Sunday, February 4, 2007





There's not a whole lot to do other than soaking in the atmosphere of the old village, but we kept ourselves entertained. Diversions include a sake brewery, which is only identified by that scary symbol hanging over Somchai's head. Given the complete silence and lack of signage, we were doubtful a real business was bustling behind the doors, but as we slid open the door and tentatively poked our heads in, we were surprised to see a man standing behind a register ready to take our order. Since we were without a doubt the only visitors to the town that day, I'm not sure if he was tipped off about our presence, or whether he stands there day in and day out waiting for someone to pop in, but either way, we struggled through the language barrier and emerged with a couple of bottles of locally brewed sake. There's also the very pretty Kisu River with some ancient bridges, and Somchai was in his element as the town had five old wells that used to provide water for the Kyoto to Edo traffic, so he was able to risk sickness or worse five different times in one day! I really liked it here, and would plan on spending the day in the valley, walking between towns along the river on our next visit.

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