Amazing Nikko in the Torrential Rain

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Up very early this morning and leaving the ladies behind to head out to the ancient capital of Nikko which has something like 9 world heritage sights. Sadly the weather had regressed from merely overcast to full on heavy rain and by the time I had taken my first shikansen train out to the mountains it was really starting to dump down. From the train station it was about a half an hour walk up into the hills before the first temple came into view, well to be strictly correct a famous red bridge and then a temple. Their was apparetly lots of mythical significance to the bridge but it didn't translate into much of a view on a rainy morning. The temples were a different story as set into the hills with the rain they really seemed to be steeped in atmosphere. The other great thing about the appalling weather was that it had kept most of the other day trippers in their hotels so I had much of the complex to myself for the first hour or so.

The whole set of temples were built in a staggeringly short period of time (I think 3-4 years) by a huge number of workers (over 3 million!!) to honour the death of a grand unifying shogun Igesuya (sp?). They certainly had the feeling of a very grand royal tribute with much gold, red and black on show. The carvings on all the buildings were spectacular and the only shame was the difficulty in trying to do them photographic justice whilst also holding my umbrella and getting progressively colder and wetter. Some interesting bits such as the original see no evil, say no evil, hear no evil monkies as well as a famous crying dragon and odd shaped cat that is apparently famous all over Japan for warding off evil spirits. By midday I was pretty wet through and very cold so extremely happy to find shelter in a nice little restaurant who served up an excellent katsu kuri. Was hoping to visit the emperor's world war II home but sadly was closed on tuesday so just made my way home.

Had arranged to meet the ladies at the Tokyo tower or later at Shibuya crossing. They missed the Tokyo tower which was a shame as the view as the dusk turned to night was pretty special. With the rain in the air the lights on the roads blinked in a very surreal way and you started to get a feel for just how awesomely big the metropolitan area is. Without question the most sky scrapers I have ever seen extending out all the way across the bay and back towards the mountains. Finally met back with the ladies in Shibuya where we tried unsuccesfully to get into the J-pop bar which was hosting a wedding. Instead we found ourselves in the Attic Bar where we were duly offered something smaller than an attic - cosy would be an exaggeration of the space on offer but a cool experience nonetheless.

Dinner was proving to be a bit of a challenge until we by chance went downstairs into a place that specialised in smoked fish. Despite this inauspicious start, their selection of veg dishes was actually second to none and the enthusiastic way everything was served by the staff was infectiously enjoyable. Once again we were given our own private dining room - perhaps Japanese people prefer not to watch Gaijin eating? - which was all bamboo and goldfish swimming under the flagstones. Headed back to the hotel on the last train.

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