Wakatakenosho Nikko

... 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 ...

...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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

As the proverb goes, Don't say, "fine" until you visit Nikko." Was it so fine? That was the question bringing me to Nikko. Nikko is far from Tokyo and it takes more than 2 hours to get there. I took a long distance night bus from Nagoya, arriving at Tokyo at 6 in the morning and it was enogh to make it to the Tobu train from Asakusa at 7:10, arriving at Nikko 9:20 by rapid-transit train ...

... we got a combined ticket for 1000Y otherwise most temples would have cost 1300Y each. The area has been designated a World Heritage Site. The most important and famous is the Toshogu Shrine, inside the gate is a horse stable with the three wise monkeys carved, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. All the temples were very nice and not very crowded and they were surrounded by moss covered stone walls and fences.

... pesas de piedra. <br><br><br>Finalmente, vimos otro show donde la geisha manipulaba pequenos chorros de agua con las manos y con su abanico. Yo creo que habia botones en el suelo para controlar los chorros. Imagino que para los crios el show estaria bien. <br><br><br>Habia tambien un templo que parecia de plastico, para que los estudiantes pudieran rezar para obtener buenas notas y un canalillo con carpas. <br><br><br>Para regresar al hostal tuvimos que coger un autobus ...

... legendary bridge, we cross the road to another side and try to find our way . There are no signs or direction , just stone steps up a hill before us. Then we notice a small paper with these letters printed on : " to the world heritage site " with an arrow pointing up these stairs. A couple of foreigner walk pass us to the stairs. " Shall we follow ...

Took the Shinkansen to Nikko which was speedy, but very uncomfortable. Japanese trains are **** in this respect. But they are clean. Hostel owner came and picked our bags up from the station, gave us a map then let us explore the area - really nice service. We walked upto Toshogu shrine, and some other temples in the area. On the way I had some white spongy roll thing with meat in - cheap and good ...