Hotel New Sakura Nikko

Toured the temples at Nikko today. Very impressive, but the fact that everything was in Japanese (no English) and I don't know much about Buddism, it was really a matter of walking around and admiring these cool buildings. I bought a picture book rather than trying to take a bunch of amateurish photos - maybe I can get my daughter to translate?<br><br>Because of this, touring the site only ...

... zum Rand gefuellte Wanne mit heissem Wasser gaaaaanz frueh am Morgen (weil Fruehstueck wird um halb 8 serviert... und nur bis halb 8)<br>Wir wissen jetzt auch, wie man so ein Japanisches Bad auch richtig benutzt... wir hatten zwar schon mal von irgendeinem Japankenner gehoert, wie das denn so ablaueft... aber wenn man dann wirklich da ist, dann denkt man nicht an irgendwelche Waschablaeufe oder so... also haben wir auch gleich mal am ersten ...

Note to self: Don't create passwords with strange characters when you're going to have to use a foreign keyboard...<br><br>Returned to the ryokan for dinner and met some of the other guests. Two couples from Australia and one from Germany. Had (an amazing) dinner with the Ozzies. Eventually I'll get photos up, but think fish, rice, sashimi ...

... wohl Wandern angesagt! ... y a y :p<br><br>Gestern und vorgestern haben wir uns in Asakusa mit Sabine und Andi getroffen (Studienkollegin und soon-to-be-Gspons ;)<br>War sehr amuesant uns auf der von Japanern nur so wimmelnden Azumbashi Bruecke zu finden. Sabine passt wie die Faust aufs Auge hier nach Japan. Dieses Land bringt ihre besten Eigenschaften noch besser zum Vorschein! XD<br>Wir sind einfach mal Essen gegangen und danach am Abend noch zu einem ...

... of the day. One of the most famous things about the temple is a wood carving with the "Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, See No Evil" monkeys adorning it. <br><br>Unfortunatley I didn't get up to see Kegon waterfall which I hear is really beautiful. There is also a lake above Nikko which is also quite beautiful. Both of these places can be reached by special bus but since it was late in the day I decided to head back to Tokyo. <br><br> <br>

... However, I was disappointed to see the monks in the temple or shrines who were eager to sell something mysterious like lucky charms, lucky arrows, and beadrolls. I didn't go shopping there. I thought the monk was more sacred profession. Especially, Nikko is the most dignified cluster of shrines and temples of Japan. Honestly, I had a bad impression from the merchant-like monks.<br><br>

... and neither one of us wanted to trek up a mountain. We found some very good and cheap (by standards) meals at a restaurant with views of the mountain and lake. Time quickly escaped us so we headed back to the bus to go towards town again and got off at Shinyko Bridge. The bridge was one of my favorites, looked like a postcard with the mountains in the background and fog under the bridge. We ventured into some temples and ...

... develops all the neat gadgets ahead of everyone else. I then stopped by a tourist office to buy the World heritage pass (included train and entrance to temples) and then headed to the train platform. It is a little confusing for tourists I guess, because it is only the first two carriages of the train that go to Nikko, as the train splits. Apparently a lot of tourists must have been on the wrong side of the splitting train because the ...

... Monte and I are all learning the ins and outs of this lodge. Suddenly, Ken had a family emergency and had to leave for 3 days... and he assumed that we would easily run the lodge! After some discussion, we agreed to help him out. Crazy. So, with poor Monte doing most of the work and Aaron and I helping out where we could, we had a blast running this lodge... I look forward to the day that I'll have my own lodge/hostel to run. With the spare time we could find, we ...

A few hours outside of Tokyo is pretty little Nikko. We arrive just in time to watch the typhoon take over the town. Instead of huddling inside and being warm and dry we put on tiny little raincoats and wander the town in the typhoon. We got wet. I'm sure we looked a site wandering around in our bright yellow, cheap, almost useless ...