Honke Bankyu Bankyu Ryokan Nikko

... as I'd never have found the place otherwise. Got settled in, and donning my yukata, headed for the bath. Ahhh, I could get used to this.<br><br>But, I was going to talk about Toilets. For those of you who have never experienced a Japanese toilet, think lots of buttons. There's a button to warm the seat. There's a button to spray a bit of water on your backside (and another button to turn ...

... gestern aufgemacht, einen der ach so beruehmten Tempel und Schreine Nikkos zu besuchen. War ja auch sehr schoen... aber sonst gibt`s kaum etwas, dass junge Leute wie unser eins sehr ins Staunen versetzen koennte... (mal abgesehen von der schoenen Natur... wenn wir halt nur mehr Freude am Wandern haetten... ;)<br><br>Unser Jugendhostel war eher... naja. Ich wuerde sagen, das beste daran war das Japanische Bad. Das ist schon was feines, so eine ...

... and scallop), beef, tempura and some unknowns that tasted great. Washed down with a big, cold Asahi beer!<br><br>Then, bath time. Wow. First time in a Japanese bath. Private, not a sento, but hot enough to peel paint and just the thing for sore muscles. The whole Japanese process where you shower/rinse first, then get in the tub to soak.<br>

... Dorf (95 000 EW) an.<br>Unser Youth Hostel war nicht allzu schwer zu finden, ist aber im Vergleich zum Khaosan in Tokyo, ein RICHTIGES Youthhostel, wie mans sich schon eher vorstellt... ein bisl abge****t halt XD aber die Hosts sind echt nett, ein altes Ehepaar. Und wir haben seit gestern abend schon mehr Japanisch gesprochen als die letzten 10 Tage in Tokyo ;D<br><br>Heute gehts mal auf Tempeljagt. Hier solls echt schoene Exemplare geben. Also ist fuer ...

... hiked up the hill toward the temple and just enjoyed the scenery. The moist environment mixed with the pine tree forest makes for some really beautiful areas around Nikko. Different varieties of moss coat the forest floor and grow up and around the trees. If you have ever seen the forest scenes from "Princess Mononoke" it sort of reminded me of that. <br><br>The temple was interesting and quite large. I looked around it for the better ...

... Tobu Nikko station, I walked up to Rinnyoji temple by way of Shinkyo Sacred Bridge. It was farther and more boring than I had expected, but the long distance walk was a good exercise. <br><br>There was the shrine, Toshogu, just a few minutes walk away from Rinnyoji temple. That is the best spot of Nikko with elaborate architectures and fine arts. One of the most famous arts is "Three Wise ...

We left Tokyo on a train, headed North 2 hours to Nikko. We walked the 20 minutes to our hostel, which is in the woods near a river and walking trails. We were going to stay a 3rd night but the lodge was booked up so we decided to plan out the rest of our trip and only stay 2 nights there. <br><br>We have been buying breakfast foods from convience stores to save some money and we walked to the bus station for tourist ...

... trenes y andar veinte minutos. Casi nada. No se porque nos cansamos tanto. <br><br><br>Para cenar, compramos comida en el 7-Eleven: yo comi un burrito y un pastel de arroz y de postre un pastel de nata (como un milhojas). <br><br><br>A eso de las 9pm llegaron unos 25 ninos de Tokyo con sus monitores para hospedarse en el hostal, para entrenarse en Kendo. <br><br><br>Norito se ofrecio a imprimirnos el horario de trenes del Shinkansen entre Tokyo y Fukuoka para manana.<br><br><br>

... I ask our team. "Sure! You are the tour leader."my husband replies. So we walk up the steps , turn as the track turns after a little while we emerge into a small road and this red school bus come into view. " We surely come the right way . If we see a school bus it means we are near our destination. As Toshogu shrine is a very popular place for school ...

... Japanese have great snackfood, and I havent even had my old favourite, the sausage on a stick! The temples were pretty enough, and the setting was good. We saw the original three wise monkey picture. In the distance were snow capped mountains. It was chilly. After the shrinage we walked back, I found a hill we could climb so we made our way up, but it became apparent that we wouldnt make it by ...