Roadtrip to Nikko

Nikko is a small town set in the mountains of in Tochigi Prefecture. Very famous in Japan for its shrines and temples and natural beauty, it was added as a World Heritage Site in 1999. Since Nikko is an easy and beautiful drive from Niigata, we planned to head down in the fall so we could see the temples and the foliage.
Armed with iPods, maps and overnight bags, Kayvohn, Kate, Aaron and I headed out early Saturday morning. After about 2 hours on the expressway, we drove through miles of breathtaking mountains in Gunma and into Tochigi. Despite dismal weather forecasts, we had perfect, crisp, sunny Autumn weather for the drive. The trees were in full color on the way up and down the mountains; and we drove through the snow at the top. There are also small lakes scattered throughout the mountains and it really is amazing to see such unspoilt nature


Our first stop on the trip was Lake Chuzenji to visit the shrine and stretch our legs.


Kayvohn and I rang the bells to summon the spirits. My religious exercise of the year.



Then we made a stop at Kegon Falls and took the elevator down the 100 meters to get a better view.




To get to central Nikko we had to trek up and down another whole mountin range and finally made it into our ryokan (Japanese style hotel) at around 4:00. Our ryokan was outside of central Nikko in a forest where there were actual monkeys running around the grounds (I took pictures, but they didn't come out well).
This was my first stay in a ryokan. We were given a seriously huge suite (bigger than my apartment, by far) with a huge tatami room with a table with a full tea set in the middle. Another tatami room with a TV and lounge chairs, a full Japanese style bathroom and then a third tatami room that was completely empty. At about 6:00 the hotel staff came and set up the empty room with our dinners. And while we ate, they set up our futons in the other room. Oh, the service.

The food here was, as expected, extremely Japanese. I have a theory that the more expensive and lavish a Japanese meal is, the more gag-worthy it can be to Westerners. I'll attempt to describe this going clockwise from the top left: some kind of boiled fish and sauce; the pot contained beef and onions in a sauce - it was cooked inside that pot at our place setting; the purle porcelain thing contained unidentifiable mush floating in liquid; sashimi (yum); miso soup; pickles; more pickles; more mush in liquid; fresh fruit; tempura shrimp and mushrooms and in the center - a full on mini crab (still in its shell and still with legs) a shrimp with its eyes - decorated to appear to be climbing up the kaki (persimmon) skin, two pieces of mush and some random pickles inside the kaki skin. I'm not a very picky eater, but you can guess which ones I did and didn't eat.


After dinner, we split up for an onsen (Japanese hot spring). We then returned to our room in our provided (and oh-so-sexy) Yukatas and got silly with beers and chu his.
Kate and I modeling

And a random Yukata pyramid


Sunday morning we got up bright and early for another special ryokan breakfast including more mush, rice and soup. After check out, we headed over to the main Shrine and Temple area, called Toshogu Jinjya.


We saw the 5-tiered pagoda


The famous Three Monkeys "See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil"


A mother and her child in kimono


The main gate of Toshogu Jinjya. The intricate detailing of the carvings on this gate was amazing.



We descended from the shrine area to have some yakitori in a park amidst the fall colors.



Stopped at the Shinkyo Sacred Bridge



Then embarked on our journey home. The highlight of the drive home was when we stopped at an fruit and vegetable stand in the mountains in Gunma to buy pumpkins. You can't buy them in Niigata so I was super excited. And we got even luckier because the lovely old lady gave them to us for free! So Aaron and I plan on carving them for our mock Thanksgiving feast next weekend. Thank-o-lanterns anyone?!


Oh, and a note on the shirt I am wearing in this picture... Kate and I were going to have a ridiculous English T-shirt contest, but unfortunately she won before I even had a chance to compete - luckily she gave it to me for my birthday so I might actually be the winner. Anyway, here's what it says, and I kid you not.
On the front:
"Babe, I'm very selfish right now. I can use magic for you are crazy about me"
And the back, with a picture of a parrot:
"You may come where you like"

I'll let you ponder that for awhile...