Kinugawa Gyoen Nikko

... a little air dryer for your backside). There's an internal fan that comes on to avoid any unpleasant odors. There's probably a button to cause wheels to appear so you can drive the thing down the street... Anyway, suffice it to say that the Japanese have advanced the technology of toilets.

Now, could somebody explain to them to adopt toilet paper with a little more heft than single ply?

... Dort sollten wir einen Anschlusszug nach Aomori erwischen und wenn alles nach Plan verlaeuft (haha. der war gut) dann kommen wir vor Einbruch der Dunkelheit da oben an. Hui, da sind wir mal gespannt. Es kann nur besser sein als Nikko XD

Im naechsten Hostel soll`s angeblich wieder Internet geben, also duerfte mein naechster Eintrag nicht lange auf sich warten lassen XD

Bis bald also... じゃあまた ;。

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 ...

... an Schlaf meinerseits... hab eine etwas schlaflose Nacht hinter mir. Gleich zu unsrem Fenster raus ist ein riesen Fluss, der ordentlich laermen kann, wenn man nachts versucht, ne ruhige Minute zu finden. Aber hee, schlafen kann ich auch noch im Flugzeug XD

So. Ich sag mal, bis bald! Internet hat sich bis jetzt immer relativ einfach finden lassen. Hier in Nikko im Informationscenter, in Tokyo wars ja quasi im Hostel inkludiert.

Jaa mata.

... 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 ...

... 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.

... They were very helpful and we got public bus tickets, expensive $20 (like everything else here) and rode out a half hour up a windy mountain road to Chuzen-ji Lake. From the bus stop we walked 300 meters to Kegon Falls, pretty nice as far as falls goes, similiar but not as nice as Akaka Falls, Hawaii... I'm just saying. Then we walked to the lake and was a little bummed out by the hiking trail options and it started to ...

... trenes y andar veinte minutos. Casi nada. No se porque nos cansamos tanto.


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).


A eso de las 9pm llegaron unos 25 ninos de Tokyo con sus monitores para hospedarse en el hostal, para entrenarse en Kendo.


Norito se ofrecio a imprimirnos el horario de trenes del Shinkansen entre Tokyo y Fukuoka para manana.

... skycraper district in Western Shinjuku--this is where many of those salarymen work. Tried to get some night time city views at a couple of free skyscrapers. Struck out at the NS building--all the sights are for the restaurants. Likewise, the restaurant (Italian of all things) at the top of the Metropolitan Government Building has the best view of central Tokyo, but I managed to get to the only window alongside with a nice view to Tokyo tower, which is ...

... from platform 1 splits up along the way. I've been twice: once in early August, and again in November. Because it's up in the mountains, the air is quite a bit cooler than in Tokyo. In the summer, it was a relief to escape the oppressive city air; even though it was still hot there. The sun was particularly scorching that day, but the incredibly tall trees gave welcome shade, and the loud buzzing of cicadas and dragonflies as long as my ...