See my Nikko; hear my Nikko; I speak of Nikko

Spent a weekend in Nikko which was absolutely fantastic. While the weather in Tokyo has been warm (despite the sudden influx of neverending rainy days), in the mountains of Nikko, there was actually snow on the ground! This led to random snowball fights and other such wackiness. We stayed in a traditional Japanese ryokan (旅館) with tatami floors and comfy futon to spread out and sleep on. The ryokan also had its own onsen for guests to bathe in. It was a great place to stay, and very close to the UNESCO heritage sites, such as Toshogu Shrine. We spent the first day exploring Toshogu, Tayuinbyo, Rinnoji, and Futarasan temples and shrines and the second day wandering above the main city, exploring waterfalls and mountains and the area around Lake Chuzenji. From photos, I could see that Nikko is absolutely breathtaking in autumn, but it was still beautiful at mid-spring as well (though I was surprised by the snow, because it didn't seem that cold!).
























Here are two of the waterfalls that we viewed. The one on the left is the Kegon, which is about 97-meters tall.


See the stupid-looking monkeys? They're the inspiration for that "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" crap. Nikko would be bereft of cheesiness if it weren't for these monkeys. Now as a result, all the tchotchke shops sell a million things with these monkeys on them: Hello Kitty as a monkey, cartoon versions of the monkeys ... soaps even! The monkeys are carved on a stable at Toshogu that is supposed to house a white horse, but no white horse was to be seen. There are also supposed to be wild monkeys at the waterfalls as well, but alas, I was not lucky enough to see one. Ripoff! Kidding, kidding. I was able to see one animal though. The lovely Sakura, pictured right.



Here are some photos of the temples and shrines we saw at the UNESCO complex at Nikko. Unlike the majority of the temples in Japan, the Nikko temples are heavily influenced by Chinese architecture, which is why they look similar to some of the photos I took in Singapore and Malaysia


























Who said that temples have to be boring? At Futarasan, there is a ring toss game, where the object is to ring one out of three in order to have good luck. These ladies were extremely serious about the game and kept cutting the line to take more and more turns. I ringed one though! There was also a game where you spun a wheel to get one of about eight different pastries. You didn't get to eat the pastries (they were plastic) but each of the desserts represented a different fortune. Unfortunately, I got a cookie of some sort that apparently represents abunai, which basically means danger. Great.

Highlights of the trip included the stunning temple complex and the fun viewing of all the waterfalls and two interesting restaurants. Enya Beer Restaurant featured all-you-can-eat shabu shabu for 1,800-yen (about $16) and a Belgian beer list! Hippari Dako had thousands of meishi (namecards) collected from visitors and a particularly friendly little boy who likes to show-off a sampling of English phrases and draw pictures of the patrons. Lowlights included a crowded onsen and a vomit- and headache-inducing bus ride down the mountain. Good times!


[Credit: Top photo by Keatley.]