Last stop at Kanazawa- Gifu travel

After exploring Matsumoto Takayama and Shirakawago area the last stop of the journey is Kanazawa city. Left Shirakawago in the early morning hoping to explore many interesting sites in Kanazawa city. We took the highway bus from Shirakawago station which takes us to Kanazawa station. The bus ticket costs 2600yen and can be bought at the Shirakawago bus station. It was a comfortable and scenic bus tour. When we arrived at the Kanazawa station we decided to store our luggage at the station meanwhile my friend bought a return bullet train ticket to Tokyo. The Shinkansen ticket from Kanazawa station to Tokyo station costs around 14380yen one way. I decided to take a night bus which cost around 3800yen. It's fairly reasonable as I was budget traveling.

After arriving in Kanazawa city we decided to go to the 21st century museum of contemporary art. When we arrived the place was fully packed and tickets sold out. As it was a long weekend many locals were traveling and it was expected. We made a mistake by not buying tickets online a few days back. So we walk around the museum exploring outdoor artifacts available at the museum.

As we weren't able to enter the museum we decided to go to our next stop, Kenrokuen garden. The Kenrokuen garden is one of the three most beautiful landscape gardens in Japan. It is located close to the 21st century museum of contemporary art and its walkable distance. We paid 300yen to enter the garden and the ticket is valid for the whole day. We were there late summer but the popular seasons are spring and autumn. The garden consists of water features, bridges, tea houses, stones, trees with viewpoints to discover.

Then we went to Omicho market hoping to have lunch as the market is famous for fresh seafood. There are so many fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood selling for a pretty reasonable price compared to Tokyo. There are many food stalls that locals dine in specially eating fresh sashimi raw meat. I wasn't in a good mood to try sashimi but we had a nice lunch at a local restaurant serving fresh cooked seafood.

To treat ourselves with sweets we tried Kanazawa special ice cream which comes with gold leaf wrap around the ice cream. It was quite a treat even though there is no taste from the gold leaf. There are many places that sell gold leaf wrap ice cream in Kanazawa town and it costs less than 1000yen.

Next we stopped at Higashi Chaya district hoping to buy some souvenirs. During the Edo period this area was known for its entertainment district with geisha performances. Now it has converted into little tea houses and souvenir shops that sell local products. Many Kimono girls, boys and couples wander around streets as its charming place.

Finally we end our Kanazawa tour exploring D T Suzuki museum. The museum showcases the life and works of Suzuki Daisetz Teitaro, a prominent Buddhist philosopher. The museum was designed by famous architect Yoshio Taniguchi. The museum space showcases its simplicity and minimalist design to showcase the philosopher's life and religious background. There are few architectural elements implemented to have a greater experience as water gardens, large rooms with four side openings so visitors can sit and meditate or go into deeper thoughts.

After exploring the Kanazawa city I decided to take an onsen bath and prepared myself for a long ride back to Tokyo. In my opinion one full day is enough to explore Kanazawa city as its main attractions are close by. I bought some Kanazawa flavor omiyage to bring back home.