AhPek Biker - Old Dog Rides Again: April 2024

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker-Footsteps / Cycling Japan / Japan 2024 / Day 4: Kyoto-Takayama | Go to D1/D2/D3/D5/D6/D7/D8-9

AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Japan 2024: Day 4 Kyoto-Takayama: Into the Hida Region

Kyoto, Takayama, Osaka, Japan Day 4: 31st March (Sunday)

Small Group (Non-cycling) This is part of a tour of the Kansai & Hida Regions, Japan:

My K House (Kyoto)>Kamogawa Promenade>Meisan Expressway>Gifu-Yamato Parking Area>Karuoka Pass>Chisun Grand (Takayama).

This is page 4 of an 8-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D3: Fushimi-Inari | Go to Other Days | D5: Shirakawa-go >

Route recommendations, here're some tips on travelling in and around Kyoto:

1. Traffic Directions!

Traffic in Japan is right-hand drive, so drive/cycle on the left. The same thing applies when crossing the road, take note of the direction in which traffic is approaching!

2. Clearing Immigration & Customs

To clear Immigration & Customs fast, foreign visitors can do an online registration at the "Visit Japan Web" page and register their details online. Those in the same family can register together in one form. Upon successful registration, a QR Code will be issued, share this QR Code to the phones of each member. This QR Code needs just be shown at both Immigration & Customs, and one will be whisked through as long as one has nothing to declare.

3. Getting to and around Takayama.

We rented a van to drive from Kyoto to Takayama & Shirakawa-go. The Serena 8-seater van was rented from nissan-rentacar.com and booked through Rentalcars.com, an arm of Bookings.com. Car Rental (plus insurance) MYR 2,100 for three days, with toll & petrol approx. MYR600. There is a need to apply for an international driving permit at MYR150 per applicant. The total cost of self-drive for the five of us was MYR3,000, ie MYR600 per pax
For other options (ie by train/bus), click the following Rome to Rio Link For travelling from Kyoto to Takayama; the cost of the round-trip of which is about MYR540 per pax. The JR Pass round-trip travel from Takayama to Shirakawa-go is about MYR225. The total per pax is MYR765.

It was thus better for us to self-drive with a total saving of MYR1,125 and have the freedom of going at our own pace and having additional destinations.

4. Route & Traffic Conditions

Getting out from Kyoto was easy, and the drive to Takayama and onwards to Shirakawa-go was smooth along the highways. Traffic within Takayama was light. Our hotel in Takayama provides free parking, whilst at Shirakawa-go they are ample parking at reasonable prices.

5. Weather

In late March & early April 2024, at Takayama daytime & night time ranges were from 15°C to 20°C and 2°C to 10°C respectively. It gets even colder in Shirakawa-go. So bring warm clothing and practice layered clothing to keep warm and still allow for stripping during the hotter times of the day.

6. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. We bought online 15-day 10Gb Japan Go! prepaid sim cards from Hello 1010. 20Gb cards are also available. The cards were delivered 5 days from the order. Alternatively, those using Maxis can opt for their Multi-country Roaming Pass.

7. Communicating with Locals

Except for those involved in the tourist industry, most Japanese don't speak English. Install Google Translate or Naver Papago apps to communicate. It will be good to pick up some basic Japanese phrases.

8. Places & Things of Interest

Enroute were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):

  - Kamogawa Promenade (鴨川遊歩道) (GPS: 35.00864, 135.77148) in Kyoto.
  - Karuoka Pass (軽岡峠) (GPS: 36.03968, 137.0258).
  - Aburi-an (あぶり庵) (GPS: 36.13998, 137.25823).
  - Tetsutaro Yamaoka Samurai Statue (若き日の山岡鉄舟像) (GPS: 36.13991, 137.25836).
  - Jinya-mae Morning Market (陣屋前朝市) (GPS: 36.13964, 137.25821).
  - Nakabashi Bridge (中橋(宮川)) (GPS: 36.14000, 137.25922).
  - Hida Kokubunji Temple (医王山飛騨国分寺) (GPS: 36.14347, 137.25386).
  - Shiroyama Park (城山公園高山市) (GPS: 36.14004, 137.26325).

- Higashiyama Walking Course (東山遊歩道) (GPS: 36.14496, 137.26328).
- Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine (櫻山八幡宮) (GPS: 36.14844, 137.26081).
- We did some night & morning cycling at Takayama with bicycles provided for free by our hotel, Chisun Grand Takayama.

9. Food

a. Brunch:
Wagyu beef cutkets set, etc at Gyukatsu-Motomura (牛かつもと村河原町店) GPS: (35.00885, 135.77116).
b. Tea time: Vending machine sandwiches & drinks at Gifu-Yamato Parking Area (ぎふ大和PA (下り)) (GPS: 35.78965, 136.9059).

c. Dinner:

Hida Beef Kushiyaki and other grilled skewers at Sorekara (それから高山市) (GPS: 36.14272, 137.2569).

Alternative dinner place: Hida Beef at Hida Takuma (飛騨琢磨) (GPS: 36.14143, 137.25382),

10. Stay

Days 4 & 5: A 3-pax room & a 2-pax room at Chisun Grand Takayama (チサングランド高山) (GPS: 36.14172, 137.2528); booked much earlier through Booking.com at ¥63,657 (MYR1,962) total for 2 nights, ie at MYR196 per pax per night.

11. Navigation

Geo-tagging of places of interest was done via Google Maps and FaceBook. Alternatively one can use MapMe.com, (it's an offline app, but one will have to pre-download the maps of the relevant areas). Driving directions were guided with Google Maps.

___________________________________________________________________________

PRELUDE

Yesterday we had an interesting Cubicle Ramen at Ichiran, before visiting Kiyomizu Dera Temple. In the evening, after a nice beef patty dinner and a short walk around Gion, we took a train to Fushimi Inari Taisha, torii gates for a special occasion.

Today, we start the next sector of our tour, leaving Kyoto for Takayama, and driving ourselves there in a rented van!

___________________________________________________________________________

DAY 4: KYOTO-TAKAYAMA

Small group self-tour of the Kansai & Hida Regions, Japan. Day 4 From Kyoto to Takayama:

My K House (Kyoto)>Kamogawa Promenade>Meisan Expressway>Gifu-Yamato Parking Area>Karuoka Pass>Chisun Grand (Takayama).

Leaving Kyoto, we drove to Takayama, enjoying the countryside along the way and made a couple of stops!

(Click here for the Kyoto-Takayama Route Map)
(Click here for the Takayama Night Cycling Route Map)

We started the day with a small misadventure!
After taking the bus to pick up the rental van near the Kyoto Station, Phing & Nick drove back to My K House to pick us and our luggage up. Thinking of having brunch before heading for Takayama, we drove to downtown Kyoto. But then nearing our destination we made a wrong turn and were stopped by a couple of efficient policemen! Nick tried to explain that he was following Google Maps but the policemen pointed to a No Entry sign and said that one should not follow the maps blindly and keep an eye on the actual road conditions - True Enough.
As Nick's earnest explanation fell on deaf ears. I came down and apologised to the policemen, with respectful bows and Google translated that we just took the van and that it was our first time driving in the city and mentioned that we would be more careful. They must have respect for older people (like this AhPek) and let us off with a warning.... Phew!

Anyway, we parked the van, walked around a corner to Gyukatsu-Motomura and had this superb Wagyu cutkets lunch.
The tenderised beef is coated with bread crumbs and is lightly cooked first (almost rare) when served; patrons then do a final cooking on a hot stone board to their liking (Motomura's recommends cooking the beef for no longer than 60 seconds between both sides).

This is the one of best beef we had during our trip. Nick & Phing did the final grilling just right - nice, tender & juicy. Makes me salivate just looking at this photo.
They have an outlet in Singapore at Tonkatsu ENbiton (VivoCity), Harbour Front Walk.

Took a short stroll at the front end of the Kamogawa Promenade with nice sakura trees, just around the corner! Took some romantic photos there with my darling .... haha!

Lynne couldn't resist buying these strawberries from a nearby fruit shop - they were super crunchy fresh & relatively cheap.

1:30pm - Finally, on our journey to Meishin Expressway. It was easy to get onto, and traffic was smooth. We drove past small townships and villages, ahead were snow-capped mountains.

Two hours later, a first stop at the Bodaiji Parking Area (GPS: 35.04277, 136.05934). Time to change drivers, Phing is taking over from Nick.

A longer stop at the Gifu-Yamato Parking Area; it's a smaller stop (a parking stop for tired drivers) so the toilets are easy to get to. There are no eateries shops, but several vending machines sell drinks and even hot ramen.

4:30pm - Passing by the Karuoka Pass, we are higher up in the mountains. This year spring is arriving late and snow can still be seen at the roadside and embankment slopes.

Twenty minutes later we exited the highway at the Hida-Kiyomizu Toll Exit. Here we see how polite the Japanese are - after issuing us the receipt, the booth operator bowed and wished us "Arigato Gozaima", we bowed back to show our thanks and he bowed back again. We repeated the cycle a few times until we realised that there were cars behind us! And they didn't blare their horn at us, just waited patiently while we did our ritual.

What a warm welcome to Takayama!

5:00pm - Arriving at our stay in Takayama, the GCT. We had booked this hotel as they provided car parking (at ¥1000 per day) but they did mention it was on a first come first serve basis - public car parking can be expensive. Fortunately, it was a Sunday, and most guests had already checked out. Their car park is a Mechanical Vertical Rotary System, luckily we had rented a Nissan Serena, and not any large vans, the height of the van just fitted in nicely.

Here's a video of how this Mechanical Vertical Rotary System, this on is outdoors whilst the hotel one is enclosed within the building.

6:15pm - The hotel also rents out bicycles to guests for free, and soon the three of us were cycling around the part of town nearer the hotel (Kevin had gone for a jog on his own).

Day 4 - Night Cycling at Takayama route map:

Chisun Grand Hotel>Takayama Station>Aburi-an>Samurai Image>Jinya-mae Morning Markets>Nakabashi Bridge>Hida Takuma>Sorekara>Daily Yamazaki Takayama>Chisun Grand Hotel.

A nice, short ride around Takayama, to visit a couple of tourist spots and for dinner too!

(Click here for the Takayama for Night Cycling Route Map)

A nice, short ride around Takayama, to visit a couple of tourist spots and for dinner too!

It was an easy ride, just to acquaint ourselves with the town. Rode by the Takayama Station, and our first stop at Aburi-an, with a cute statue of a well-rounded chef on the roof. They sell among other things Kushiyaki skewers & breaded cutlets. There is a small eating area, most people take-away but unfortunately they close at 6pm.

Swung by the Jinya-mae Morning Market to scout out the place, it was closed (of course, it's a morning market 😂). Hopefully can come visit tomorrow morning.

Nearby was the striking statue of Tetsutaro Yamaoka. He was a famous samurai of the Bakumatsu period, who played an important role in the Meiji Restoration. He was also noted as the founder of the Itto Shoden Muto-ryu school of swordsmanship.

We made it to the Nakabashi Bridge. But at night it was too dark to take nice photos, so we turned around to look for dinner to sate our hungry tummies. Our first try was Hida Takuma, unfortunately, they were full. So ended up at Sorekara, which serves pretty good Hida Beef Kushiyaki skewers; also had grilled Hida Beef slices, sashimi, salad & Miso soup. We just parked and locked our bikes outside.