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Published: October 17th 2018
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We left my brother's home early this morning to travel to his wife Dianne's hometown of Kiryu. We took expressways since time was short, and it cost about $20 in tolls...Once in Kiryu, we boarded a sightseeing train bound for Nikko. The train has an open-air car, and since the weather was good, we sat there...
The train route crosses the mountains along a gorge, with beautiful scenery most of the way. The train stopped frequently at small stations and scenic views, and at one station women sold drinks and food from the platform. We also ordered bento boxes for lunch, which were delivered to the train. Madelyn loved the train ride and wasn't scared, even in the long tunnel (5 kilometers). While inside the tunnel, the train car had an LED display that changed colors, and she enjoyed that!
There were many defunct mines along the way..gold and copper. There was also a closed power plant..
When we got to the end of the line we had four hours before the train back to Kiryu left. Sadly, the train station was a 30 minute expensive bus ride way from Nikko, and there was no return bus that
would get back in time. We took the bus ($9 each) and then got stuck in a traffic jam as we approached Nikko. We got off as soon as we could, since Madelyn was ready for a break and lunch! We walked up to the temple area (we had not realized that we had gotten off at the right stop!) and found a place to eat. Bill and I toured the temples and shrines, while Madelyn played on the moss.
The most interesting area was the Shinto shrine, which had games, like ring toss, combined with typical shrine iconography! The area was stunning, with huge cedar trees everywhere. Many were supported with cables and straps. The temples here have a strong Chinese influence and are more brightly colored with more gold accents.
We all met up later and took a taxi back to the train, after buying the "world famous cheese egg", which turned out to be cheese cake.. The taxi ride back was $70. This is the first poorly organized thing we've come across in Japan, and it was in a very touristy area, so we were all surprised how difficult it was to do...The guide book
was right: never drive to Nikko!
Once back in Kiryu, we drove to Dianne's mother's home. Dianne grew up here, in the same house where her mother was born. Her sister, her husband and their daughter Amina live there too. Dianne's mother cooked us a delicious meal; the best we've had in Japan! We had two kinds of fish, miso soup, daikon, greens, rice, and more! She even made the cucumber pickles herself...We ended the meal with lemon grass tea, made from the lemon grass she grew outside the kitchen. Madelyn had fun playing with Amina who is nearly a year older.
On the the two hour return trip, we hit a traffic jam that lasted almost an hour...we found out later it was caused by a suicide attempt from an overpass. The police were able to prevent the young man from jumping...
The next day, we took a train up the Tama Valley with Dianne and Madelyn...we got off at the last stop and then took a bus up the valley to the reservoir. We walked out on the dam, looking for monkeys in the forest below (didn't see any...) and climbed into the observation tower.
There were bear warnings posted, and while the bears are smaller than ours, they are more aggressive and frequently attack hikers!
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Kesari
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