Ryokan Kamiaizuya Nasushiobara

... There was a ticker at the front and back of the car which told you what the next station was (in both Japanese and English). The audible announcement was also in Japanese and English. One of the things I appreciated was whenever the conductor or food cart person enters or leaves the car, they would bow. We packed sandwiches and drinks which came in handy for the pleasant train ride. The ride took us less than two hours. We ...

... as I'd never have found the place otherwise. Got settled in, and donning my yukata, headed for the bath. Ahhh, I could get used to this.

But, I was going to talk about Toilets. For those of you who have never experienced a Japanese toilet, think lots of buttons. There's a button to warm the seat. There's a button to spray a bit of water on your backside (and another button to turn ...

... 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 ...

... 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.

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 ...

... 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 ...

... las dos calles principales, unas exposiciones con estatuas de cera representando la vida de los samurais y los metodos de tortura de sus prisiones y, por supuesto, tiendas de souvenirs. Tenian mascota y todo, Nyan-mage, pero era un poco cutre: un gato blanco con pelo de samurai.


Lo primero que vimos fue un espectaculo de ninjas, en forma de teatro. Te contaban una historia de un ninja al que su maestro manda en una mision Aparecen unos ninjas malos, que matan a su ...

... treinta metros.
Habia grupos de escolares de visita. Los chavales/as iban todos con uniformes del mismo color. Los profesores les iban dando la charla e indicandoles cuando se tenian que ir quitando los zapatos.
Atravesamos el primer de los toriis (los portales de madera) y la guia nos explico que cuando pasas por debajo tu alma se purifica. Tambien comento que hay quien necesita pasar varias veces para purificarse.
Pasamos por delante de varios edificios ...