After packing our bags and saying goodbyye to "English-Speaking-Tommy" and his Zenkoji Temple Inn, we decided to stroll through the Takayama Morning markets, or Asa-ichi. We quickly walked through the smaller Jinya-Mae Market, grabbed some sushi for breakie, and headed over to the much larger and more impressive Miyagawa Market, which stretched its way down the river bank. I love markets, and this one was a great way to see all the crafts that we'd heard so much about from Takayama, as well as try out some traditional Japanese food from the many stalls offering smples. John tried some mitarashi-dango, basically skewers of sticky riceballs. They were awfully chewy and altogether not the greatest taste of Japan. We were also tempted by the stands of GIANT apples, being peeled by gnarled old men and women whose smiles spread wrinkles like ripples all over their faces. Ended up getting a beg of apples from a man who used an electric peeler - or "Super-Machine" as he called it. We scratched our heads over the many little red toys, with blank faces and pointy limbs - turns out these are "monkey babies" from the days when women made their grandchildren dolls from any materials they could find!