Blogs from Tochigi, Japan, Asia - page 9

Still stuffed from the birthday that consisted of sitting around all day eating, the next morning we got the rental van, picked up the children's grandma, and headed north. It took seemingly forever to get there but when we finally arrived we headed first to Nikko Toshogu, the main attraction in Nikko. Nikko, a World Heritage site, is most famous for its mausoleums of the Tokugawa Shoguns. Toshogu is the most magnificent of all of the temples and shrines. In the Toshogu complex, there are various gates, halls, buildings, etc. One of the most famous symbols there is the carving of the Three Monkeys, from which the saying "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" originated. After a fair amount of sightseeing, we stopped in at Edo Wonderland, a miniature Japanese village geared for ... read more

Well today I took a day trip out to Nikko, which is northeast of Tokyo. About 40 minutes by shinkansen (bullet train) and then another 20 on the local rail, where I got a flirty smile and wave from an extremely cute Japanese girl. Unfortunately she did this as the train pulled away from the station where she had gotten off. At least it's a start... I have to make a point of saying that I've mastered the Tokyo metro system; subway, rail lines. I've even helped out another Japanese person who was lost earlier today. Anyway, Nikko is a small rural town, but just outside of Tokyo, where there are these amazing temples and mountains. The mountains are easily comparable to the rockies. I've got some pics, but most are on 35mm, so I have ... read more

Nikko was our next decided destination because it was known for their monkey and traditional shrines. We woke up very very early and took our first Shinkasen train ride (Japan’s bullet train). Upon arrival, we did not have a hotel so we tried to search for one. This did not come easy due to the snowy weather. We finally found a place that had Japanese style rooms and at a reasonable price. After settling in our hotel, we went off exploring the town of Nikko. See….I thought I was going to enjoy leaving Beijing because it was so cold there…..hmmm. I was wrong, Nikko was colder. This is where long underwear came in handy…hahaha.... read more