Hida district, onsen and Japanese Alps.

I left Kyoto on October 14th, early morning, by the first train to Nagoya.

I wanted to reach Takayama, in the Hida district to visit the area and the Hida-Furukawa Kitsune-bi Matsuri festival, held on October 16th, as Lonely Planet reported.

While Kyoto-Nagoya is a shinkansen line, Nagoya Takayama is an "express line" (ordinary train). It takes 40 minutes to Nagoya and then almost 3 hours to Takayama. The JR Takayama Line is one of the most scenic in Honshu. After Gifu, the train runs along a river surrounded by mountains. The day before I decided to stop in Gero during my journey to enjoy the Onsen Japanese Capital. Gero is a small town apparently without glamour. It is the opposite for its onsen. I left my big backpack in the train station lockers and I asked info in the tourist office. I bought a Yumeguri Tegata, a little piece of wood that for just 1,200 yen allows you 3 entrances in private onsen. Well, the only drawback is that these private onsen are mainly opened to the Yumeguri Tegata owners just for 1 or 2 hours a day! It was 12.45 when I bought the pass and the first nice onsen I selected in the list opened at 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. The second one from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. and then I selected randomly the last one. I started walking fast under the rain from the tourist office to c onsen www.japaneseguesthouses.com/db/gifu/yunoshimakan.htm. I arrived just in time and enjoyed one of my favorite onsen experiences in Japan. I was alone with the full availability of an indoor big hot pool and an outdoor hot rock pool. From this one I was admiring the mountains in front of me while my head was showered by a mild rain...The second private onsen I explored was Yamagataya (www.yamagata-ya.co.jp/). It was really nice and completely desert. Once again, I had the whole onsen for me! The last, unfortunately, was nothing special (Suzunami onsen). I picked it up in my choice just for the convenient opening time and because it is located on the way back to the train station. If you go to Gero and you are short in time, you can enjoy the open air public onsen. It is beside the Gero bridge, easy to find.

I reached Takayama in the mid afternoon and I checked in the Temple Inn Zenko-ji, a hostel located in a buddhist temple not far from the train station. If you want to reserve it check their website www.geocities.jp/zenkojitakayama/ and ask for Tommy, the English speaking monk. A good place to eat nearby the hostel is Origin, a wonderful izakaya to eat with few hundreds yen.

The second day in Hida, I first visited the two morning markets, Jinyamae and Miya-gawa, then the old merchant houses and the historical centre. For the lunch time I decided to use my JR pass to reach Furukawa and ask information for the 16th October festival. The tourist office in Furukawa told me that the Kitsune-bi Matsuri festival has been held in September! In another trip I would have been really disappointed. In Japan was different. I re-planned my last day in Hida region: Kamikochi. Before leaving Furukawa, I explored the city centre (Setokawa to Shirakabe-dozo) with the typical water channels full of carps and I visited the Honko-ji, a wonderful wooden temple. Back to Takayama, I adventured in the Higashiyama temple area through a trail that cross the area and then climb up the Shiroyama park.

My last day in Hida was perfect. First bus to Kamikochi at 6.40 a.m., then change in Hirayu Onsen and arrival in Kamikochi at 8.25 a.m. Not really cheap: 4,860 yen round trip! I confess that in Kamikochi, located at 4,920 feet (1,500 meters) above the see level, in the early morning I was freezing! So I started to walk up the mountain to reach Nishi Hotaka Mountain Cottage and from there the Nishi Hotaka Dake summit 9,450 feet (2,909 meters). The trail was wonderful: in 1 hour and 40 minut to the cottage I met few people and I admired the color plethora of fall season. From the cottage to the top of the mountain another hour and 20 minutes. So in 3 hours I was on the top. Special view on the Kamikochi valley and surrounding peaks! Just the time for a picture and then back to the cottage for a beer and down to the bus station.