Day 6: Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving in Japan)
(Written on Thursday; posted on Saturday)
It was another early day. We left the Oakwood Apartments around 6am and headed to the train station to catch our train to Nikko. We didn’t need to leave that early--our train wasn’t leaving until 8:10--but our friend Atsh told us that it was not a good idea to get on the subway with our suitcases during rush hour. He told us that it’s not uncommon for people to actually be separated from their suitcases in the crush of people--and it’s also not uncommon to see "floaters," people whose feet actually don’t touch the ground because they’re crammed in so tightly. It seemed prudent to leave a bit early.
As we waited for the train to arrive, we bought cans of coffee from a vending machine on the platform; our favorite, the Georgia brand cafÈ crËme, which has a can that reads "Little gift for you," was not available; so we chose Wonda brand cafÈ au lait, which promised a perfect "coexistence of roasted coffee and roasted milk" for "a radiant peace."
The two-hour train ride took us through some beautiful countryside--a marked contrast from the metropolis of nearby Tokyo. There were bare-branched trees still laden with bright orange fruit, either persimmons or Asian pears; gardens full of huge cabbages; and houses pressed close together along narrow streets.
When we arrived in Nikko, we found it was significantly colder than Tokyo; plus, it began to rain. We trudged with our suitcases 1.5km to the Nikko Park Lodge--uphill the entire way. By the time we got there we were soaked and feeling rushed; the temples we’d come to see closed at 3:30pm, and it was already after eleven. We dropped our bags in the lodge’s lobby, hastily reorganized ourselves, and took a taxi to the shrines.
Nikko’s focal point is a collection of World Heritage Sites, consisting of four main temples: Rinno-ji, Tosho-gu, Fukarasan-ji, and Taiyuin-byo. The grounds surrounding and connecting the temples are beautiful--a true forest of tall trees with lots of steep stone stairways, stone paths, and gigantic temple gates. Unfortunately, the rain kept on and got worse as the afternoon progressed, which made our temple-hopping a rather soggy affair. Nonetheless, it was wonderful to see the ornate carvings and paintings and gold Buddhas; at times we could hear gongs being chimed from afar. At each temple, we had a calligrapher inscribe our temple book--filling the pages is growing into a mild obsession.
We warmed up from the rain in a small snack bar, where we ordered rice cakes (actual cakes of rice, not the crunchy health-food kind) and drank hot green tea. A funny thing about that tea: When we ordered our rice cakes, Andrew also ordered "green tea." "No tea," the woman said apologetically. Behind her clearly stood a cup of tea. Unwilling to press the issue, we acquiesced. When she brought over our rice cakes, however, she also brought over two cups of hot green tea without comment. We realized then that by ordering "tea," she assumed we wanted iced tea. At our lunch restaurant yesterday, we’d also ordered "tea," and had received--somewhat confusingly--two glasses of iced green tea. We think now that no one actually orders tea because it’s automatically provided--and when two Americans order tea everyone assumes they want iced tea. Even when it’s freezing and rainy outside. We’re learning new things every day…
When we’d seen all we wanted to, and when our hands were frozen into damp claws, we headed out of the temple area to find lunch. We headed to a place called Hippari Dako and ordered two dishes of noodles--pan-fried udon and yubasoba with soy sauce. The restaurant held only three tables, and the walls were covered with notes, business cards, letters, and photographs from all the travellers who’ve enjoyed meals there in the past--we even saw a paper pinned to the ceiling from two University of Dayton graduates.
Next we went on a wild goose chase to find a group of statues I’d read about in a book, only to realize--too late--that what we were looking for was actually much farther away than we’d thought. But our detour took us through a quiet residential neighborhood, with only the sound of trickling water and gongs. Incredibly peaceful.
Finally exhausted, we mustered up the energy to once again trek uphill to our lodge, where we fell into an instant nap. We ate dinner tonight at the lodge--a Zen vegan feast consisting of brown rice, miso soup, tofu steak, salad, and a variety of mushrooms and cabbage simmering in a small pot over a votive candle. Dessert was a slice of apple carved into what appeared to be a rabbit, and half a kumquat. It was delicious (but I could see Andrew eyeing the Doritos for sale at the front desk, imaging his hunger pangs later from the meatless meal).
Now we’re sitting in the lodge’s common room, warm from a woodburning stove, planning the next part of our trip and being forced to listen to some of the worst Christmas music known to man--such as "White Christmas" played on a sitar. We’ll leave Nikko tomorrow around noon, take the train back to Tokyo, then catch a bullet train to Kyoto, where the next part of our adventure will begin.
No pictures today--I'm in an internet cafe catching up on posting. I’ll edit the post later and add in some pictures.
It was another early day. We left the Oakwood Apartments around 6am and headed to the train station to catch our train to Nikko. We didn’t need to leave that early--our train wasn’t leaving until 8:10--but our friend Atsh told us that it was not a good idea to get on the subway with our suitcases during rush hour. He told us that it’s not uncommon for people to actually be separated from their suitcases in the crush of people--and it’s also not uncommon to see "floaters," people whose feet actually don’t touch the ground because they’re crammed in so tightly. It seemed prudent to leave a bit early.
As we waited for the train to arrive, we bought cans of coffee from a vending machine on the platform; our favorite, the Georgia brand cafÈ crËme, which has a can that reads "Little gift for you," was not available; so we chose Wonda brand cafÈ au lait, which promised a perfect "coexistence of roasted coffee and roasted milk" for "a radiant peace."
The two-hour train ride took us through some beautiful countryside--a marked contrast from the metropolis of nearby Tokyo. There were bare-branched trees still laden with bright orange fruit, either persimmons or Asian pears; gardens full of huge cabbages; and houses pressed close together along narrow streets.
When we arrived in Nikko, we found it was significantly colder than Tokyo; plus, it began to rain. We trudged with our suitcases 1.5km to the Nikko Park Lodge--uphill the entire way. By the time we got there we were soaked and feeling rushed; the temples we’d come to see closed at 3:30pm, and it was already after eleven. We dropped our bags in the lodge’s lobby, hastily reorganized ourselves, and took a taxi to the shrines.
Nikko’s focal point is a collection of World Heritage Sites, consisting of four main temples: Rinno-ji, Tosho-gu, Fukarasan-ji, and Taiyuin-byo. The grounds surrounding and connecting the temples are beautiful--a true forest of tall trees with lots of steep stone stairways, stone paths, and gigantic temple gates. Unfortunately, the rain kept on and got worse as the afternoon progressed, which made our temple-hopping a rather soggy affair. Nonetheless, it was wonderful to see the ornate carvings and paintings and gold Buddhas; at times we could hear gongs being chimed from afar. At each temple, we had a calligrapher inscribe our temple book--filling the pages is growing into a mild obsession.
We warmed up from the rain in a small snack bar, where we ordered rice cakes (actual cakes of rice, not the crunchy health-food kind) and drank hot green tea. A funny thing about that tea: When we ordered our rice cakes, Andrew also ordered "green tea." "No tea," the woman said apologetically. Behind her clearly stood a cup of tea. Unwilling to press the issue, we acquiesced. When she brought over our rice cakes, however, she also brought over two cups of hot green tea without comment. We realized then that by ordering "tea," she assumed we wanted iced tea. At our lunch restaurant yesterday, we’d also ordered "tea," and had received--somewhat confusingly--two glasses of iced green tea. We think now that no one actually orders tea because it’s automatically provided--and when two Americans order tea everyone assumes they want iced tea. Even when it’s freezing and rainy outside. We’re learning new things every day…
When we’d seen all we wanted to, and when our hands were frozen into damp claws, we headed out of the temple area to find lunch. We headed to a place called Hippari Dako and ordered two dishes of noodles--pan-fried udon and yubasoba with soy sauce. The restaurant held only three tables, and the walls were covered with notes, business cards, letters, and photographs from all the travellers who’ve enjoyed meals there in the past--we even saw a paper pinned to the ceiling from two University of Dayton graduates.
Next we went on a wild goose chase to find a group of statues I’d read about in a book, only to realize--too late--that what we were looking for was actually much farther away than we’d thought. But our detour took us through a quiet residential neighborhood, with only the sound of trickling water and gongs. Incredibly peaceful.
Finally exhausted, we mustered up the energy to once again trek uphill to our lodge, where we fell into an instant nap. We ate dinner tonight at the lodge--a Zen vegan feast consisting of brown rice, miso soup, tofu steak, salad, and a variety of mushrooms and cabbage simmering in a small pot over a votive candle. Dessert was a slice of apple carved into what appeared to be a rabbit, and half a kumquat. It was delicious (but I could see Andrew eyeing the Doritos for sale at the front desk, imaging his hunger pangs later from the meatless meal).
Now we’re sitting in the lodge’s common room, warm from a woodburning stove, planning the next part of our trip and being forced to listen to some of the worst Christmas music known to man--such as "White Christmas" played on a sitar. We’ll leave Nikko tomorrow around noon, take the train back to Tokyo, then catch a bullet train to Kyoto, where the next part of our adventure will begin.
No pictures today--I'm in an internet cafe catching up on posting. I’ll edit the post later and add in some pictures.
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