Nikko Kanaya Hotel

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

...oder wir zu ihm. <br><br>Tja, jeder, der eines Tages vor hat, Japan zu erkunden, der kann getrost einen grossen Bogen um Nikko machen, ausser man steht auf Pensionistenstadt und absolut totes Nachtleben. Eins muss man dem kleinen Oertchen lassen, es gibt echt schoene, gruene Waelder, Berge und einen sehr netten Fluss. Dort haben wir auch ein schoenes Plaetzchen zum Zeit totschlagen gefunden, weil`s ja sonst nichts gibt.<br><br>Wir haben uns ...

... 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>

Nun, gestern haben wir schweren Herzens mein geliebtes Tokyo hinter uns gelassen und haben unsere erste Shinkansenfahrt gen Nikko angetreten. <br>Es gab ein paar Zeitprobleme, allerdings fahren diese Zuege so ca. alle 20 min, darum war das dann auch nicht wirklich ein Problem. Allerdings kamen wir genau wie vorhergesagt, jedoch nicht wie geplant irgendwann nach 6, also dann, als schon finster war, in der menschenleeren Kleinstadt... naja, im Vergleich zu ...

... was small but charming. The temple could be reached by bus but I just walked to get a better idea of what the town looked like and see some of the shops along the way. Before crossing the street climb the hill up toward the temple I saw a noteworthy red bridge that crossed a beautiful river that flows through the town. I am not sure what the name is but it seems like it is one of the "postcard" type places Nikko is known for. <br><br ...

... 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 ...

... di scolaresche in gita, per cui la mia giornata si trasforma in una specie di caccia al tempio meno affollato: i bambini vanno li', i pullman di vecchietti sono qui, allora io vado di la'. Beh, effettivamente non sembra una gran giornata detta cosi', ma il posto e' veramente bello e riesco anche a trovare un po' di pace e qualche tempio deserto immerso tra gli alberi. Nikko era un centro di addestramento per monaci buddisti ed e' un posto speciale perche' e ...

... 8 PM or so and Nick and I decided it was time to get back to the hotel so we could get to bed early and sleep as much as possible. Well, Nick thought it would be a good idea to take a different route back to the hote. I mean, after all...we had at least 2 tourist maps of Nikko with us...we would be fine, right? No. We took some wrong turns and ended up quite opposite to where we wanted to go. We DID get to find some pretty cool stuff though. A bunch of mini shrines ...