Kinugawa Onsen Ryokan 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 ...

... 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<br><br>Im naechsten Hostel soll`s angeblich wieder Internet geben, also duerfte mein naechster Eintrag nicht lange auf sich warten lassen XD<br><br>Bis bald also... &#12376;&#12419;&#12354;&#12414;&#12383 ;&#12290;

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 ...

... 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<br><br>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.<br><br>Jaa mata.<br>

... 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>

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>

... in Roppongi or somewhere fun, and instead did my laundry in a coin-op laundrette about a mile from here, packed parcels, and am now boring myself and future readers to tears by catching up on bloggage. Cannot... believe.. it. And the net cafe in the hotel lets you go on 24hrs as long as buy one drink.. bargainous. Fish market opens in 2 hours.. go or not? Hmmm... zzzz See you in Bangkok/Cambodia/Nam.. wherever I next find net. Promise to learn brevity in the meantime.

... they just look really awesome and aerodynamic on the outside. The inside of the car is also very roomy and comfortble. I wish planes had that kind of leg room! They pick up speed very quickly, I think that particular train hit some 300 km/hr. Shortly after we left the station this lady with snack cart came along selling stuff. I was just in awe...it was like being on a plane...but way better. LOL. We took two more trains in order to make it to Nikko (that was the only ...