Nikko Daytrip

So today I went to Nikko on a day trip. Nikko is about an hour and a half by train from Tokyo. Today was the first time I had the opportunity to use their bullet trains. There train system is so efficient and easy to use. The station is loaded with people and Tokyo is so huge that there are sometimes as many as ten different stations. But they somehow make it really easy to understand. Everything is in Japanese and english. To get to Nikko I had to switch to 2 different trains along the way yet it was still incredibly efficient and easy. It kind of blows my mind that we don't have anything like this in the United States. It's way better than southwest and Virgin Airlines (which is saying alot).

The first thing I noticed as soon as I got out of Tokyo is how beautiful and green Japan is. There are so many mountains and the trees. The colors are so alive. Nikko is a small town in the mountains but is a major tourist hotspot since it is reasonably close to Tokyo. It is famous for it's many shrines and beautiful outdoors. I decided that I would walk to the shrines rather than take public transportation. The town was primarily on a hill which slowly turned into a steep hill which eventually could be called a kind of mountain. At the end of the town is their national park. When I went in there I was blown away at how large and tall all the trees were. I walked throughout this area for a while. I saw a few shrines and thought it was pretty cool. Then as I got higher up I realized that everything I saw wasn't even the main attraction. There was a ticket gate to get into the shrines and my basic philosophy with this is that if it costs money it probably is something pretty cool.

I paid my toll and went inside. I dont' know how to explain it. Basically the ticket counter is outside and all the shrines are outside but somehow they are able to hide the awesomeness that is beyond the ticket counter until you pay your toll and pass the entry gate. As soon as I passed the entry way I was blown away. The temples and shrines are huge, detailed and beautiful. I just wanted to stare at them. It made me realize that I need a camera ASAP and will be looking for one tomorrow.

This was just the beginning. The way that it is set up is that the trees are so huge that it initially blocks many of the shrines. Also the mountain is fairly steep so I was not able to see many of the shrines until I reached the top of the steps. Everytime I looked at the shrines I kept thinking to myself "Japanese history is so cool" and I barely even know the history. I was able to go inside a few of the shrines. Every portion of the shrine is detailed. There are paintings, sculptures, architectural designs (Elibear would understand way more than I do) in every single location imaginable. It is mind blowing to me that these were developed so long ago. It would be amazing if someone did this today yet it was done hundreds (and i think in some cases thousands) of years ago. When I walked into the shrine I had to take my shoes off. Initially I didn't think anything of it until I walked on the floor without my shoes. I don't know what they do to that floor but it felt so smooth and soft on my feet. It even made me quickly think "The next place I live I'm going to implement a no shoe policy". I could go on about the shrines but the more I try the more I feel inept at doing it any justice.

After I looked at the temples for a few hours I walked back to the town. I went to this noodle shop which my guide had reccomended. The guide specifically talked about the caring and warm service of the owner. This owner was one of the sweetest ladies (mom your still sweeter) in the world. She was probably 4 foot 9 inches tall with tons of personality. She looked at me and said "you hungry!" Then she showed me a menu with pictures of all the items. I got udon noodle soup and dumplings because I was in fact extremely hungry. The food was great. I hung out there for a while. When it was time to leave and I stepped outside, it was raining. The owner then tried to give me her umbrella. I wouldn't take it. She then smiled and said "you run fast?" and then she made some running gestures with her arms. I told her "I like rain. Don't worry." She said "No, no, you run fast." I laughed and told her "i'll be fine" she smiled and then eventually let me head out without her umbrella.

Tomorrow I head to Takayama for a few days. I am glad to get out of Tokyo as everything here is so busy it is hard to completely relax. Takayama is supposed to be a mountain town so it will be very different then here. Tomorrow I have a long train ride so I will try and put something together that explains my thoughts on Tokyo. But for now I need to get to sleep because I am going to get up really early tomorrow.