Japan Day 6- All Shrinedte out!
Hi everyone!!!
So they have wifi here in Nikko (aka the mountains of Japan) =) and this lovely thing so we can all blog and stay charged up...
Yay thank you Nikko Inn staff. ANYWAY on to the blog. We took an early subway train, which was SO packed! We left during rush hour and we were packed into that car like sardines and they just kept pushing people in. It was just like you see in the stereotypical Japanese subway scenes in TV shows and movies. An hour later and a few cool mountain pictures later...
We arrived in Nikko and checked into our Japanese style hotel/onsen (hot spring baths). It was really interesting, we have to leave our shoes at the door and wear these little green slippers while we are in the lobby (which is where we all are now, blogging). Once we did that we set off walking. Now, Nikko is nothing like Japan. Their slogan is....
So everything is like what you would think Japan used to be, which means older trains, more trees, shrines, and things are more spread out. Also, when you want to go somewhere you really have to walk. And I'm not talking about normal Tokyo walking, were talking steep inclines and stairs. Lots and lots of stairs! But it was worth it. This is Nikko...
And it was COLD!! Sadly my camera died and I only got a few pictures of the first temple we went to, which the name escapes me now. None of the temples we went to today had a Japanese feel to them. They were all brightly colored (mainly red and gold) and had lots of dragons and animals carved into the side. The first temple was under construction =( but it was still really interesting to see what went into rebuilding the temple. It had this HUGE building built around it so they could better rebuild the building.
Then we climbed some stairs, and then got to another temple at the back of that one, that had large, red animal covered buildings-
And this carving some of you might have seen before....
They are pretty popular here. There were a lot more interesting carvings in these shrines, like the sleeping cat and also one tori that had TONS of dragons on it.... but my camera =(. However, when we stopped for lunch I bought some post cards, not the same but at least I can say I've been there!!!!
After about 4 hours of walking, we came back to the hotel, got settled into our room- pics tomorrow of the room if there is time. Here it is with the futons on the floor-
Ya all 5 us girls are rooming together. Gonna be interesting, but a fun experience =) At 7 we had dinner which was awesome. So many different foods, and I got to try real miso soup for the first time. It was awesome, and the tempura (mainly the fish and the mushrooms) were out of this world. And shabu shabu... awesome! It was a traditional Japanese dinner and it was beautiful. I'm off to bed now, early day again tomorrow. Back to the big city, and to start research on my 15 page paper that's due at the end of the semester. Night everyone, see you all soon!!
So they have wifi here in Nikko (aka the mountains of Japan) =) and this lovely thing so we can all blog and stay charged up...
Yay thank you Nikko Inn staff. ANYWAY on to the blog. We took an early subway train, which was SO packed! We left during rush hour and we were packed into that car like sardines and they just kept pushing people in. It was just like you see in the stereotypical Japanese subway scenes in TV shows and movies. An hour later and a few cool mountain pictures later...
We arrived in Nikko and checked into our Japanese style hotel/onsen (hot spring baths). It was really interesting, we have to leave our shoes at the door and wear these little green slippers while we are in the lobby (which is where we all are now, blogging). Once we did that we set off walking. Now, Nikko is nothing like Japan. Their slogan is....
So everything is like what you would think Japan used to be, which means older trains, more trees, shrines, and things are more spread out. Also, when you want to go somewhere you really have to walk. And I'm not talking about normal Tokyo walking, were talking steep inclines and stairs. Lots and lots of stairs! But it was worth it. This is Nikko...
And it was COLD!! Sadly my camera died and I only got a few pictures of the first temple we went to, which the name escapes me now. None of the temples we went to today had a Japanese feel to them. They were all brightly colored (mainly red and gold) and had lots of dragons and animals carved into the side. The first temple was under construction =( but it was still really interesting to see what went into rebuilding the temple. It had this HUGE building built around it so they could better rebuild the building.
Then we climbed some stairs, and then got to another temple at the back of that one, that had large, red animal covered buildings-
And this carving some of you might have seen before....
They are pretty popular here. There were a lot more interesting carvings in these shrines, like the sleeping cat and also one tori that had TONS of dragons on it.... but my camera =(. However, when we stopped for lunch I bought some post cards, not the same but at least I can say I've been there!!!!
After about 4 hours of walking, we came back to the hotel, got settled into our room- pics tomorrow of the room if there is time. Here it is with the futons on the floor-
Ya all 5 us girls are rooming together. Gonna be interesting, but a fun experience =) At 7 we had dinner which was awesome. So many different foods, and I got to try real miso soup for the first time. It was awesome, and the tempura (mainly the fish and the mushrooms) were out of this world. And shabu shabu... awesome! It was a traditional Japanese dinner and it was beautiful. I'm off to bed now, early day again tomorrow. Back to the big city, and to start research on my 15 page paper that's due at the end of the semester. Night everyone, see you all soon!!