1/23/06: Nikko

After riding a bed train (which is essentially what it sounds like... a train with tiny beds, complimentary sleeping kimonos, and funny little conductors with no English speaking skills) and much confusion from being delayed 2 hours, I took the Shinkansen and arrived in Tokyo. Keep in mind that there are only about 5 trains late a year in Japan, and I managed to snag that very special one and couldn't figure out what was going on. The Shinkansen, by the way, is unbelievably fast and smooth. [photo: attempted Shinkansen picture as it flew by]. I met my new travelling partner, David (from karate, 6'3", blindingly white with a bright orange hat), in Tokyo Station and headed off to Nikko, a beautiful town northwest of Tokyo known for its shrines. We stayed at the Daiyagawa Youth Hostel, which is owned by a tiny, older woman who freaks out with delight when kangaroos come up in conversation. Dinner the night we arrived was quite good, although David speculates that we ate at the Japanese equivalent of Denny's. We tried the mayonnaise and corn pizza, which actually wasn't as repulsive as I originally thought. Kind of like a frozen pizza with cheese going bad. The next day, we went to see the shrines. [photo: newly constructed bridge on the way to the shrines]. So many shrines. We couldn't see them all. I was completely shrined out by the time we had finished, and we only got through three of the five that were included in our combination ticket. 1) Sanbutudo, 2)Rinnoji and 3) Toshogu. It was very cool to have all of these temples and shrines clustered together and within no more than a 5 min walk away from one another. All of them were brightly and ornately decorated with beautiful animals and designs. You could even go inside and pray if you took your shoes off. My favourite, of course, was Toshogu with all of the golden dragons [photo: Toshogu shrine and close up]. And it's incredible phone sitting out in front [photo]. So strange. But it was very serene (after the various Japanese tour groups had passed ) and beautiful- pretty green even with all of the snow [photo: walkway to Futarasan Shrine]. Next stop: Kyoto.





Fun Picture of the Day: Kerropi Shrine. Found next to the water purifying house for Toshogu Shrine. Kerropi. Kerropi is my hero. And apparently quite important to someone else.








Picture of Nikko: Prayer blocks