Hotel Tokugawa Nikko

und weiter geht es...

Nach 2,5 Stunden hatten wir den kleinen Ort Nikko erreicht. Es gibt auch eine private Zug-Line (TOBU) von Tokyo aus - diese benoetigt nur 1,5 Stunden. Wir benutzen aber "JR Linien". Vom Bahnhof haben wir dann ein Taxi ins Hotel genommen. Wir haben unser Gepaeck abgestellt und sind zu Fuss zur Tempel-Anlage gelaufen. Beeindruckt von den alten Gebaeuden haben wir auch den historischen Rueckweg ueber die alte Bruecke am Fluss ...

... person seemed to be alright and the train ride resumed. We got some Bento boxes for the Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo.

I was not that tired when we arrived in Tokyo. I think this was the first day I got over my jet lag. So we decided to go over to the Tokyo harbor area to visit Muscle Park. Muscle Park is a mini amusement park with strength, agility, and mental activities. The real reason why we came was b/c they had ...

... me 2-3 hours and so I was able to catch a train at 3:30. Arrived at Matsumoto around 7:30. Realized that the ryokan was going to be a bit far to pull a suitcase, I thought I'd catch a bus (as the website recommended, "just a short ride on Bus #2". Hmm. There is no "Bus #2". There was a "Bay #2" and the next bus was 50 minutes away. I'm sweaty and tired. Screw it, I'm taking a cab. Good ...

... 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... ;)

Unser Jugendhostel war eher... naja. Ich wuerde sagen, das beste daran war das Japanische Bad. Das ist schon was feines, so eine ...

Note to self: Don't create passwords with strange characters when you're going to have to use a foreign keyboard...

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 ...

... Dorf (95 000 EW) an.
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

Heute gehts mal auf Tempeljagt. Hier solls echt schoene Exemplare geben. Also ist fuer ...

... of the countryside and areas you may miss if you had travelled by air. It may just be me, but one really interesting thing about visiting other countries is just seeing where people live, namely their houses or dwelling places. When you ride the train you get to see stuff like that.

Nikko was a really beautiful town and the temperature was quite a bit cooler which was a welcome change from the humidity in Tokyo. The train ...

... 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 ...

... doors open and close automatically. You dont have to touch them. So we headed for Tokyo Station. Emi stated in the taxi that when someone jumps in front of a train (suicide) the family is responsible for paying for the disruption. Adding one more sad burden to them. I understand, and I might be mistaken, but Monday mornings are the worst for people jumping (the beginning of the work week). It happens enough for it part of life here but not enough to not still be shocked as we both were ...

We went to Nikko on an overnight trip from Tokyo. Apparently this is an off-season time to go to Nikko since the guide book described "throngs of tourists" there.. we were extremely lucky that we went when we did cuz we saw it at probably one of the most beautiful times to see it. When we got there after our 4 hour train ride, we found it particularly freezing because it's in the mountains. We did a small trek from the train station to the tourist bureau. The main guy at the tourist bureau ...