mikis about to have some tea. Nice start to the home exploration.

Berry examining the roof and the many layers of straw that it takes to make these things keep the water out. I think I remember them saying these had to be replaced every 7 years or something. Pretty cool.

Berry is just walking among the old style homes.

Traditional garb (sorry for the glare)

Berry appreciating the garden in front of some of the old homes.

River in front of the village. 

Berry and his second cousin once removed at our lunch spot just hanging out looking at the beautiful surroundings.

Berry and his new friend, faceless waving cat, hanging out after lunch.

Once I got my travel buddy back with me, we head out to Miyama which is a kayabuki village with traditional samurai houses. The area is picturesque with all the old architecture and the quaint roads and gardens (people still live in these houses). We walk around the village and explore one of the museums showing what an old house was like inside before going up the road to have lunch in a lodge with nice views and some good food. After that we head back to town to check out the gold temple which has too many tourists.

Golden temple with an island of trees in the foreground. Wonderful day for viewing this place.

Berry and his golden temple. Beautiful!

It is a beautiful area and building but with that many people it kinda detracts from the experience. We finish there and we head to the house where I start making reservations for the rest of my trip as they get the kids. Once they get back, Takao starts putting the screws to HG and not speaking the language, reading the body language I know exactly what is happening. After making the kid feel bad and teaching him his lesson, I give the bear to Takao who puts it up there for HG to find and give to me to complete the lesson. We then sit down and return to a normal atmosphere for a wonderful family BBQ dinner where you cook the meat and veggies at the table. As usual, the food is delicious and after dinner we prepare for bed. I stay up a little longer and make more reservations and plan out more of my trip. After the kids are sleep, Tomoko and Takao join me for some drinks and snacks (cheese and fish string snacks – sound nasty but were actually pretty good) as we talk and have a good night before bed time.

Some tableside Japanese BBQ. Time to chow down.

Beer and fish-cheese sticks? Why not?