After one last breakfast together, the group headed to the airport. Our own adventure is just beginning, ‘cause from now on we’re travelling solo. We took the Shinkansen down to Nagoya. There we hopped on a Limited Express to Takayama, a little town in the Japanese Alps.

The place has a gorgeous town centre with old wooden houses where you can buy food and all sorts of souvenirs. It’s famous for Hida beef, which foodies reckon tastes at least as good as the world-famous Kobe beef. We enjoyed this top-notch meat in a rather mundane way: as a Wagyū burger, with homemade wedges and iced tea. Delicious!

Our hotel is another traditional Japanese ryokan. The room is simple but comfortably furnished. And of course, we’ll be sleeping on a thin mattress on the tatami floor again this time. We still feel a bit clueless and unsure in ryokans, but here they’re well prepared for foreign visitors. Our hosts gave us a warm welcome, patiently explained everything to us, and politely ignored the odd faux pas we made.