Jan 5th – Takayama to Kyoto.
I was quite sad to leave Hirayu Onsen and the Hodakaso Saganoyu Ryokan, I had really enjoyed my stay there as well as the hot springs – although I could only stay in there for short periods, as unfortunately I was still suffering with the cold which nothing could kill – any form of medication, full heating in the room, even the hot spring wouldn’t kill it. I then made my way back to the bus, for the 1 hour trip back to Takayama, then the 2 hour 16 minute ride back to Nagoya. The bus trip was fine, and actually a newer luxury coach as it happened, the train however posed it own problem – overcrowding. Unfortunately there were no seats left, and actually no standing space left on the entire train, luckily the guard managed to find a small only partially occupied standing space on a far carriage to shove me into, and I began the 2 hours and 16 minute journey – standing the entire way.

From Nagoya, I took the Hikari superexpress 377 to Kyoto, another luxury trip on the Shinkansen, from there is was a single stop on the subway to my hotel, the Aranvert.