We had a two-hour layover in Gero, a spa-resort town of about 15,000 people. In various locations throughout the town, there are free hot foot-baths. Jill and I warmed our feet and tried to ignore the evidence of "floating foot stuff." from other people's nasty feet.




Gero's most famous "public bath" happens to be right at the foot of a well-trod bridge giving a perfect top-down view of wrinkled, leathered, old Japanese men. Apparently they like to watch the mini-golf course on the lawn while they scrub their various crevices. In the tourism pamphlets, this bath is featured with a beautifully lit town and a couple naked Japanese women. We're pretty sure no women ever go in this bath...



Our Japanese style hotel room featuring tatami mats and floor futons. Spacious, and with excellent HDTV flat-screen Japanese TV programs...




Jill demonstrates a yukata, or traditional pajama garb. We were meant to wear them on our way to the public baths; I was fine with the idea, until I found out that the tub I was meant to share with a stranger was the size of a double mattress. Jill and I weren't into spooning other people while naked in a tub, so we always bathed at 4:00 in the afternoon while other people toured...






While touring one of the temples, we stumbled onto a traditional Japanese wedding. The bride is wearing a wedding kimono, but the 79 German tourists weren't so traditional...









This is the "Main World Shrine," a name which is quite sure of itself. Its followers practice an off-shoot of Shintoism and Christianity. We couldn't take pictures, but inside a golden shrine and glowing neon fish tank take the place of the traditional cross. When Jill and I walked through, the place was ghostly empty, but every month 10,000 or so of the congregation make the pilgrimage to Takayama to worship. We tried to ignore the proliferation of swastikas and guards patrolling in Nazi-like uniforms...PS: you can see Jill's tiny body next to the giant Star of David towers...






Jill is so elegantly sprawled across the ruins of Takayama Castle's main gate. The English signs instructed us that the castle was "reduced to the reduced ruins." The whole site is a nature preserve which was a welcome escape from the crowds of European tourists. The man in the straw hat happened to be taking a piss in the woods when I unwittingly came up behind him to get a "cultural" picture of his hat. He turned around and zipped up and I pretended to take a "cultural" picture of the mountains.




This picture simply demonstrates how desperate for Mexican food we are. We went to this Lonely-Planet-recommended restaurant three different times, and it was closed each freakin time. Guess it was a sure sign that we needed to stick to Japanese cuisine while we are here...